Former Buganda Kingdom Attorney General Apollo Nelson Makubuya together with former Principal Judge James Munange Ogola have petitioned the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga demanding for the removal of all colonial symbols and renaming of streets in Kampala and other cities in Uganda.
While handing in the petition to Kadaga on Friday at Parliament, the chief petitioner, Makubuya, said continued public display of colonial iconography glorifies persons who are responsible for the brutalization, subjugation and humiliation of the people of Uganda.
Makubuya added that it is important to take the names off the pedestals they stand (they belong to museums of colonial history) and instead recognise other notable Ugandans or other personalities who are deserving of such esteem—based on a consultative process and recommendations of a respectable and representative body of eminent Ugandans.
Recently, Makubuya and other petitioners met the required minimum number of signatures (over 2500 signatures), that Parliament requires to debate on the motion raised by the public.
Receiving the petition, Kadaga said that Uganda’s history must not be forgotten and must be taught to young Ugandans other than teaching them foreign memoirs.
“This petition reminds me of a recent attempt to eradicate our history, the history Bunyoro Kitara from the syllabus. I think our minds have also been colonized and we need to rediscover ourselves and our identity. I shall be reporting to Parliament next week about this petition and write to the Prime Minister to constitute a multi-sectoral team to consider this matter,” she said.
The petition calls for government to remove street names and monuments that celebrate and immortalize colonial subjugators; such monuments be placed at the Uganda Museum for future generations to learn about their true stories.
It also demands that government comes up with comprehensive policies and laws to streamline the naming and re-naming of geographical features, streets and public places. and revisiting of the entire school curriculum to ensure that the history of Uganda is taught in its entirety rather than it glorifying colonial order and demeaning those who resisted being subjugated.
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