BBC’s Sound of 2012, which highlights the world’s most promising music talents in the new year, has seen a one Michael Kiwanuka emerge top. He is a 24-year-old Briton of Ugandan descent whose parents fled Uganda for the UK in the early 1970s.
It is achievements like these that caused Ronnie Mayanja, a Ugandan living in the US and the editor of an online newspaper for Ugandans living in North America, UNAA Times, to organise an event to honour Ugandans living and working abroad who have made outstanding triumphs in their fields. They include Kwatsi Alibaruho, the first black director of a flight to space and John Sentamu, the first black man to ascend to the second highest post in the Anglican Communion.
These accomplishments thus symbolised a massive shift in the contribution of Uganda’s labour force abroad – as no longer the nkuba kyeyos, a section of people that went abroad to do dirty despised work, but as key players in important sectors of the economies where they live. That was an assertion made by Isaac Rucibigango, the event’s MC, and also, formerly a musician on the international circuit with the Christian group, Limit X.
The awards also coincide with an increase in rallying calls by Ugandans in the Diaspora to have more rights enabling them to determine the flow of events back here. These calls are informed by a feeling of injustice among Ugandans in the Diaspora that they have been sidestepped in the formulation of policies back home and yet they are a major contributor to the country’s development.
No voting rights
Foremost among the concerns of Ugandans in the Diaspora is that although they can now hold dual citizenship, they are still not allowed to vote. “To an extent, yes, we have been underappreciated back here,” says Mr Mayanja. “We don’t vote for instance, and yet when you speak about it based on the money we send back here, we are stakeholders in this country. If I am going to send back so much money, I want to influence the decision making process. I don’t want to just have legislators who are planning for me in ways that I probably don’t understand.” South Sudan and Kenya have already taken this step. Last year, the South Sudanese even in Uganda voted in a referendum to decide the formation of the new state.
Foremost among the concerns of Ugandans in the Diaspora is that although they can now hold dual citizenship, they are still not allowed to vote. “To an extent, yes, we have been underappreciated back here,” says Mr Mayanja. “We don’t vote for instance, and yet when you speak about it based on the money we send back here, we are stakeholders in this country. If I am going to send back so much money, I want to influence the decision making process. I don’t want to just have legislators who are planning for me in ways that I probably don’t understand.” South Sudan and Kenya have already taken this step. Last year, the South Sudanese even in Uganda voted in a referendum to decide the formation of the new state.
Ambassador James Mugume, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the most pressing concerns of Ugandans in the Diaspora had been dual citizenship and voting rights, one of which has been solved. He however adds that acquisition of voting rights is beyond the ministry and would require changes in election laws.
The constitution gives Parliament the power to enact laws for “where necessary, the provision of voting by proxy.” However no subsequent houses of Parliament have passed any act dealing with the issue.
They are also not entirely impressed with the dual citizenship conditions. “As dual citizens, we are not allowed to participate in active politics. If I am a Ugandan, and I assume American citizenship, why can’t I come back here (and take part in politics)?” Mr Mayanja asks.
The Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Act of 2009 bars dual citizens from the posts of president, vice president, prime minister, ministerial positions and any of the security organs. “They tell us that we cannot run for certain offices like the president and other offices that involve security, which is a bit of a stickler for us. We don’t want those terms. We want to be able to go over there and be able to vote and run for any office that we think we can,” says Richard Williams, a Ugandan based in the US. “Why can’t we have someone from out there (come and lead the country) because we have a lot interest in our country and we want to see things improve,” he adds.
“I think part of the problem is that they (government) feel threatened because we are exposed and they only want people who are probably naïve and don’t know what is going on. Me, on the other hand, I am going to stand up to you and say, ‘That is a bunch of crap’”, Mr Mayanja adds.
“I think part of the problem is that they (government) feel threatened because we are exposed and they only want people who are probably naïve and don’t know what is going on. Me, on the other hand, I am going to stand up to you and say, ‘That is a bunch of crap’”, Mr Mayanja adds.
“With the growth of this country, the Diaspora is going to play an even bigger role, because we are exposed to the technology, we are exposed to the promotions and marketing concepts that we can bring back to this country, and somehow I think they have got to give us some leeway and make it simpler for us to do this,” Mr Williams adds. Gauging from the words spoken by state officials, it is evident that government takes the contribution of Ugandans in the diaspora seriously. Vice president Edward Sekandi called them “representatives of Uganda’s elite who have spanned the world with a view of improving living conditions where they live.” He said their annual contributions back home are now totalling $1bn every year and asked them to invite more investors to come to Uganda.
Have they shunned Uganda?
Ambassador Mugume says the government now wants to take the relationship between Uganda and Ugandans abroad forward, by directing their remittances into investment projects for those that can set up companies, with the help of Uganda Investment Authority and Bank of Uganda. Ambassador Mugume also says the government will be working at setting up a conducive environment for them to operate business in the country.
Ambassador Mugume says the government now wants to take the relationship between Uganda and Ugandans abroad forward, by directing their remittances into investment projects for those that can set up companies, with the help of Uganda Investment Authority and Bank of Uganda. Ambassador Mugume also says the government will be working at setting up a conducive environment for them to operate business in the country.
Mr Mayanja says that one of the reasons for organising the event was to help turn the attention of Ugandans living abroad back home. “My idea was to start it as an award because once these guys know that they are coming back to be honoured, then that will encourage more Diaspora people to be here during December, and not to give up entirely on their country,” he says. That begged the question whether Ugandans who live abroad had shunned this country.
The developed world offers more opportunities than Uganda does. And it has been common for many Ugandans to spend days praying and fasting, just to land a visa, go to the West, and then plan on never returning home. When the Daily Monitor ran a profile of Capt. Lukiah Mulumba who works in the US air force last week, some readers’ comments suggested that she, and indeed other Ugandans who live abroad, should come back home and develop their motherland. It is common knowledge that many Ugandans at home feel that the diaspora community has shunned their country of origin.
Mr Mayanja however says that although there could be a few problems with Uganda that frustrate Ugandans in the Diaspora, they have not forgotten Uganda. “I don’t think they have shunned this country. Contrary to that, people have been coming back here. The majority of the people are not there because they want to stay there, they don’t shun Uganda as such, and they bring a lot of these investments you see here. It is really just economics that forced them to stay out.”
It is important to remember the reasons why many Ugandans are abroad today, and what has kept them away. The reasons are a combination of a search for better economic prospects, fleeing instability and intellectual liberation through school, Mr Mayanja says. It is the relative stability the country has had that has encouraged some Ugandans in the Diaspora to come back and invest at home. And it is not only a continuation of this stability, but an improvement upon it, that will see more of them return.
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