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Title: Then Sings My Soul: Nine Decades of God’s Blessings

Author: Sam B. Rutega

Price: Shs100,000

Availability: Available in most bookshops

Pages: 285

Published: 2024

Then Sings My Soul: Nine Decades of God’s Blessings tells the remarkable story of Sam Rutega, whose life stretches across some of the most important chapters in Uganda’s history. It is a warm and reflective account of family, faith, public service, perseverance and the many experiences that have shaped his 93 years. The foreword is written by Rt Hon Ruhakana Rugunda.

From the opening pages, one is drawn to the simplicity and sincerity with which Rutega tells his story. He writes in a calm and measured way, allowing his memories to unfold naturally. There is little attempt to dramatise events or place himself at the centre of history. This gives the memoir an intimate quality, almost like sitting with an elder and listening as he recalls the people, places and events that have remained with him over the years.

Rutega was born in Rujumbura, in present-day Rukungiri District in the Kigezi sub-region. He traces his roots to two respected lineages: one connected to Karegyesa, Beene Kirenzi, leader of the Mpororo Kingdom of Rujumbura, and the other to Muginga of the Kanyonza Kingdom in present-day Kanungu District. These family roots provide an interesting beginning to a life that would eventually take him far beyond the surroundings of his childhood.

His early years were shaped by family, illness, education and determination. At times, poor health disrupted his childhood, while going to school required considerable effort. He recalls walking long distances over several days each school term in pursuit of an education at Kigezi High School. He later attended St Leo’s College Kyegobe and eventually Makerere College of the University of East Africa.

Education opened the door to a long and distinguished career in public service. Rutega served as assistant district commissioner (ADC) and later district commissioner (DC) in Mbarara, Soroti and Hoima before taking on increasingly senior responsibilities. Over the years, he served as private secretary to Prime Minister Milton Obote, executive director of the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), secretary of the Bank of Uganda and permanent secretary, among other appointments.

Through these responsibilities, he found himself close to several important moments in Uganda’s early years as an independent country. One of the most historically significant was his involvement in discussions concerning the Kabaka of Buganda, the Omukama of Bunyoro and the long-standing ‘lost counties’ question. His recollections give the reader a personal glimpse into a sensitive period when the young nation was trying to resolve difficult historical and political questions.

The changing fortunes of Uganda also affected Rutega personally. The Idi Amin years brought fear, uncertainty and danger. Among the most striking episodes in the memoir is his encounter with the State Research Bureau, an experience from which he was fortunate to emerge alive. Looking back at such moments, Rutega repeatedly returns to his faith and his conviction that God guided and protected him.

Faith runs gently through the book and gives meaning to its title. Rutega sees God’s presence in the opportunities he received, the dangers he survived, the people who entered his life and the family with whom he has shared his journey. His gratitude feels personal and sincere. As the years unfold, the reader begins to understand why, looking back over nine decades, his soul still sings.

The quiet manner in which Rutega tells his story is one of the memoir’s most appealing qualities. Those who know him will recognise the thoughtful and restrained personality behind the words. At times, one senses that there are many other stories he could have told. A lifetime in senior public service inevitably comes with experiences and conversations that remain private. His discretion is therefore also part of the character of the man whose story we are reading.

Family brings particular warmth to the memoir. At the centre of that family story is his wife of 63 years, Ms Freda Rutega. She has shared the greater part of this long journey with him, providing love, companionship, stability and strength through the demands of public service, raising a family, periods of uncertainty and the many changes that came with the passing years.

Behind the official appointments, transfers, long working days and periods of national uncertainty was a home that had to remain together. Ms Rutega’s patience, devotion and steady presence provided an important foundation for Sam and their children.

His reflections on fatherhood reveal another side of his character. He valued education, honesty, discipline and respect, while giving his children room to discover their own interests and pursue their own paths. The values he passed on were often taught through example. His children grew up watching a father who believed in hard work, humility, integrity, faith and service.

The tributes included in the book add warmth and colour to the story. Family members, friends and people whose lives crossed Rutega’s path share their own memories of him. Through their voices, the reader encounters the father, husband, friend, colleague and mentor alongside the public servant. They recall his generosity, his willingness to guide others and the opportunities he quietly created for people around him.

