The Sanyu Daily | Friday, October 17, 2025

Good morning! Let's start the day with your requested facts and stories.

📆 Today in UG History

October 9, 1962: Uganda gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Dr. Milton Obote became the first Prime Minister, and Sir Edward Muteesa II, the Kabaka (King) of Buganda, was elected as the country's first President one year later.

🌏 And elsewhere in Africa

The 1970s are often referred to as "Africa's Lost Decades" by some economists. Following a global slowdown and the oil price shock of 1973, many countries across the continent experienced a prolonged period of negative or negligible income growth, with some economies, especially those affected by civil wars like Angola and Mozambique, suffering severe economic collapse.

⁉️Trivia Question: Which country was the first to install a permanent electrical traffic light system?

A) United Kingdom B) United States C) Germany D) France

In the news

📰 The New Bus Park In Kampala, a seasoned boda-boda rider named Musoke watched the new, gleaming bus park open. For decades, he had navigated the old, chaotic park's dirt paths. The new one was orderly, paved, and efficient. On opening day, he got lost in its neat lanes. He stopped, laughed at himself, and pulled out his phone to use a map. "Even the old dog must learn new tricks," he muttered, accelerating into the future.

📰 The Taste of Home A young Ugandan professional, Amara, living in the diaspora, finally returned home after five years. Her mother, knowing exactly what she missed, served her a steaming plate of Matooke and Groundnut Sauce (Ebinyebwa). Amara took one bite, and the complex, earthy flavour instantly dissolved the years of homesickness. It wasn't just food; it was the taste of her childhood, her language, her people, all on one simple plate.

📰 Kintu's Goat In a village near the foothills of Mount Elgon, Kintu's favorite goat, 'Trouble,' vanished. Kintu searched for days, worried. On the fourth day, he found Trouble grazing calmly in his neighbor's compound. The neighbor, a stern old woman, just pointed at Kintu's newly planted garden, now half-eaten. Kintu didn't scold the goat; he just bought the neighbor a sack of maize, knowing that sometimes, the quiet message is clearer than any accusation.

Africa

📰 The Suit in Durban (Inspired by Can Themba's The Suit) Philemon, a working man in apartheid-era Durban, returned home unexpectedly to find his wife, Matilda, with another man. The man fled, leaving his suit on the floor. Philemon made no scene, demanded no divorce. Instead, he forced Matilda to treat the empty suit—the literal "guest"—as a living person: setting a place for it at the table, taking it for walks. The silent, constant presence of the suit became a crushing, psychological torment, a heavy weight that finally broke the already fractured spirit of their life together.

International

📰 The Wall and the Violin In a war-torn European city, a former music teacher, Elara, found herself living in a basement while constant shelling shook the buildings above. She owned one treasure: a battered violin. One evening, a young soldier from the opposing side found her hideout. He raised his rifle, but stopped as Elara, without a word, began to play a somber, beautiful melody. The soldier, recognizing a tune his mother used to sing, slowly lowered his weapon. He stayed only for the music, then left, but on the outside wall, he had scratched a small message in the dust: "Silence the guns, not the strings."

😎 Share a story of your own! What historical fact or anecdote has stuck with you? Tell us in the comments!

💭 DAILY QUOTE

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." — Peter Drucker