While some work out running/walking up and down the hill, others simply sit in the grass and on the roadside, catching up or meeting newcomers.
Then on Sundays, you will see groups of them draped in their beautiful scarves, coming home from an Orthodox church. As for areas along Ggaba road and the neighbourhoods, the places have earned themselves a new moniker: ‘Little Horn of Africa’ because of how many foreigners originating from the Horn of Africa live in the area.
Kisenyi, on the other hand, is ‘Little Mogadishu’; Somalis love Kisenyi. During their more than three decades’ stay in Uganda, entire suburbs have been gentrified to look more like a community in The Horn. In some cases, the shop signage is in Tigrinya, Amharic and Somali (Maay), since many in their communities neither speak nor understand English.
If you have been away from Uganda for a while, you will most likely have a cultural shock walking through the former party hub of Kabalagala or sloping towards the former MM Pub in Kabuusu.
Kisenyi
Somalis in Kisenyi usually walk in pairs or more. The male Somalis are easy-going; dressed in jeans, T-shirts and sneakers, while the women wear burqas and don’t shake hands with non-family men, because Islam forbids it.
Speaking to The Observer, Mohamed Kalif, 49, came to Kisenyi in 1998. He has risen through his community’s ranks to become the vice chairperson of the Somali Community Association in Uganda. Kalif estimates about 60,000 Somali refugees reside in Uganda.
He recalled Kisenyi as an insecure slum infested with hooligans. Overtime, coordinated security sweeps have encouraged more of his people to reside in the area. Even Somali long-distance truck drivers prefer to make a sojourn there, because it is cheap, in the city centre and has a secure Somali community.
Because of Ugandans’ hospitality, some truck drivers have returned to settle in Kisenyi. The Somali community have established ways of being self-sustaining by engaging in various businesses in and around Kampala. Their chain of businesses include fuel stations, pharmacies, restaurants, forex bureaus, supermarkets, and the tuk tuks (three-wheel taxis) they have almost monopolised.
To raise money for these businesses, Kalif said, they source funding from colleagues within and outside Uganda.
“If one of us has relatives in Kenya, they can send him or her goods [stock]. When the monetary value of the goods is raised, the profit is retained by the business in Uganda and the initial capital sent back to the Somali in Kenya who loaned the goods. The profits are then reinvested. Others start businesses through financial help from friends and relatives especially those living in USA, Canada and the UK.
Relocating to Uganda
As more Somalis register good fortune in Uganda, more in the volatile Horn of Africa are enticed to relocate to the Pearl of Africa. Most of them arrive by road, making the 1,834.6km road trip from Mogadishu to Kampala, via Busia and Malaba. Kalif noted that before a Somali comes to Uganda, s/he must find a host in Uganda.
“That host submits an invitation letter, copy of their identification card and an LCI letter. The person coming to Uganda should have a passport, their pictures, immigration fee. Applications are made online and after security screening and approval, you are given a visa to come,” he said.
“The Somalis in Uganda are living like Ugandans themselves; we can do whatever business we want, open a bank account, free movement, take our children to public or private schools. The only thing we cannot do is buy land, which is not a huge problem, because we can still get a lease of up to 99 years on land. The things and peace we get here we cannot even get it in our own home country Somalia; so, we are happy to stay here,” Kalif said.
“What I like most about Uganda is that there is peace here. For over 20 years that I have lived here, Ugandans have been hospitable to us. They were discriminatory at the start, [but] they got to appreciate that we were good people. We have lived harmoniously since.”
Agnes Ntabadde has lived in Mengo Kisenyi for close to 20 years. At the time, a handful of Somalis lived there. This has changed significantly and now Somalis are involved in all forms of business in the area. She said most of the apartment blocks in Kisenyi and neighbouring areas are occupied by Somalis.
“There is an apartment building next to me whose owner didn’t want to rent to Somalis. When no Ugandans could part with Shs 700,000 as monthly rent, he decided to rent it out to the Somalis. The entire apartment is now occupied,” Ntabadde said.
Since Kisenyi is now too crowded, Somalis and others from The Horn have expanded to Kabuusu, Nalukolongo, Nateete, Lungujja and Kawempe.
Ggaba road
Diplomat Rise in Kansanga has morphed into a meeting place for communities from the Horn of Africa. Groups of 10 or more men will be found seated under shades.
Their conversations revolve around the events in their home countries, relocation to the West, etc. Across from where we sat to observe, a group of young men were playing pool, while across, women from their community tended to shops, salons and restaurants.
Abdihafid Mustaf Elmi, a Somali residing in Kansanga, said the large numbers of people from the Horn of Africa living here could be attributed to the universities along Ggaba road, which they attend. The campuses include Kampala International University (KIU), Cavendish University, the International University of East Africa and Kampala University, among others.
These universities, Mustaf noted, have become a sanctuary to several students hailing from Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia.
“Most of us are here because a colleague back at home advised that we join a University in Uganda. Since most of the leaders and high-ranking officials in the Somali government attended KIU, we have chosen to follow in their footsteps,” Mustaf said.