These personal recollections are especially valuable because Rutega’s modesty sometimes leads him to say very little about the impact he had on others. The tributes help fill those spaces and give the reader a fuller picture of the person behind the public appointments.

There is much here for younger generations to reflect upon. The author’s journey from a boy walking long distances in search of an education to serving in some of Uganda’s most senior public offices speaks to the value of perseverance, discipline and opportunity. His experiences also offer lessons about leadership. Position brought responsibility, and public service required integrity, patience and respect for others.

The historical value of the memoir is equally important. Rutega’s life spans colonial Uganda, the movement towards self-government, independence, the challenges faced by the young republic, the difficult years of Idi Amin, periods of political upheaval and the rebuilding of the country that followed. He witnessed many of these changes personally and, at different points in his career, participated in the institutions through which Uganda was being governed and developed.

Personal memoirs such as this help preserve parts of our history that can easily disappear with time. Official records tell us what governments decided and what institutions did. Personal recollections bring us closer to the people who lived through those events. They preserve conversations, relationships, fears, friendships, difficult choices and ordinary moments that rarely find their way into official documents.

Perhaps this is where Then Sings My Soul leaves its deepest impression. Behind the history and public appointments is a very human journey. We meet a young boy seeking an education, a young public servant learning the responsibilities of office, a husband building a life with Freda, a father raising a family, a Ugandan living through difficult periods in his country’s history and, eventually, an elderly man looking back on it all with gratitude.

At 93, Rutega has much to look back upon. There have been achievements, difficult moments, unexpected turns, friendships, family milestones and occasions when life itself hung in the balance. Through them all, his faith has remained a steady companion.

Then Sings My Soul: Nine Decades of God’s Blessings leaves the reader with enduring lessons about faith, family, humility, perseverance, integrity and service. Rutega’s story echoes the importance of remembering where we come from, appreciating those who walk the journey with us, serving with integrity, and remaining grateful for the gift of life.

By the final page, the title feels deeply personal. After 93 years of blessings, trials, service, family and faith, Rutega looks back on his journey with a grateful heart. And indeed, his soul sings.

The book was launched by Hon Sam Kutesa on August 30 at Serena Hotel.

Thirty one years ago, Darlington Sakwa, a supporter of the Opposition Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party, who was also the Constituent Assembly Delegate (CAD) for Bungokho South constituency, penned a letter in which he bashed Milton Obote, saying the former president’s attempt to cling to the presidency of the party was unconstitutional.

At the time, Obote, who had been ousted on July 27, 1985, following a coup by his army commander, Gen Tito Okello Lutwa, and Gen Bazilio Olara Okello, was living in exile in Zambia.

Mr Sakwa’s three-page missive dated August 8, 1995, was precipitated by a letter that Obote had earlier written to UPC’s Presidential Policy Commission (PPC), which Cecilia Ogwal headed, directing party members not to participate in elections organised under the Movement system of government, a view that Ogwal did not agree with.

Ogwal was supportive of party members participating in the elections in order to keep the torch of the party burning and went ahead to participate in subsequent elections.

In the same letter, Obote accused Ogwal and another member of the UPC Secretariat, Kagenda Atwoki, of insubordination.

She was subsequently relieved of her duties as secretary general of the party. She was also kicked out of the chairmanship of the PPC and replaced by Dr James Rwanyarare.

Initial reports indicated that it was on Obote’s orders that she was kicked out of the PPC, but Obote later denied this following a reconciliation meeting held in Lusaka, Zambia, in September 2004.

“It is not true that the events of 1996 which saw Maama Cecilia Atim Ogwal resign or be dismissed from being chairperson of the Presidential Policy Commission (PPC) originated from an order by me,’ Obote wrote in a September 23, 2004, statement that he sent to Sunday Monitor.

Following the 1996 disagreement, Ogwal quit UPC in 1997, but returned to the fold after the 2004 reconciliation talks. She, however, subsequently quit to join the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). Ogwal was, by the time of her death on January 18, 2024, the District Woman Representative for Dokolo.

Sakwa stings

In his stinging criticism of Obote, Sakwa said he and other like-minded members of the party would not accept Obote’s “monarchical” hold on the UPC presidency.

