Ugandans share fond memories of Queen ahead of her burial today

The official funeral and burial of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on September 8 aged 96, will take place in London today. Being on the throne for 70 years meant Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in the United Kingdom. In those years, she travelled the world, and the world travelled. Ugandans, mighty and ordinary, recount fond memories of their encounters, some by luck, with the former head of the Commonwealth and the lasting impressions that she left.

I’d private lunch with Queen

“I took this photo of Queen Elizabeth II greeting this chef at the residence of former Commonwealth Secretary General (SG) Sir Don McKinnon in March 2008. Sir Don had hosted a private dinner for Her Majesty and Prince Philip, and invited me to attend. This was a few weeks after I had met the Queen for the first time. We were only two other outside guests at this lunch; [I] and Derick Ally, his personal assistant (PA).

It was very rare for the Queen to be hosted for lunch outside the palace. I arrived early to witness the entire process of preparing lunch for Her Majesty and went down to the kitchen to look at the fruits, vegetables, cereals, tomatoes, wine and other ingredients that go into the Queen’s meal. Each element was well calculated and weighed. The chef told me what an honour it was to have a lifetime chance to cook for Her Majesty. At exactly midday, Her Majesty arrived in a sleek Rolls-Royce. It was drizzling. I held an umbrella [to shield] her and Derick held one for Prince Philip. Then lunch was served and we all sat at the table: The SG, his wife, the Queen, Prince Philip and Derick. At that moment, I remembered that though I was at this royal table, my journey began as a small boy on Bwama Island in Lake Bunyonyi and Masese landing site in Jinja. In total awe at what God [could] do, I quietly said a prayer for food, but also thanked God for the grace, favour and immense blessings he had bestowed on me --- to keep hope alive.”

Julius Mucunguzi, Advisor/Head Communication, Office of the Prime Minister

Lensman’s encounter with royalty 

 “Yes, I got to meet the queen in 2007 at Serena International Conference Centre for the official Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting family photo of Heads of States and Government as the official photographer, then working with DELICO Studio. This was after a two-week training by Ministry of Foreign Affairs on (royal) etiquette.” 
Fred Mubiru, photographer 

Royal diplomacy forces feuding Museveni and Moi at same table

“Today, September 9, 2022, at 10pm, Maama Janet and [I] were supposed to depart [for] the United Kingdom (UK) to take part in the 50 years’ commemoration of the expulsion of our Indians by Idi Amin in 1972. However, at 20:30 hours (East African time), it was announced from London that Her Majesty the Queen had died. My immediate reaction was to cancel the trip. I did not think it appropriate to continue with the trip given this loss to the UK and the Commonwealth [then headed by Queen Elizabeth II). Fortunately, when I consulted more people, including our Asian organisers in the UK, everybody agreed with my instinctive initial reaction. The function was postponed to a future date to be agreed on.

Instead, the celebratory meeting on Sunday by our Indians in their Temple in London [was] a prayer meeting where the Ugandan High Commissioner to UK, will represent me. Although Her Majesty was 96 years of age, her death was a shock to Maama Janet, the other Ugandans and myself. After all, only a few days ago, we had seen her receiving the new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss (Rt. Hon.) and had defeated corona some months ago.  

In her long reign of 70 years on the throne, she has witnessed the huge metamorphosis of the political land-scape in the world such as the death ofJoseph Stalin in 1953, the independence of the former colonies of Britain, starting with Sudan in 1955 and Ghana in 1957, the independence of the other colonies formerly controlled by France, Portugal, the rise of Fidel Castro in Cuba, etc. With the former British colonies; they metamorphosed into the Commonwealth of States, with the exception of a few of them such as Sudan, Burma, etc. I first interacted with her personally in 1987, a good 35 years ago, when she received me at Buckingham Palace, on my way to the Commonwealth Heads of State meeting in Vancouver, Canada. That meeting was attended by some of the iconic commonwealth leaders such as (Singaporean leader) Lee Kuan Yew, Mahathir Mohamad (of Malaysia), (Kenya’s) Daniel Arap Moi, Brian Mulroney (Canada’s 18th prime minister), [then UK Prime Minister] Margaret Thatcher, [Zimbabwe’s] Robert Mugabe, Rajiv Gandhi (India’s sixth prime minister), etc. [The Queen], of course, opened our conference and, in her use of the soft power she possessed, forced the late Mzee Arap Moi and myself to sit on the same dinner table with her presiding in spite of the tension that existed between Kenya and us at that time.

