Happy 56th independence day, Uganda.

“Essanyu lyofuna ng'olinowuwo ewaka e Muyenga, nange ewange bwemba
Enaku gy'ofuna ng'owuwo, yaayiwa omusaayi, nga he's about to die
Yenaku gy'enfuna ng'owange, yaayiwa omusaayi, why do you make me cry?” Listening to the beautiful lyrics of Mowzey Radio(RIP), in his song I am Ugandan. Loosely translated as “The happiness you get when you’re with your family in Muyenga(a posh neighbourhood), is the happiness I get when I’m with mine(in a not so posh neighbourhood). And the sadness you get when one of your own is bleeding, about to die, is the sadness I get when one if my own is bleeding, so why do you you make me cry?” We are the same.

I am Ugandan, you're Ugandan, why don't we love each other? Is it so hard? Really?
From the cold hills of Kabale to the warm drylands of Karamoja, we are one.
From the posh neighbourhoods of Kololo & Munyonyo to the slums of Bwaise & Katwe, we are one.
Whether you buy 50kgs of sugar & you don't feel a pinch or you really feel terrible when the price goes up by 200/-, we remain Ugandans.

We were blessed with lots of tribes, each with their customs and language and traditions. Why, I mean seriously, why do we choose tribalism, making one or two tribes superior and more important to others, ridiculing others and hyping some, instead of embracing our differences and coexist in harmony?

The curvaceous westerners, the tall & darker from the North, the ones with big noses in the central, the ones in the east with a funny language and everyone else, we are all Ugandans.
We dance kitagururo, embuutu and kadodi, we pass through the same potholes when it rains we go through the same muddy rugged roads in downtown, we are one.

We shout over government shortcomings and corruption and poor service delivery on social media the government even decided to levy a tax on it; and some radio and TV talk shows, but not much is done to fix them.

We have come from too far, we have witnessed the prime minister having more power than the president, to times when the former has no power at all. We have been ruled by a constitution written by one man and forced on to the population for some years, to when it was finally fixed by going through the right process, but now the most important document in the country barely serves its purpose. Still, we are Ugandans.

Dr Apollo Milton Obote, Uganda's first prime minister. 

We love the Rolex, not the watch, nope, but the chapati with eggs inside, we love the national football team that has brought us more heartbreak than happiness, but we celebrate when we win a few matches. We love our music, from kidandali to kadongo kamu to the rapidly growing hiphop to some rnb, we dance, go down low and scream some times. The Ugandan sound is a happy sound. We are Ugandans.

The very delicious Ugandan rolex. 

We love outings. We have festivals for almost everything, the Rolex festival, the Kampala City festival, the hotels and restaurants festival, the hijab and kanzu festival, the controversial Nyege Nyege festival, the clock tower traffic festival, the twins festival, damn we are about to have the corruption and potholes on the roads festival! Nevertheless, we show up and we turn up, because we are Ugandans.

With all that’s  happening, there is still so much we want changed, or improved, but at 56 years, we are full of hope, full of energy, full of life, even when we are broke, we are still Ugandans, and we love Uganda.

Happy 56th independence day, Uganda.