He vowed that Obote would, at the next opportunity or delegates’ conference, be voted out of the party’s leadership in favour of a more dynamic leadership that could face the new political forces. It should, however, be remembered that it would not have been possible for such a delegates’ conference to take place

Early in 1986, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) issued Legal Notice Number 1 of 1986, which suspended ‘all forms of political activities and any other form of political activities’.

During debate on the Constituent Assembly (CA) Statute of 1993, the National Resistance Council (NRC) slapped a ban on recruitment of members by political parties; barred them from opening branches and holding delegates’ conferences and forbade campaigning under the banner of any political party. Those who desired to participate in CA elections of March 28, 1994, were to do so on ‘individual merit’.

Then on June 20, 1995, at least 99 delegates voted in favour of continuation of ‘no party rule’. That culminated in the writing of Article 269 of the 1995 Constitution barring political parties from engaging in ‘any activities that may interfere with the Movement political system’.

The Article barred political parties from operating branches, holding public rallies and sponsoring candidates for political office for as long as the Movement System was in force.

Sakwa said Obote’s decision to stubbornly cling to the party’s leadership was one of the biggest scarecrows to would-be UPC supporters.

“Your tenure of office ended in 1987, whether or not there is a delegates’ conference. There is no provision in the UPC constitution that says in the absence of a delegates’ conference, the person elected party president becomes president for life. It is in this regard that I want to disagree with your lamentation [in the PPC letter] and your attempt to imply that because you were elected party president in 1980, you will continue to hold that office and direct UPC even if you never set foot on Uganda soil,” he wrote.

He argued that Obote’s behaviour gave the impression that the former president was more interested in personal power than in the party regaining State power, adding that the signal that the two-time president was sending out was that the party was his slave and that he had no wish to respect members of the party who were struggling to keep it going unless they were constantly consulting with him.

He also claimed that Obote’s behaviour showed that the party would never have a change of leadership until ‘you agree to let this happen”.

Lack of information

Obote’s letter had taken issue with officials at the UPC Secretariat for keeping him in the dark about developments in Kampala.

However, Sakwa hit back at Obote, saying he should have been grateful for the little information that he was receiving.

“The party members can only inform you of events as a matter of courtesy [not as a matter of right],” he said and blamed him for not having provided a succession mechanism for the party.

He also told Obote to stop ridiculing “UPC members who are struggling to survive under difficult conditions while you keep a safe distance”.

He said Obote’s continued reference to himself as the “supervisor” at a time when he could not influence political events in Uganda was a liability to UPC, adding that the exiled former president was partly to blame for what was prevailing in the country at the time.

“Indeed, you have led two UPC governments in this country and you should [bear] part of the responsibility for militarism in the country which led to the belief of many Ugandans that one can only rule if one has the backing of the armed forces of the country,” Mr Sakwa wrote.

Whereas he concurred with Obote, who had always been of the view that the National Resistance Army (NRA), the armed wing of the NRM was a gang of gunmen who waged a vicious war against an elected government, Sakwa pointed out that it was the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), which he said was ‘led by some of the most primitive commanders Uganda has ever witnessed” which overthrew the UPC government.

Sakwa was, however, optimistic that Uganda would ‘overthrow’ the NRM without resorting to the gun. Ugandans, he said, were ‘wiser politically’.

“The best we can do is to stop lamenting and present intelligent and well-intentioned candidates at every opportunity for an election. This is the only way we can maintain UPC as a dynamic party always fighting on the side of the people,” he wrote.

Alliance

One of the other issues that Obote had raised was the support that the UPC Secretariat was giving Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere, the Democratic Party (DP) president general.

It should be remembered that proponents of multiparty democracy had started working together during the writing of the 1995 Constitution. They had come together under what was known as the National Caucus for Democracy. Prof Dani Nabudere was the secretary general.

By the time Obote wrote his letter, Ssemogerere, who had served as minister of Internal Affairs, minister of Foreign Affairs and later Deputy Prime Minister and minister of Public Service in the NRM government, had resigned on June 13, 1995, citing ‘ideological grounds’ and also announced that he would be contesting for president in the next general election.

Obote seemed uncomfortable that UPC honchos were warming up to the idea of Ssemogerere coming up as the Opposition’s single candidate, something which Mr Sakwa also addressed.

“We should be seen to support a pluralist presidential candidate who has the credentials to win a national constituency no matter where he belongs,” he argued.