Grapevine

What we remember from Independence Day in 1962

Dr Frank Nabwiso

I was appointed a Lusoga news reader on October 1, 1962, just a few days prior to Uganda’s Independence Day on October 9. There was only Radio Uganda and I was assigned to cover the event besides going back to the station to read the news.

In order to avoid missing out on some of the activities at Kololo Grounds in Kampala, I arrived at the venue on the evening of October 8. On D-Day, the national anthem, composed by Mr George Kakoma, was sung for the first time, the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda was handed over, the British flag (Union Jack) was lowered and replaced with the Ugandan flag.

A lot of things have changed since the first Independence celebrations, including the size of Parliament which had 91 legislators, but currently has over 500. At Independence, there was only Makerere University, but currently, the universities are countless and this has caused problems for unemployed graduates.

Also, there was no corruption in the country until around 1966 when such reports started emerging. At Independence, Uganda had a population of seven million people.