The Value of history in Uganda

If a visitor arrived in Uganda today, who had last visited the country in 1970, he would notice immediately a great number of changes which have given the country and its people a character and appearance very different from that of three years ago. If the visitor had not had access to the major news media over the past three years, he would be, to say the least, mildly surprised by the metamorphosis. The first question he would ask of a Ugandan would be, “What has happened?” The second question would be, “How did it happen?” These would be followed by a third question, “Why did it happen?” Only in this manner would the visitor begin to come to terms with the present situation, to be familiar with the “status quo”, and, most important, to understand it. In short, he would need to grasp the “history” of the last three years.