Matek Opoko <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Poor shun Independence Day celebrations
By Agnes Nandutu & Peter Nyanzi
Oct 11, 2004
KAMPALA � As celebrations went on in Kololo to mark the country�s 42nd Independence Day anniversary, many Ugandans went on with normal business.
A mini survey by The Monitor in Kampala�s business district showed that most shops were open as usual. Most people said they were too poor to celebrate the day.
Mr Mesach Migadde, a secondhand shoe vendor in St. Balikuddembe Market, said he did not have the luxury to celebrate independence when he had nothing to eat.
�Let those in government celebrate,� he said. Mr Andrew Kalule, a businessman at Nakivubo Mews, said, �Independence in poverty is useless. A nation without money is not independent.�
Mr Abubaker Male, a 53-year-old butcher, said the day did not make much difference because �we are still in the hands of the whites in IMF and the World Bank�.
�So what kind of independence are you talking about?� he asked. Mr Patrick Ssevume, a boda-boda rider, said he did not take Independence Day seriously because even the government does not. �In the past, there used to be flags everywhere in the city on Independence Day.
�Look around now, what is there in the city to show that today is Independence Day?� he asked. Mr Lule Swaib, who sells agricultural chemicals, said Ugandans could not be independent when they are not yet economically independent.
� 2004 The Monitor Publications
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