This month marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Irish Embassy in Uganda. The ties between the two countries go far deeper than Ireland’s development aid programme, which has had a deep impact on communities over the last three decades, especially in Karamoja in the north east. In the second of a two-part series, regular visitor to Uganda, Miriam Donohoe, writes about the unique bond between the two nations.
TODAY, IRISH WOMAN Kathleen Noble will proudly represent Uganda in rowing in the Paris Olympics. The 29-year-old is the African nation’s first and only white Olympian across any sporting discipline – and also has the honour of co captaining Team Uganda with record-breaking long distance runner, Joshua Cheptefei.
How an Irish woman came to be participating in the world’s biggest and most competitive sporting games for Uganda is quite the story. Her parents, father Gerry, a doctor and development consultant from Enniskillen in Fermanagh and mother Moira, a teacher from Newbliss in Co Monaghan, moved to Uganda in 1994, a week before Ireland opened its Embassy here. Kathleen was born five months later in Nakaseke in central Uganda where her parents worked at a mission hospital in Luwero.
A prodigious swimmer in her youth Kathleen, one of three children, represented Uganda in the 2012 World Swimming Championships at just 17 years of age. She learned to row on Lake Victoria, one of Africa’s Great Lakes, in second-hand boats donated to Uganda by the World Rowing Federation in an effort to grow the sport.
“Uganda was a hugely different place when we first arrived,” said Moira “The road infrastructure was so poor, and telecommunications non-existent in rural areas. And wealthy Ugandans were not as visible as they are today.”
Staying in Uganda was not in the couples’ grand plan, and they certainly never imagined their daughter would represent their adopted country at the highest level of sport. Gerry is still a registered doctor and now works in development consultancy, while Moira has worked for the last 20 years as a teacher at the International School of Uganda.
“We kept saying we will stay another year, and then another, and before we knew it the kids were grown up and we are still here,” said Moira. “We love Uganda and the Ugandan people. The last few years have been very special for us. In 2021 Kathleen took part in her first Olympics for Uganda in Tokyo, in 2022 myself and Gerry got Ugandan citizenship and our son Daniel married Maria, who is Ugandan, in the same year.”
Another Irish “lifer” in Uganda is Ian Clarke, also from Armagh. A doctor, philanthropist and entrepreneur he and his wife Robbie have lived in Uganda for almost 40 years. He became the first ever white person to contest and win an election in Uganda, becoming the Mayor of Makindye, a district in Kampala, in elections in 2011.
“I came here first in 1986 just after President Museveni took power and the country was chaotic,” he recalls, “But there was an upbeat spirit in the place. I was a GP in Newtownards and I was not very challenged. I remember sitting in my office one day thinking about this disease that was killing people – AIDS – and wondering was there anything I could do to help. I needed a sense of purpose.”
Ian took part in a two-week exploratory visit to Uganda with a group from his local Church. “I went to a hospital in Rubaga in Kampala, and that was an eye opener. The conditions were shocking. Then I visited the Lowero Triangle was here Museveni had been fighting war in the bush, and the area was in a dreadful state with virtually no health services.”
Following this introduction to the country Ian and his wife Robbie came to Uganda on a two-year contract with the Church Mission Society. “ I don’t like the term missionary as it has connotations of “white people” coming to “save” the country. But I did medical work in Kiwko in the Lowero Trianglle. It was in the middle of nowhere. I trained health workers and eventually built a clinic and developed that into a small hospital.”
After a few years in London where Ian did a Masters in Tropical Medicine, the family moved back to Uganda, at a time when AIDS was killing thousands. Ian went on to develop Uganda’s first private hospital, International Hospital Kampala. This was followed by the opening of Clarke Schools and Clarke University. His latest venture is in coffee farming in Fort Portal in the west.
When Ian decided he was going to run for election as Mayor as an independent candidate in his district of Makindye in Kampala people told him he was mad. “The idea that a white man was going to be successful was inconceivable,” he said. “But I was motivated to make a change in the area. The traffic was chronic, there were potholes, blocked drains, the place was a mess. There were desperate slums in the district.”
