Volume 19, Issue 2, 2022

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Editorial

It is 50 years since Uganda’s President Idi Amin Dada declared that Asians had to exit their homeland within 90 days! It was a move that ruffled feathers even in the neighbouring countries. During these 50 years people have resettled, others have adapted and memories have faded. The enduring impression is one of victims and their amazing…

Regular column

1972 + Fifty

That makes 2022, and here we are looking back, from diverse angles, on what happened fifty years ago, principally in Uganda and Britain.  I remember the events of that year well. Professionally I was very busy at the time and had to postpone a planned visit to Canada. That aside, when on August 4, Idi Amin announced his order expelling the Asians, giving them 90 days to leave the country, my fellow lawyers and I didn`t quite know what to make of it, but soon realised that unlike some of his other public utterances, often laced with a touch of buffoonish joviality, this was no laughing matter. We discussed its political fallout, and wondered how the…

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Book Reviews

Lords of Impunity

Author: Rasna Warah Publ: Lens&Pens Publishing, LLC Lords of Impunity is a litany of deeply disturbing stories – stories of sexual abuse, mega corruption, hierarchies, cover-ups and denials, racism and white privilege, misleading…

Ninety Days

Author: Rashmi Paun Ninety Days is a story about what life was like for Asians in Uganda before the President ordered them all to leave, and what happened afterwards as law and order broke down and people considered themselves lucky to escape…

We are Here Because You Were There

Author: Ian Sanjay Patel Publ: Verso Books Review: Blurb What are the origins of the hostile environment for immigrants in Britain? Drawing on new archival material from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ian Sanjay Patel retells Britain’s…

Kololo Hill

Author: Neema Shah Uganda 1972 A devastating decree is issued: all Ugandan Asians must leave the country in ninety days. They must take only what they can carry, give up their money and never return. For Asha and Pran, married a matter of…

We Are All Birds Of Uganda

Author: Hafsa Zayyan Publ: Penguin, Random House, UK Review: Blurb 1960s UGANDA. Hasan is struggling to run his family business following the sudden death of his wife. Just as he begins to see a way forward, a new regime seizes power, and a…

About AwaaZ

Awaaz is a magazine published tri-annually out of Nairobi, Kenya. It aims to provide a broad platform for debate and reflection on issues of both contemporary and historical interest. What started off in 2002 as a focus on the role of the South Asian community in the historical, political and socio-economic spheres of Kenya; has now broadened to cover the larger debates on diversity, democracy, human rights and social justice. The magazine also critically examines the role of minorities both as communities in Kenya and East Africa; as well as a concept of human rights in a society be they ethnic, racial, gender based, sexual or political.

Friends Of AwaaZ

Yash and Jill Ghai, Mohez Karmali, Gijsbert Oonk, Vijoo Rattansi, Victoria Commercial Bank Charitable Trust, I& M Bank, Willy Mutunga, Chandaria Foundation, Asian Foundation, Firoze Manji, Muthoni Wanyeki, Wanjiru Gikonyo, Kirit Pattni, Ismail Ramadhani, Dr. Ramadhan Marjan, Radha Upadhyaya, Benegal Pereira, Mburu Gitu, Neela Ghoshal, Hindpal Jabbal, Krishna Sondhi, Nyawira Muthiga, Sheetal Kapila, Fiona Mati, Ramnik Shah, Shiraz Durrani, Madhukant Shah, Rosemelle Mutoka, Nivi Sharma, Salim Damji, Juzar Hooker, Mark Ojal, Mohinder Dhillon, Karen Rothmyer, Sachen Shah, Akbar Husein, Peter Kiama, Sarah and Felix Kyalo, Karim Hirji, Sultan Somjee, Musti and Shakila Mamujee