Looking back at Kenya’s declaration of Indians in Kenya as an official tribe earlier this year, the Indian Community in Uganda is also pushing the Government of Uganda to follow the leads of the neighboring country, and declare Indians as part of the tribes in Uganda.
Murtuza Dalal, an Indian Community senior member in Uganda, informed that they have high hopes that the government of Uganda will soon recognize them as a tribe, just as they recognize their contribution to the economic development of the country.
‘We hope now with the Kenyan example, the Ugandan Government will look and consider it,’ Mr. Dalal said.
‘We are in the process of putting in another submission to the Government. I think it will happen sooner or later because even the current Government apprehends the contribution of Indians in the country,’ he added.
Rukmini Bonthala, a director of an Indian-owned pharmaceutical company in Uganda that is said to hire more than 600 people, stated that Indians living in Uganda had contributed a lot to employ Ugandans.
‘Most of the major companies, almost 80 per cent of the top level companies are either owned by Indians or people of Indian origin who have settled here for many, many years,’ Ms. Bonthala stated.
According to History, Indians were first brought to Uganda by the British, as workers, around 100 years ago.
They however later established themselves and set up businesses in the country, and their number also escalated.
By the time Iddi Amin Dada, the once President of Uganda came to power in 1972, the estimation of Asians in the country was 80,000. He then gave all Indians and other Asians 90 days to vacate the country.
During the vacation process, their businesses and houses were freely handed over to Ugandans by the then President, Iddi Amin Dada.
However, after the era of Iddi Amin, Indians returned to the country in larger numbers, under the encouragement of the current President, Yoweri Museveni.
Currently more than 20,000 Indians are estimated to be residing in the East African Country.
Reporter: Shamilah Namuddu