He added: “Ugandans are very hospitable people. My Ugandan friends have taken me to their homes and introduced me to their parents. If I ever find a Ugandan lady that meets my qualities, I will surely marry her. If there’s any opportunity for me to apply for Ugandan citizenship, I will be happy to take it. I have loved my stay in Uganda.”
Abdirazak Bashir Nur’s first trip out of Somalia was to Uganda.
“After my degree at the University of Mogadishu, I chose to come here for my master’s degree.”
Nur said the security in Uganda had made it his dream destination for further studies. Nur said his first days in the country were challenging. Just like many from the Horn of Africa, Nur reacted badly to Uganda’s piped water.
“Shortly after my arrival in January this year, I fell sick. I was admitted in the hospital for days. I only drink bottled water since then. Also, when I shower with this water, it affects the hair. The hair begins dropping off our heads. We were advised to boil the water before we use it on our body. Our Eritrean brothers also have the same challenge with the water. It is disturbing to realize that this same water has no effect on Ugandans. However, we have decided to buy lotions which we use to keep our hair intact.”
Asked why people from The Horn keep to themselves and don’t assimilate, Nur said: “A community provides security. In most cases when I get a problem, it is a Somali that will run to my rescue. That is why we stay in groups.”
Ugandans
For the last 30 years, Joshua Matovu, a resident of Bukasa, Muyenga has observed Ugandan landlords sell their property to the new entrants.
“Most are Eritreans. If you observed Tank Hill road in Muyenga, several new hangouts are coming up. Most of them are owned by Eritreans. Muyenga, which was a predominantly residential area 10 years ago, is now competing with Kabalagala in the number of hangout places.”
Kabalagala, once the party capital of Kampala’s night life, is now home to Ethiopian and Eritrean resaurants, salons and businesses, pushing Ugandan party animals deeper into residential areas of Kololo, Muyenga and Kira, among others. Matovu said when the Eritreans and Somalis came in, they offered crazy rates for land and property in the area.
“Initially most of the land in Muyenga was owned by families. These properties were inherited by children who are now selling. In a space of 10 years, most of my neighbours, as you have observed, are now Eritreans. The locals sold their land and moved to areas of Kira and Bulindo to start life anew.”
Matovu said although several Ugandans are concerned about the gentrification, the newcomers have brought life and development to Muyenga.
“Our people should not be afraid. These Eritreans will [also move on]. There was a time when South Sudanese were very many in this area. They have now been replaced by Eritreans and Somalis.”
Shortly after South Sudan attained her independence in 2011, the same areas of Ggaba road and Muyenga were occupied by South Sudanese and landlords and schools favoured them because money was not their problem. Many of those South Sudanese relocated to the West or went back home, as their country stabilised.
“The money was injected into our economy. See how Muyenga has changed!” Matovu said. Drawing from interactions with his Eritrean friends (Eritreans and Ethiopians declined to speak to The Observer), Matovu said most of them were using Uganda as a transit point before relocating to Canada or the USA.
“These individuals have a huge diaspora community that looks out for one another. That is how they are able to raise the large sums of money they invest in Uganda.”
While participating in a social media discussion about some areas of Kampala looking like the new Horn of Africa, Professor Golooba Mutebi said it is a natural phenomenon for migrants to go to places where their kith and kin have settled.
“This explains the China towns in cities where Chinese communities are fairly significant,” Mutebi said.
Cultural integration
Although the Somali community have been in Uganda for about 30 years and more, only a handful of Ugandans have married into the communities. It is even rarer in Eritrean and Ethiopian communities.
“In Somalia, for a man to marry a woman, he has to give her family camels and gold but since such items are hard to get here, they have to forego such cultural norms. It is now more of an understanding between the two families; they can agree for a man to pay between $200 and $1,000 as bride price or even have a woman given to him for free,” Kalif said.
However, Kalif said although they encourage intermarriage between Ugandans and Somalis, our cultural differences are too many; for instance, the Somali culture does not subscribe to cohabiting first.
“How can you get married when you have already been together and even had children? What kind of marriage is that? In our culture, marriage is supposed to happen when the woman is still a virgin, unless she is a widow. If she is unable to produce children, there is an option of getting a second wife.”
Ntabadde said she has never seen a Ugandan marrying a Somali in her community. She said, “It is difficult for Ugandan men to court Somali women because they always move in groups. Some Somali men date Ugandan women, but they still don’t marry them.”
She attributed this to language barrier, which makes communication difficult as they are not so keen on learning the local languages.
“It’s only the young ones who have gone to schools here that have learnt English and know some Luganda.”
Language barrier is a limitation not just for cross-cultural love, but also for accessing certain services.
“We find it difficult to report cases at police due to language barrier; and the accused person always gets away with it because they can speak English, Luganda or Kiswahili,” Kalif said.
Instead, the Somalis have traditional elders, who preside over civil cases and disputes among them. When one commits an offence, the elders listen to both parties, come out with a verdict and an appropriate punishment. They don’t usually rush to the police, unless it is for criminal cases.
Ntabadde said: “I love how they look out for one another. If they are staying in the same building, one cannot let the neighbour go hungry. They share whatever they have, no matter how little it is. One can leave one’s house and go do chores at a friend’s house, if that friend is feeling unwell.”
inarticle} inarticle}