Only last night, I saw [a footage of] her on television, driving in a ceremonial car with [former South African President] Nelson Mandela,  a longtime victim of colonialism in South Africa. I also saw her pictures visiting Northern Ireland and shaking hands with the former Irish Republican Army (IRA) leaders and yet that organisation had planted bombs that had killed her uncle, Field Marshal Lord Mountbatten. That was part of her contribution to the mutating world, efforts for reconciliation. 

When she received me at Buckingham Palace, for the first time in 1987, I told her that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was the only international meeting where we do not have the inconvenience of using interpreters. This is a fact that those who see far could use for the benefit of all Commonwealth members in the areas of Trade, Investment, Tourism and anti-terrorism. Ever since 1952, I have been following her leadership journey through the media initially and, later on, through direct interaction in CHOGM meetings.

My grandmother, Rusi Bakyira, an Aunt to my mother, was the first to show me her picture in1952, saying: Omugabekazi omusya, n’akaishikyi kato (the new Queen is a young girl). In spite of the difference of colour and race, you can always tell people’s different ages. During the 2007 CHOGM in Uganda, we were happy to host the top leaders of the British Royal family. These were: Her Majesty the Queen, her husband Prince Philip and Prince Charles (now king). Prince Charles visited Jinja and was cheered all the way and Prince Philip visited the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Her Majesty was welcomed rapturously between Entebbe and Kampala although it was late in the evening. I salute her contribution to the Commonwealth. The Ugandans, Maama Janet and [I] send our most heart-felt condolences to His Majesty King Charles III, our good friend in the conservation of nature, the Royal family, the British people and the citizens of the Commonwealth. May her soul rest in eternal peace.” 

President Museveni, September 9, 2022 condolence message 

Queen showed warm love during our two meetings
 “I had the opportunity to meet Queen Elizabeth II, not just once but twice. I got to meet her as I accompanied my husband, Hon Oryem Henry Okello, the State minister for International Affairs, on his diplomatic duties. Our first meeting was in November 2007 at State House Entebbe during the Commonwealth Head of Government Meetings (Chogm) and the other being at Marlborough House in London, the United Kingdom, during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, marking 60 years of the Queen’s reign.

The Queen always greeted with a radiant smile on her face, that gave a sense oflove and warmth to all those that were around her. She stood out of the crowd not just because of the bright colours she wore, but because of the naturallove she exuded. She was an icon and a role model to many leaders across the world. Her 70 years of leadership was a source of stability, but was also marked with dedication, commitment, humility, compassion and resilience. She will be dearly missed.”

Joyce Okello, Executive Director, Strategy and Risk Management, Bank of Uganda

Parents’ leader shakes Queen’s hand

 “On the last day of her visit to Uganda for Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in November 2007, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II together with her husband Prince Philip, then the Duke of Edinburgh, paid a visit to Kitante Primary School in Kampala. I was then the chairperson of the School’s Parents-Teachers’ Association (PTA). As a representative of the parents whose children were studying in the school, I was selected and included in the welcoming team to receive the Queen together with the Head teacher and other members of the School Management Committee. I was honoured with a hand shake by Her Majesty on her arrival at the school. The attached photograph shows me getting the handshake from the Queen. 

