Who will paint an accurate picture of Uganda’s history?

These days, the news is always rolling everywhere day and night. Everybody is having their say, on Social media, print media, news websites, close to 200 radio stations as of December 2020, and at the last count, 54 registered TV stations, according to Uganda Communications Commission records. For every viral tweet, several lads and girls seem to have quick archives, possibly in the cloud, where at the snap of one’s fingers, they will summon records you did not know or remember existed. There are video uploads of conversations everywhere and Twitter Spaces are always in session these days; morning, noon and night. Ask a question and these diligent citizen journalists will mine the Internet and give you the answer.
While we have all this information floating around and then sinking into the archives, who is making sense of it all? Uganda has been described as many things; the Pearl of Africa or a land of some milk, honey and unending drama, depending on whom you ask. What is not in doubt is massive inheritance into which we were born. However, like wayward children, our country’s agents have sold and squandered the estate and now we spend our days marvelling at the evidence of our misdeeds; corruption, rights violation, outright plundering and more. 
If you are looking for, for instance, evidence of torture by alleged State agents, you will not find them plastered on the pages of your local daily but they will surface somehow from the depths of the web and circulate widely. Next time the topic comes up for discussion, just wait and see how fast netizens dig up evidence.
The intricately woven web has facilitated what would have been a mountainous task of documenting and information-sharing. For purposes of informing the generations to come, this is key. Some of the things that happen in our republic, need to be seen to be believed. And so we record and stash away. Writing history changes when everyone can publish online. Few bloggers have history degrees. However, the need is there for people who know how to work with the technologies, those active enough to apply themselves to the task and finally, those sufficiently motivated to keep the records. There is information in the public domain and more which exists a little below the surface and requires some digging. Currently, we seem to have a collective effort going on, with many unseen hands putting information away. It is urgent, and has been, for some time, to curate all the content streaming through the various channels. Historical context is important, yet currently we may find that some of the most vigorous content creators are the ones pursuing selfish agendas and offering one-sided account of events. If those with the skills, if our institutions of academia, the press and others, do not become more involved in helping our society to sieve and sort through the noise, what are our children likely to be consuming 20 years down the road? There will be no avenues to pursue accountability without objective and well documented records of the happenings in our times. 
Our history is filled with shady and ridiculous deals and people who have gone back on their word. Occasionally, it is refreshing to see narratives challenged with evidence retrieved from these scattered archives. We live in times of increasing citizen journalism. In cases where trust in public institutions and the mainstream is eroded, the numerous radio and TV stations may not be the first port of call for those seeking information, citizens will naturally turn to the underground. 
Ms Nampewo is a writer, editor and communications consultant     
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