Ugandans Want Colonial Iconography Removed

Campaigners have asked Uganda’s parliament to order the removal of monuments to British colonialists and to rename streets commemorating imperial military forces. Uganda gained independence in 1962 after almost 70 years as a British protectorate, and more than 5,000 people have signed a petition to “decolonise and rename” the dozens of statues and street names which remain. Among the disputed statues is one of Lord Fredrick Lugard, a prominent military colonial official in east Africa with a reputation for cruelty. Campaigners want to change the name of King’s African Rifles Drive in Kampala, named after the British unit deployed in the brutal campaign against the Mau Mau uprising in neighbouring Kenya. “[We] strongly believe that the continued public display of colonial iconography which glorifies individuals responsible for the brutalisation, subjugation and humiliation of colonised peoples of Uganda is a slap in the face of many brave people that fought for the political independence of Africa from the 15th century until the late 1960s,” the petition says.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN