I would like to ponder over events that happened at school more than 60 years ago. As is the case with most memories, the fine details may be blurred. If you were to ask ten people who experienced an incident 60 years ago to retell the story, you would find yourself with ten slightly varying accounts although the core points could be the same. What will vary are the details including participants, dates and so on.
The events over which I am ruminating happened (I believe) in October of 1959 at King’s College Budo in Uganda. Most of the old boys and girls of King’s College Budo, whose fathers and mothers were not even born at the time, may have heard of the events as part of the Budo folklore. These events provided a major fork in the road of my life.
I must put into context my presence at the school when the events I am ruminating over took place. In 1959, selected secondary schools introduced the Cambridge Advanced certificate of education, otherwise known as the A-level certificate. It was a welcome development which opened avenues of entry for Ugandan students to universities beyond the country’s borders.
Some of us took the opportunity and applied to stay at Budo where I had been a pupil since 1956, until I received my O-level certificate at the end of 1958. Subsequently, I was a member of the 1959 pioneering A-level class, although I do not recall how many we were that first year. We wouldn’t have been that many, but there were several new students who came in from other schools.
Now, let me move on to the event in question.
It began as a commotion amongst Senior 4 (S4) students in their carpentry classroom although we, the Senior 5 (S5) students, did not pay much attention until break time, when word started to trickle in. We were told that there had been a misunderstanding between two pupils, a boy and a girl. In the end, the boy was kicked out by the teacher which annoyed the rest of the class. They accused the teacher of bias against the boy and decided to boycott his class. Apparently, the teacher was having an affair with the female student.
The situation became increasingly volatile and by the end of the afternoon classes, students were running around the school grounds shouting the teacher and the girl’s names in conjunction. It was difficult to identify the leaders of the demonstration but somehow, students were directed to a location called “the amphitheatre”, near the girls’ dormitories.
They vented their grievances against the teachers and the school administration with considerable attention on the new headmaster who had been at Budo for only a year. He had come from a rival school and was not viewed as being as pupil friendly as his predecessor.
Later, we learned that the boy thrown out of the class had been suspended. It was like pouring oil into a fire. The more excited the students became, the higher the likelihood that destruction of property was going to follow. The students resolved to boycott all classes the following day with plans of causing havoc. This is where I came to find myself in the eye of the disturbance.
A brief word on my leadership position in the school at the time.
While none of the pupils in our S5 group held any official leadership positions such as prefects or monitors – all these were among S4 students – some of us had previously been in consultation with the headmaster and our teachers on matters of student affairs. I was leading a couple of initiatives involving the debating society and production of a new school magazine. Therefore, it was not out of the ordinary to find myself drawn into developing situations of this nature.
I sent a quiet message to those students I regarded as likely leaders in the unrest and arranged a meeting with them, at 6pm in the library, to discuss the best way forward in seeking a resolution. I listened to their grievances and discovered that the incident in the carpentry class had merely been the final straw. (I kept the notes I took during the meeting, and I know I have them somewhere, but cannot locate them.)
I proposed that all school prefects and monitors resign as a group; but the head prefect would remain in his position. I also explained that they needed to desist from any further rowdy behaviour because the administration would only listen to their complaints if they were presented in an orderly fashion. We had been informed that there was going to be a general assembly the following morning and I proposed an orderly movement to the assembly point.
The girls’ dormitory in 1959 was Sabaganzi and the boys’ dormitories, also known as houses, were Australia, Canada, England, and Mutesa, all located on the lower side of the Main Building; with South Africa, situated next to the dining room at the opposite end.
I advised that students of Canada House wait for the girls and join in as they crossed the Library Road on their way to the Main Building. Students from England and Mutesa Houses would join them as they walked towards the Chapel and, finally, Australia House would join when South Africa was walking towards the main building. To avoid being trapped inside, we resolved to attend the assembly only if it was held on the grounds in front of the Main Building. I must emphasize that S5 students were not part of the upheaval. We were sucked in by circumstances beyond our control.
The procession went off without a hitch and we refused to enter the Main Hall when we were asked. Instead, we remained outside in an orderly manner until eventually, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church, also the School Board Chair, arrived to address us. I have no recollection of what he said. All I remember is that we were informed that the school was being closed until further notice and all students had to leave the following day.
The following day we all went home to await the school reopening which most of us believed would occur within a few weeks. Little did we know that the closure would remain in effect for the rest of the scholastic year. Four months later, operations at school resumed as normal except for 11 expelled pupils of whom I was one. Four of us were in S5 and the other seven were in S4. This was a major fork in the road on the journey of my educational life.
I found out about my expulsion through the national news bulletin on the radio since I had had no contact with the school. I also discovered through the grapevine that the headmaster was interviewing some of my colleagues over the unrest. My parents must have been in a dilemma, wondering what was going to happen to me. Finally, after the dust settled, they advised me to go to the school and find out why I had been expelled.
The headmaster was amiable and even happy to see me. He said he had no concrete evidence of my involvement in the riots. However – and the school staff agreed with him – due to the manner in which the riot was organized, he was sure that I must have played a leading role.
He said he was going to contact Makerere (University College) to have me transferred into their 2-year pre-degree course programme. He explained that for purposes relating to the proper running of the school, I would not be allowed on campus for the following 5 years! True to his word, however, I eventually received an admission letter from Makerere to continue with the same combination of subjects I had been engaged in at Budo: Mathematics, Geography and English.
While the expulsion from school was traumatic, it did not spell the end of the road, especially for the four of us in S5. Instead, it created a fork where we took decisions that would affect us for the rest of our lives. Two of my colleagues moved to another school to continue with their A-level studies; one decided to continue his studies by correspondence; and I moved to Makerere. We all ended up completing our university education successfully and moved into our professions of choice.
One studied medicine at Makerere Medical School while another was enrolled at the London University Imperial College where he studied engineering, became a citizen of the Republic of Ireland and went on to be highly regarded in the Republic’s telecommunication system. The third studied political science at the University of Nairobi and eventually became a professor and head of the department of political science at Makerere University. Later, he was to serve as the Prime Minister of Uganda for 11 years.
As for me, I went on to study Mathematics from London University as an external student at Makerere, then statistics at both Aberdeen and Edinburgh universities, before doing epidemiology and biostatistics at Harvard University. After that, I returned to Makerere to teach statistics at the Medical School and by the time I left, 10 years later, I had attained the position of associate professor.
I moved on to the UN and worked with the World Health Organization for three and half years in Zambia and 19 years in Geneva – until my retirement in 2000. In the interim, I was invited by the government of Uganda to establish the Uganda AIDS Commission in 1991, serving as its first Director General. When I tell this story, the main purpose is to underline the quality of education during the pre-political independence era.
It was not unidirectional nor pitched strictly towards passing examinations. Instead, education was aimed at building an individual who was intellectually, socially and practically developed. Acquiring leadership skills was also always part of the process.
That is why the headmaster admitted that although he had no concrete evidence of my involvement in the rioting, he was convinced I had played a vital role due to the leadership qualities he saw in me. I was flattered by his accurate assessment and relieved that he did not punish me punitively for my role. Instead, he saw to it that I was allowed to move on with my education without much interruption.
The Covid-19 pandemic has added another layer of educational disorganization. For example, what level of instruction are our children and grandchildren going to receive? Will it allow them to be well-rounded and useful citizens? We need to invest in non-institutional education to rediscover the character building values that are greatly lacking today. Think about it.