On November 12, 1972, Uganda turned a shameful chapter in history after former President Idi Amin Dada announced during a rally in Tororo that he had gotten a special dream asking him to expel Gujaratis from the country.
Amin’s dream arrived at a time Uganda played host to at least 80,000 Asians, 23,000 of whom had been confirmed, citizens. According to him, however, the Gujaratis deserved the expulsion on the basis that they had for long engaged in commercial malpractice by siphoning resources from the economy minus nourishing it.
In the midst of this dream-engineered penalty, most of these were forced out impecunious, destitute, dejected and suicidal. At least 50,000 of them scattered to destinations they had never known, Britain, Canada, India, Morocco, Mozambique, Austria and neighbouring Kenya.
The journey from Uganda was only the lighter part, as trauma, separation from families, turbulence, loneliness, death, and anguish all waited in the wings.
It is 50 years since this shameful debacle and there is a lot to write home about, but there is a very positive story to note, one of resilience, one that ends in blossom, one that has a very beaming future to its plot.
On the 11th of September 2022 at Anoopam Mission, Swaminarayan Temple in Denham, London, a section of the Indians directly and indirectly affected by Amin’s expulsion gathered to mark 50 years. The event was supposed to be graced by H.E Yoweri Museveni but his journey was cancelled following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Many here shared the stories of their lives in Uganda, how they walked the streets of jinja, how they enjoyed the mangoes at Naranbhai, and how they made playful dashes in Main Street Jinja Sakates, others lived as far as Bulopa, Kaliro, Soroti, Tororo, Iganga, Masaka, Fort Portal, Ntungamo, Namwendwa, Kisoro and Busolwe.
They speak the languages, from Lusoga to Swahili, they can name places off cuff, they can vividly describe the homes in which they lived and the surroundings, they know the names of their primary school teachers and house helps, they are indeed very Ugandan.
Speaker after speaker exhibited hope in the new Uganda under President Museveni’s leadership, which has returned a sense of belonging to them and as a result, trade has hit 5 billion pounds, down from only a 240million pounds.
The NRM Leadership has brought reassurance to the Gujaratis, it has handed them a huge role to play in the development of this country politically, socially and economically. Many have been given an opportunity to directly participate in this including Nimisha Madhvani, Uganda’s High Commissioner to UK, Justice Anup Singh Choudry, Olympic Swimmer Supra Singhal, and Professor Mahmood Mamdani.
While I have personally met many in London, who continue to export to Uganda and are happy for the opportunity to once again play a role in their “country”. The likes of Maz Mashru and wife, who hail from Soroti and now reside in Belgrave, UK. The old man Burpa who arrived in Nottingham from Uganda with 2 pounds, now owns six houses in London, Sanjay Jagatia now presides over the temple where all of them gather.
The story of this little London and the NRM is one of resilience, it is a revolution on its own, and it is a manifestation that the NRM is true to its message of reconciliation, peace, prosperity, and social economic development.
The writer is the Online Editor for State House Uganda and a Civil Servant.