Riots in Kampala

Yesterday there were riots in the city.  They were close enough that I could hear the yelling and chanting of the throbbing mass of people perfectly.  We could see people walking the streets through the few rows of houses that separated us, up on Mengo hill, from them, traveling along the main road just below us.

On Tuesday, two students were killed in a protest at Makarere University.  That same night the Kasubi tombs were burned down.  These are probably one of the most important cultural sites in Uganda, and Kampala certainly.  The tombs mark the resting place of a number of Bugandan kings.  Bear with me here, you’ll need a little context to understand why this is important.

Uganda has many different tribes.  The Bugandan tribe is one of them.  The Bugandans are also the tribe that the British selected as their ‘favourites’ when they colonized Uganda many years ago.  As such, the Bugandan tribe has become one of the most powerful in the country.  The monarchy is still a very relevant part of day-to-day life in Uganda, and is ruled by a Bugandan king.  The president, Museveni, is not Bugandan and it is a widely held belief that the government as a whole is against the Bugandan people.

So, the tombs being burned down is significant because many of the Bugandan people here are saying that the government has done this.  And it’s been suggested that this was done in response to the protests at the university.  These protests were in relation to the University’s guild elections, which are said to be very closely tied to the national political sphere.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any more details about the university protests, the guild elections or their connections to the national government.  It’s hard to get reliable news here.

This set of events is what has led to the riots.  Yesterday the mass of people traveled from the site of the tombs, to the kakaba’s (king’s) residence, and back.  This is why twice yesterday we had heard them so very close to us.  It was surreal.  I’ve never been in a country where there has been an uprising.  Interestingly enough I was living in Korea at the time that the Nomdemun gates were burned down - one of Korea’s last remaining authentic cultural sites (most of theirs were burned down when the Japanese invaded).  The country was aghast, but there was no uprising.  

It makes it even more surreal that I’m here, so close to it, and yet we’re so effectively segregated in the hospital compound that it would be easy enough to go inside, turn on a movie really loudly, and forget that it was happening (probably much to mumsie & dadsie’s relief).

It’s still difficult to get a straight story on what’s going on.  The national news company shut down yesterday when the riots started, and so our only news came through local friends here.  We were told that as long as we stayed within the hospital grounds, we’d be safe.  And we were.  Nothing to worry about.

I am left wondering what the city and it’s people will be like today.  The Bugandan king addressed his people today and told them that they must be calm.  Because of this, Geoffrey, one of the men I work with at the ESC, said that he feels today will be better.  But now I sit here on the front porch of our house, way way up on Mengo hill, and I swear that I can hear a mass of people off to the West.  I’m not sure if this is me straining to hear something, anything, that will give me some information as to what’s happening in the rest of the city?  It could be that I’m hearing the normal sounds of the city, but that they’re sounds that I never picked up on before because I just wasn’t listening to them.  It feels different, though; like there’s suspense hanging in the air.  But maybe this is just what I’m choosing to pick up on.  Truthfully, there’s a little part of me that craves the instability and the adventure of it.  But I think that this is the same naive part of me that doesn’t really understand what riots mean.  Yesterday there were 3 people killed and 25 injured according to CNN’s report.  People here, when asked, just say that it was really bad.  

I guess it just goes to show how quickly things can change.  But don’t worry - I’ll keep both ears to the ground and won’t leave the safety of the hospital grounds until everyone is very sure that it’ll be fine.  Many of our local friends are looking out for us too.  A few stopped by yesterday just to make sure that everyone made it home okay (Lionel travelled home from the other side of the city when he heard gunshots), and to tell us again and again that we shouldn’t leave the hospital. So, here I sit - craving a chapati but settling for scrambled eggs because I’m being a good girl and not leaving the gates - even if there is a little part of me that wants to.

I’ll update if anything changes - but we’ve heard no news today, and this is definitely a ‘no news is good news’ situation.  So, if you hear no news from me about this again, assume it’s a good thing! (Luckily, we’ve got access to internet in the pharmacy’s lab - so I can keep y’all up to date even while I’m cooped up in here).