Uganda @ 60 Special
By Alex Gahima
Tress Bucyanayandi, 85 is a Ugandan agriculturalist and retired politician.
The elderly statesman and career civil servant was privileged to serve his country as the cabinet minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.
He also served the people of Kisoro district as the Bufumbira South Member of Parliament for two terms.
His days of service date back to the colonial times, when he worked as an Agricultural Assistant in the Protectorate Government of Uganda.
Healthy and quite vibrant, Mr. Bucyanayandi, spends most of his days at his town home in Kisoro Municipality, where his gates are always open to family, friends and the general public.
“I often receive guests at my house at all times of the day, however I make sure to visit my farm projects and my Secondary School in Kamonyi daily, to keep abreast with the times of the day, Bucyanayandi explains.
Mr. Bucyanayandi, a working youth posted to the Kayonza tea area, says remembers the day the Union Jack was lowered on 6th October 1962 for the Uganda Flag.
According to Bucyanayandi, Independence Day was such a momentous time in the history of Uganda because Ugandans were more than ready to take back control of their own country.
“We certainly had learnt a lot and knew what needed to be done to ensure Uganda thrived without external influence, says Bucyanayandi.
“As soon as the Ugandan flag went up, then I was given a house of my own. It had formerly belonged to a white, Bucyanayandi narrates, it had everything you could need, a bed and mattress, Kitchen fully equipped with cutlery. That day, I truly felt like a master of my own destiny, He says.
As Bucyanayandi regales me with his tale, he points out how the current generation of Ugandans have taken their independence for granted, especially those working in civil service.
Back in 1964, Bucyanayandi was posted to the Kayonza tea area where it was his job to promote tea and Cotton production in Kihihi.
It was during the same year that Tress wedded his wife on 4th January 1964 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Mutolere.
According to Bucyanayandi, the work ethic back then was encourage-able because people knew how to put service above self.
“It is unfortunate that today, many civil servants are not in office by 9am and yet by 3pm they have already gone home. Worse still, it is almost impossible to get them to the field, which is tragic, Bucyanayandi explained.
He however says, after Country was placed in the hands of Ugandans, production increased significantly.
The British were only interested in tea, coffee and cotton.
The farmers at the time never truly got the value of the produce, especially coffee which was 35% of the farm gate price however when Ugandans took over, it rose to 85%.
Bucyanayandi meets Queen Elizabeth II at Kazinga Channel.
As a youth, only in his senior one at St. Mary’s Rushoroza, Kabale, Tress and a few of his peers were selected to go and meet Queen Elizabeth at Kazinga National Park.
The late Queen Elizabeth visited the park and the channel in 1954 when the Colonial Government changed the park’s name from Kazinga Park to Queen Elizabeth Park.
Bucyanayandi recalls receiving a Coronation mug from the Queen.
“This mug had a picture of the Queen. It was such a special moment for all of us present, unfortunately, I cannot seem to find that mug now, it’s been so many years”, Bucyanayandi sighs
A father of nine biological children, including Kisoro Municipality Member of Parliament Paul Kwizera Buchana, several grandchildren and great grandchildren, Mr. Bucyanayandi says it is important for the youth now to move from Subsistence farming to industrialization.
This, he says will increase value on the farm produce and increase income at household level.
With a population of over 45 million Ugandans, Mr. Tress Ngirabanzi Bucyanayandi says, Ugandans need to come together to add value to everything they produce, if the country is to thrive.
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