Diwali came in early this year for the Indian community in Uganda as a new revelation points to a new policy in the works that will recognize them officially. The revelation was made by State Minister of Foreign Affairs John Mulimba during the celebration of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation(ITEC) Day.
Mulimba assured the Indian community gathered at the Indian high commission in Uganda of the government’s commitment to fully acknowledging them as Ugandans in every right.
“The policy in Uganda is going to change. Yeilding to the demand that the Indian community in Uganda advanced when H.E Narendra Modi came here to visit which you put across to H.E the president (Museveni) of having Ugandans of Indian decent being acknowledged as Ugandans. We are working on that policy change.” he said
Although Mulimba did not mention the specifics of this new policy, the Indian community in Uganda has for long been advocating to be added to the constitution of Uganda as the 66th tribe.
The minister also lashed out at Ministry of Internal Affairs officials for denying Ugandans of Indian-decent passports saying;
“Ministry of Internal Affairs workers seem not to put common sense to what they do. Where we have two people, Ugandans of Indian descent with Ugandan citizenship with a child of 12 years who is being denied Ugandan citizenship. It is a paradox, it is regrettable and I have assured H.E the high commissioner; Forward to me that file and we shall deal with it.”
History of Indians in Uganda
Indians have lived in Uganda for more than a century. As a result, there are second and third-generation Ugandan Indians today. Uganda’s first speaker of parliament was a Ugandan of Indian origin, Narendra Patel.
There are 65 recognized tribes in Uganda. In 1995, the Ugandan Constitution recognized the non-indigenous communities as Indigenous tribes of Uganda who had been there in Uganda since Feb. 1, 1926. Thus the Rwandan and Burundian communities were granted tribal status.
Although the Indian-origin community was part of the Ugandan society before 1926, the Constitution omitted them.
The entry of Indians to Uganda began in the 1800s and continued in the 1900s. During British rule, Indians were taken there as construction workers. Since then, the people of Indian origin have contributed to Uganda’s economic progress.
“Persons of Indian origin are estimated to have invested over 1 Billion US Dollars in Uganda in the last decade while they constitute less than 0.01% of the population of Uganda, they contribute a major part of Uganda’s direct taxes.” Minister John Mulimba said
During a Diwali dinner in 2019, President Museveni said that the Ugandan Constitution should include Indians.
“There is no problem in having an extra tribe called Wahindi in the Constitution,” he said.
Today about 1% of the Ugandan population is of Indian origin. According to Forbes magazine’s 2019 edition, the wealthiest individual in Uganda, Sudhir Ruparelia, is of Indian origin and he has also not been silent regarding the recognition of Ugandans of Indian origin in Uganda’s law.
“We can’t go anywhere else, so we need an identity within this country. We’ve been here for over 100 years, and many Africans who migrated to Uganda from other countries are recognized as tribes. Why not us?” Dr Ruparelia said in a recent interview with the Global Indian Network
