Across the world, statues erected in the memory of prominent people are being fished out of rivers where protestors have consigned them. The appeal comes as a result of the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent protests around #BlackLivesMatter. Uganda was a protectorate of the British empire from 1894 to 1962. Places named after Henry Colville, Frederick Lugard, The King’s African Rifles, General De Winton and Colonel Ternan are found in cities such as Kampala, Entebbe, Jinja and Fort Portal – even though they committed crimes such as pillage, rape and murder during colonial rule in Uganda.
Colonialism had a huge impact on the lives of Africans. Economic policies were adopted by Europeans who destroyed the colonies, rather than help them. The continent of Africa was damaged economically, politically, and culturally. These forms of imperialism have caused several negative effects on Africans, which have become evident after many African nations became independent.
During and after the scramble, the range of commodity exports broadened to include raw materials like rubber, cotton, and copper, as well as cash crops such as cocoa, coffee, tea and tobacco. The lion’s share of these commodities went directly to manufacturing firms and consumers in Europe. Meanwhile, technological innovations also reduced the costs of colonial occupation. These included the Maxim gun, the steamship, the railway and quinine, the latter lowering the health risks to Europeans in the disease-ridden interior of the ‘dark continent’.
But as the rest of the world pulls down monuments that depict colonialism, authorities here are calling for the renovation and rehabilitation of such sites as reminders of the past.
In a bid to reclaim the country’s pride, Ugandan lawyer Apollo Makubuya is leading a petition drive to change those names.
“We are targeting those, and with whom we have evidence to show that they perpetrated crimes against humanity, they violated human rights, and we object to their continued glorification on the streets of Uganda and elsewhere,” said Apollo Makubuya.
They propose to use the names of heroes instead. The events in the U.S. and Europe are creating more awareness in Africa about the history of colonial rule.
“This is inspiring Africans to take a closer look at the past and to think about how to reframe it,” says Professor Mwambutsya Ndebesa.
Thousands of people have signed a petition calling on the government to rename roads and landmarks that celebrate white power, joining a growing, global movement against racism.
Uganda’s capital Kampala, especially the more affluent suburbs, bristle with streets and roads named after figures associated with Britain’s colonization of the country.
Running through the centre of the city and past Kampala’s impressive Independence Monument is Speke Road, named after the British explorer and officer John Hanning Speke, the first European to identify the source of the Nile.
Places named after Henry Colville, Frederick Lugard, The King’s African Rifles, General De Winton and Colonel Ternan are found in cities such as Kampala, Entebbe, Jinja and Fort Portal – even though they committed crimes such as pillage, rape and murder during colonial rule in Uganda.
Colonialism, racism, discrimination, and whatever cannot be eliminated by merely removing symbols. But symbols is one of those efforts towards removing those injustices.
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