“That campaign was hard. I had to speak in the local language, dance on top of trucks, ride a bike! If I ever stood for election in Ireland it would be a walk in the park compared to that campaign. But I caught the imagination of the local people.”
Ian says his biggest achievement as Mayor was fixing potholes and getting some work done cleaning up slums. “There was no long-term policy to re-house from the slums or improve the area. I was often out directing traffic as we fixed potholes. A lot of councillors couldn’t understand why I was so hands-on. They were too busy politicking. But what was great was how I was accepted by local people and constituents. I was one of them.”
Ireland’s ties with Uganda go back way longer than the 30 years that the Irish Embassy has had a presence. Irish missionaries first came in the early 1900s, and one of its most famous is Arklow-born Franciscan nun Mother Kevin. She left the UK for Uganda on 2nd December 1902 arriving on January 15th 1903. Over the next 50 years, she established schools, hospitals and charitable institutions and is today fondly remembered and honoured in Uganda, and known as “Mama Kevina”. A process for her beatification began in 2017 and is currently at Vatican level.
Another legendary Irish missionary who made a huge impact was Medical Missionary of Mary nun Sr Maura Lynch, a surgeon renowned for her work with impoverished women and for carrying out obstetric fistula repair and teaching the procedure to Ugandan health professionals.
Ireland has also played a transformative role in developing palliative care in Uganda. Professor Dr Anne Merriman, who was born in the UK to Irish parents, joined the Medical Missionary of Mary in Co. Louth in the 1950’s, and studied medicine at UCD. Known as “the mother of palliative care in Africa” she founded Hospice Africa Uganda in 1993 and is credited with spreading palliative care not just in Uganda but across the African continent.
Culture has also paid a huge role in the relationship between Ireland and Uganda and a phenomenon in the last two years has been the establishment of several GAA clubs with hurling in particular beginning to prove very popular. A cultural programme led by Galway native John Walsh and his Uganda wife Deborah teaching Irish Dancing and GAA is being piloted in several schools. The programme aims to giving children from under-resourced schools quality dance, sports and music lessons.
Under this programme, Lord of the Dance troupe member, Jean Kennedy from Co Laois, has been teaching children Irish dance remotely using videos, and she visited Uganda earlier this year to prepare children for an incredible performance of Irish dance – fused with some Ugandan moves – at the annual St Patricks Ball. The talented dancers received a rousing reception at what is the social event of the year in Uganda, with all nationalities including Ugandans attending. Tickets are like gold dust.
Education is also strengthening ties with the two countries and in particular the Irish Aid Masters Fellowships which give Ugandans in early to mid-career the opportunity of further education, including in universities in Ireland.
One of the Fellowship alumni is Uganda’s first woman DPP, Jane Frances Abodo, who went to Kangole School in Karamoja, Uganda’s poorest district, and which has been supported by Ireland for the last 20 years. She is the first person from Karamoja to go on to become a lawyer and credits the opportunity to go to Ireland to undertake a Masters in Law in Trinity College, Dublin, with advancing her career.
“I had been a prosecutor for many years, but doing the Masters prepared me for new heights and pushed me to do more. Afterwards I applied with confidence for a position as a judge and succeeded. Then I was appointed DPP.”
Irish Ambassador to Uganda, Kevin Colgan, said he is proud of Ireland’s contribution to Uganda’s development. “Ireland has had a strong presence in Uganda since the start of the last century. Many Irish have made Uganda their home whether early missionaries, Irish that came in the 60’s and 70’s after independence to help build a new nation, or the young more recently arrived Irish.”
“We are always finding ways to work together, in music or dance, culture, sport, education or health. We have more in common, than what divides us. As it continues along its path of development, with its vibrant, ambitious and young population, I believe Ireland will remain a strong partner of the journey to a brighter future for Uganda and Africa.”
Miriam Donohoe is a journalist and media professional.
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