Chapter 5: The Entebbe Days 1963 – 1966

At Lake Victoria Primary School, Entebbe, my class of sixteen pupils consisted of Africans, Britons, Indians, Pakistanis and Goans. All the teachers were British, because prior to Uganda’s Independence, this had been a whites only school. I made friends with some pupils who were not in my class, some of whom became lifelong friends. After Idi Amin expelled the Ugandan Asian community in 1972, I never saw my Asian classmates again.

The school provided a holistic education, and had good sports and recreation facilities. There were extracurricular activities such as the cub scouts club, which I joined and each pupil got a tetrapak of milk at morning break.This ensured that we grew up not only with healthy bodies but healthy minds as well. The career paths of my classmates illustrates this.It was while at Lake Victoria School that I learnt how to swim and got personal water survival skills. One of the biggest crazes we had at school was reading comic strips. One night, I experienced a miracle. There was a wild storm which uprooted trees, ripped roofs off houses and brought untold misery to the residents of Entebbe. At about 2 am, I was lifted out of bed and soon thereafter, part of the wall broke off and collapsed onto my bed.

In 1964, a referendum which would later adversely affect relations between the Buganda Kingdom and the Central Government of Uganda was held over what were known as the lost counties. That year, Emperor Haile Selassie I, of Ethiopia, visited Uganda. We waved flags as he alighted from the plane. About that time, Israelis started arriving in Uganda and helped establish the Uganda Air force in Entebbe. Two years later, visiting Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister, told University students, “The difference between a wise man and a clever man.”

1966, was an event filled year. The Beatles dominated the international music scene, while locally Congolese and Ugandan music dominated the local. Politically, the Prime Minister and the President of Uganda, had a showdown. That year, the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), was to be sat in primary year 7. I was much more concerned about the PLE exams I was going to sit in P 7 at the end of the year, than about the politics of the day and I also had to choose a secondary school to join.