One man’s civil service journey from colonial to Uganda govt

To many, the awarding of medals at national celebrations like Independence Day has been popularised by the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government.
However, it is an old tradition that was started 58 years ago. On October 9, 1962, Uganda gave out medals to deserving citizens for their services to the country even before Independence.  
Once such recipient of the Independence medals is 103-year-old Stephen Wagaba, who started serving his country in the 1930’s in the Mengo government.
 A born of Mengo at the home of Stanislaus Mugwanya, in July 1917, Wagaba joined government service as a clerk to his elder brother Matayo Mugwanya the founding president of Democratic Party (DP). 
“When my elder brother Mugwanya was made a Gombolola [sub-county] chief of Lwengo in 1939, he employed me as a court clerk earning Shs18 a month,” the centenarian reveals in an interview at his home in Rubaga, Kampala.
 It was during his service in Lwengo that the colonial government spotted him. 
As a court clerk, in 1942, he was asked to be the interpreter for Mitchell the District Commissioner (DC) for Masaka during his inspection visit to Lwengo.
 “After his address, Mitchell asked my brother: ‘‘Why are you wasting this young man in the village. He is a very good interpreter; he should be in Kampala.”
“The DC sent me to the Provincial Commissioner (PC) in Kampala with an introductory letter. His offices were near the present day Kampala High Court. After presenting my letter, I was told I was going to go to the Polish refugee camp in Kyaggwe the next day. I went home and packed my clothes ready to go to Kyaggwe, but when I reported to the PC’s I was instead told I was going to Tororo. Within a few minutes I was given a train ticket to Tororo that day.”
But while on the train, he says he befriended a man seated next to him and requested he alerts him once they got to Tororo station.
 “Unfortunately, the train reached Tororo at night and on getting out, I saw a White man with a placard bearing my name. I introduced myself to him and he told me to follow him. We walked from the train station, with my wooden box on the head up the hill where the camp was. I thought walking in the night was bad, but the worst was yet to come.” 
At the camp, Wagaba says the White man led him to a long building with no lights and door shutter.
“There was a sheet which acted as a door, he flipped it, and at the entrance was a bed with a blanket but no mattress. In the room was a metallic basin. In the basin was a plate with posho and a piece of meat in it. He pointed to the stuff on the bed and said that was my bed and my food. With those words he switched off his torch and walked away.”  
While, the White man showed him his new possession at the camp, Wagaba says heard a hyena growling up the hill. 
“When he went, I was left in total darkness and dead silence. I was gripped with fear, thinking the hyena would come for me any time since there was no door to the building. I suddenly saw cigarettes being lit in different parts of the building, it was a huge relief for me. I ate my food and went to sleep in the wood I had been given as a bed. In the morning, I woke up to some faces that I knew. This lifted up my spirits.” 
The camp Wagaba had been sent to in Tororo was where Ugandans conscripted to fight in the Second World War received their training before marching off to the war front. 
Here, he was responsible for collecting each individual’s personal bio data.  The recruits spent at least two months in Tororo undergoing training before travelling to Kenya. 
“In Tororo, my pay was Shs30 a month as one of the senior clerks,” he reveals.
When the war ended, those who survived came back through Tororo. Here, they received some money on their way back home.  
Public works
With the war over, the 103-year-old reveals that the camp in Tororo was converted into a branch of Department of Public Works.
“It was commonly known as Pida, and I was among the few retained clerks until 1955, when I was transferred to the People living with disability headquarters in Entebbe. I was in Entebbe for about three months before being transferred to the Kampala office as the senior supplies officer. My offices were at the present day Ministry of Works  offices on Port Bell road.” 
 “As a senior supplies officer, I was in-charge of government mechanical stores responsible for the maintenance of all government vehicles, reporting to the chief government supplies officer in Entebbe, until 1972, when I retired from civil service.”
“My responsibilities included purchasing and distributing spare parts of all government vehicles. I travelled outside the country to purchase spare parts and also internally inspected the government stores. At that time, the government fleet was made up of Land Rover, Bedford and Peugeot 403. I travelled to Britain and Kenya to meet the suppliers of the spare parts.”  
“It was during my services as a senior government supplies officer that the Independence wave started sweeping across the country. But as civil servants, we were not allowed to participate in politics. We just had to watch what was going on.” 
“It was while at Old Port Bell Road that I got an invitation to Kololo for the Independence Day celebrations, as a special guest. On the morning of Independence Day, I went to Kololo with my invitation card and I was shown to a pavilion of invited guests. After giving his speech as the new prime minister of a new country, Milton Obote went ahead to award medals and I was invited to the podium to receive mine. Obote himself pinned it on me.”  
“When I left Tororo in 1955, I settled in Namugongo, Wakiso where I had bought 80 acres of land. However, in 1974, after three attacks on my home I decided to sell the land to Church of Uganda and relocate back to Rubaga where I had bought property. With insecurity on the rise, in 1975, the widow of the former governor Bank of Uganda Joseph Mubiru, was attacked at her residence in Rubaga. Having survived the attack, she decided to put the house on sale. I bought the property, which became my home since 1975 to date.” 
“I retired from civil service at the time Idi Amin expelled people of Asian origin. I was given an Indian shop on Burton Street dealing in motor spare parts and I renamed it Dembe Motors. When I got the shop in 1972, I decided to concentrate on Land Rover and Bedford spare parts, whose suppliers I knew. I wanted to deal in Peugeot spare parts as well but I was not going to compete with Afro Motors the then agents of Peugeot in Uganda.  
After 12 years of operating Dembe Motors, in 1985 Wagaba sold the shop to an Indian   and decided to go into full retirement.  
In 1989, he lost his wife Caroline Wagaba in the Uganda Airlines plane crash in Rome. 
Caroline was returning home from London, UK where she had gone to see their children who were staying there. 
“Government gave me Shs180,000 as compensation for that loss. We had been married since 1947,” Mr Wagaba reveals. 

About Stephen Wagaba
He was born on July 17, 1917. In 1922, he went to stay in the palace when his mother was made one of the official bazzana of Daudi Chwa. 
He left the palace in 1929 for Bukalasa Seminary in the hope of becoming a priest, which unfortunately for him never happened. 
Wagaba started working for the colonial government during the Second World War and retired from civil service in 1972. 
He lost his wife in the Uganda Airlines plane crush in 1989. 
He is a father of 15 children and  one of the few Ugandans who have been able to see the grand children of his grandchildren.   
In Rubaga Division a zone has been named after him in remembrance of his efforts to provide refuge to Rubaga residents during the turbulent days of Uganda’s history.