Last thursday we were coming home from a wonderful few days upcountry with my visiting parents. We decided to head straight on home instead of having lunch first. We are so lucky we did. Thursday afternoon around 2 p.m., riots started in Kampala. We had just entered the city and were re-directed from the main road but we assumed there was road construction or something. By the time we arrived home we had heard about the riots. We literally missed them by an hour. Some people who own the lodge we stayed at upcountry were about 2 hours behind us coming into Kampala. They met the angry mob in one area of Kampala and had their windows smashed, they were cut by rocks and fled to the outskirts to avoid having their car looted or burned.
I am still trying to learn this strange culture so I don't completely understand what caused the riots. From what I've read and heard there are problems between Uganda's president and Uganda's king. Yes, they both reign in Uganda. Strange to some of us but to Ugandans it is normal. The royal kingdom of Buganda was done away with in 1966 but the current president reinstated the Buganda king in 1993. Since then the country has been pulled in different directions between the cultural ruler and the governmental ruler. Issues between the two came to a head when the king was going to attend a cultural celebration. His presence was contested by a smaller tribe. The president didn't come right out and forbid the king from attending but the government did discourage the king citing his safety would be in question. The citizens of Uganda flew into a rage and began burning tires, cars, police stations, looting and destroying property. The police and military got involved and about 14 people died from stray bullets. Others were injured by tear gas and there are accounts of police brutality. The streets were empty downtown and in other areas by Friday and Saturday though in some parts of town more riots continued to break out.
Having never lived in such a political and cultural hotbed before this surprised me. We went and stocked up on supplies and money in case things got worse. Many of you know we live in a slum area and I was expecting riots to begin in our neighborhood also. Luckily there were none in our area and by last night we were feeling much more relaxed.
It shouldn't surprise any of us how quickly a situation involving incited people can get out of hand. Safety is an illusion more times than we realize. Careless words, hasty actions and people with nothing better to do are a lethal combination.
For now the panic seems to be over. The streets are still too quiet and the papers are running out of things to report. I fear this is only the beginning though. With elections coming up in 2011 the country is already dividing. There have been scary words about a repeat of Rwanda happening in Uganda due to all the infighting between not only government and royal kingdom but between tribes. Please pray for Uganda and for the peace and sanity to be restored amongst the people. God's graciousness is evident even in this.
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Pastor Matt, and crew, are bringing loads of Mac and Cheese, and school supplies. I think you will be sick of Mac and cheese if you are gutsie enough to eat it all.
Sure do miss you both.
David