The Royal visitors were entertained by the school learners with traditional music and dances after which they departed for Entebbe International Airport and flew back to the United Kingdom.”  
Charles Akora, former Kitante Primary School Parents-Teachers’ Association (PTA) chairperson

Queen’s prayer heals Lord Ssentamu’s heart

 “The Queen wrote to me the most wonderful letter four weeks after the burial of [her husband] Prince Philip, thanking me for the flowers, the prayers and then ended by saying, ‘when you are grieving someone you deeply love, it isn’t easy when you are having to do it in public. So, my thought would be to the new King (Charles III) and the whole royal family. They are grieving publicly and they [need to] find the space to do it. The second thought was when I went to see the queen in 2018 to ask permission to step down as the Archbishop [of York]. I went with a huge burden of matters that one day may be revealed. And I knelt down and I said, ‘Your Majesty, please, pray for me’.

So, I put my hands together and she put hers outside mine and we were silent for three minutes and at the end she said, ‘Amen’. When I got up, the burden had lifted. That is the kind of a Queen we had. Her life was so rooted in Christ that she was able to transmit that same power, that love, that Grace. So, I will be saying, ‘mum, on that day, 12 of July 2018, you lifted my burden, and I am so thankful.”  
Lord John Ssentamu, Archbishop Emeritus of York. Extracted from his interview with the BBC.

Leaders can be  mighty, yet humble
  “I met Queen Elizabeth Alexandria Windsor in whom I saw a towering icon, compass of justice, peace, freedom, human rights, and democracy and a genesis of respect, decency and torch of fairness, grace, liberty and avenue of collectiveness.
In general, meeting the Queen was a moving and explosive experience whose presence sent shivers down the spine of even the mightiest of the world.
I met her at Kitante Hill School in Kamwokya in Kampala in November 2007.
My name had earlier been nominated to the late Ms Hilda Musubira (RIP), the then executive director of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) 2007, by the senior military and Ministry of Defense officials with whom I then worked.

Because the senior security officers were involved at almost every level of the preparation of Chogm, I once received a phone call from the late Kagole Kivumbi (RIP), then Chogm-Uganda spokesperson, who initially interrogated me whether I would bewilling to volunteer in the Chogm-Uganda activities especially hospitality matters. I responded nobody could blow such a once-in-a life time opportunity where the Queen, her husband Prince Philip and the son, now King Charles III, would be in attendance.

A few weeks after, madam Hilda Musubira wrote to me stating that my name had severally come up in her CHOGM-Uganda committee meetings ... She tasked me to write a concept paper to guide her team on how to optimise VVIP delegates’ accommodation, factoring their security. This was to include guidelines on sourcing local hotels for guests and tourism trainers to polish hoteliers. The Queen’s Aide de Camp (in Uganda) was late Col Albert Kareba who was nominated because he had attended Birmingham University in the United Kingdom. The Head of Accreditation was Maj (Rtd) Bwino Kyakulaga, the current State minister for Agriculture. They both knew me and so it wasn’t hard for me. They issued me a security identity password - ARTIST. I was posted to Uganda Museum Chogm Village in Kamwokya where the Queen was to visit the neighbouring Kitante Hill School. It’s there that I met the Queen. The impact was exciting and the lessons learnt were that one can be mighty, yet humble.
May the Queen’s soul Rest in Eternal Peace.”

Nabendeh Wamoto
 

I made history by giving flowers to Elizabeth II 
“In 2007, and as a young boy then aged 7 and a pupil at Kitante Primary School in Kampala, our lovely school was privileged to host the Queen of England during her time in Uganda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm).
My mother was a very good friend to our class teacher, the late Jovia of Primary One Class (Stream L) and Mrs Ruth Nakanjako who were the chief organisers of the function. 
I was selected to hand a bouquet of flowers over to Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

I remember very well it was around 10am in the morning when a very well-guarded convoy came in to the school gates. I felt like a prince at that moment when I was handing over a banquet of flowers to the Queen. I learnt two good things from Queen Elizabeth; seating in a good posture and speaking with confidence no matter what .Young at that age, I didn’t know that I was making history that I would live to share with the entire world.
I pray that God judges the Queen with peace and I also pray for the royal family. Rest in honour, dearest Queen.”

Elijah Ntale 

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