On Wednesday this week, we celebrated 62 years since independence. Deep down, we all know our independence from the British is in name only, there are signs everywhere, but Ugandans never allow such obstacles to stand in the way of fun. We already have a steady supply of depressing news and adding another problem we can’t change is pointless.
Instead we are always sniffing around for any excuse to have fun, and a public holiday that falls on a Wednesday is definitely better than one that falls on a Sunday. Which is a definite call for celebration. Because when you have been working nonstop since June 3 (the last public holiday) and barely resting on the weekends because of all the errands you have to run after spending hectic weeks on the grind, a public holiday on a Wednesday is what you are praying for.
Which is why when your buddy pulls up at 10 am with a bottle of some cheap whiskey (by the way, is Torrero even a whiskey) you shamelessly welcome it with both hands. Why are you drinking whiskey so early in the morning? Public holiday vibes, of course. After the third sip, you know you have crossed the Rubicon. It will be a day of drinking.
The next logical step is to go out to look for something to eat. So, the two of you drive down to the car wash, not to wash the cars but to look for Sara, the chicken lady. Her specialty is serving hot chicken soup to heavily hangover people, or people who plan to drink the whole day. To your pleasant surprise, the whole place is decked in black, yellow and red ribbons and balloons, in an obvious celebration of our independence.
You order some yams and avocado to go with the huge bowl of chicken soup. You also order for a litre of Nile Special because unlike your buddy, you hate whiskey. Two hour later, you leave the washing bay and head to the fancy pub up the hill where your other bro has invited you. There is a pool tournament that he’s participating in and would like you guys to show some support. To your shock, this pub too is decked in national colours. Clearly, this is a thing. Kampala pubs decorate for Independence Day. No other public holiday inspires such decoration. It’s not like on Women’s Day you can find one that has decorated their walls with pictures of Miria Matembe. Only on October 9 do they decorate. Why is that? Because, believe it or not, Ugandans heavily celebrate this day and hangout places know this.
They know that on October 9 every year, they sell four times the amount of beer and pork and chicken soup. And that is why they go the extra mile.Obviously, when you are hanging out at 3PM on Independence Day, and the alcohol has already hit that spot that facilitates the English to roll off your tongue like water on a duck’s back, you are prone to ask some out-of-the-box questions about our independence.
Like for instance, why would the British, without a fight, just hand us a country that they had curved out and created without our help or permission? Uganda is more of their creation than ours, isn’t it? Weren’t we mere passive participants in a grand plan that we didn’t know anything about and had nothing to do with? They came they conquered and we acquiesced. They had lost great men on the high seas between Europe and Africa, and on the great trek from the Indian Ocean to find these lands. They had spent so much money and brain power for over 70 years to make it happen. So why would they just hand over the country to a few young natives after a few newspaper articles and riots? Did they, maybe, realize that there was a better way to do what they had done for the previous 70 years rather than deal with the riots? Did they decide to work smart instead of working hard? Could it be that they knew that it was markedly easier to rule us through native proxies? Is it possible that they understood human nature and realized that we are all too busy with our own lives to figure out what is truly going on or do anything about it once we figure it out?
No? So how come we have maintained names like Queen Elizabeth National Park when we could revert to what the people of Bushenyi or Kasese called it historically? Who remembers the original name of the most powerful falls in the world, currently called Murchison Falls? What did the Banyoro call it? What did the Alur call it? The truth is, we all know it is fake but fun has to be had. And pubs have to sell alcohol. And Sara has to sell chicken soup.
