August 4 was a sobering day to reflect on the historic ties that bind Britain and Uganda. Exactly 50 years ago, on that date, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin gave the entire Indian community in the East African nation an ultimatum: leave the country or face the consequences.
Some 50,000 Ugandan Indians who had known nowhere but Uganda as their homeland were made to abandon their country to begin lives anew elsewhere. Some fled to neighbouring Kenya, others to Canada. Most left for the United Kingdom. The businesses, possessions and lands they left behind were confiscated.
We must never forget this forced expulsion and shameful chapter in Uganda’s past: a warning from history to the world of what can transpire when there are no checks or democratic balances on the whims of those who hold positions of power.
