{UAH} What is it like living in Uganda?

What is it like living in Uganda?

6 Answers

Sulaiman Kaboggoza, lives in Kampala, Uganda

Updated Dec 11, 2018 · Author has 83 answers and 313.9k answer views

Well, am going to give you outlines, i want you to use those to paint your own picture of Uganda.

• We have over 50 tribes and over 56 languages, though the big 3 tribes cover 60% of the population. We are 41 million people(as of 2016). The biggest tribe is Baganda and they speak Luganda. These occupy the central part of the country including the capital, Kampala. The Baganda culture, their language (Luganda) certainly forms the face of Uganda to foreigners. We are generally regarded as a hospitable country mainly because of the Baganda's hospitality culture.
• We eat fresh stuff almost all the time. I am 29 but i have eaten refrigerated meat only about twice.
• Its normal for an educated Ugandan to work from 8AM to 7PM and they will never complain, we leave work normally when work is done. Most businesses, shops, supermarkets are open from 8 to 10PM and they don't have shifts. The same people who started at 8 will be there at 10PM.
• We party! I think we party a lot. Dusk till dawn. People really party in Uganda. I have been to neighboring Kenya and Rwanda but Uganda is different. We party more. All sorts of classes and all sorts of music, there is palace for everyone. Local, East African, West African, Jamaican, Western each has a place in the Ugandan nightlife.
• We buy things. Cash or cheque but there are no credit sales here. If you have a car, its your car. We have very few mortgages. You buy land, you build your house. I have never seen a person with a mortgage or a car bought on credit and am in educated city living working circles. I have never seen anyone. Banks don't even do that here that much. If there is a percentage of people getting things and paying them in installments, it should be 0.1%.
• We have no gas grid. If you use gas for cooking (less than 5% of the population), you buy a canister which you refill at a gas station. Most people use charcoal for cooking. The utilities are payed separately. Water, electricity, satellite TV. Power goes off sometimes - its normal. At least once in a fortnight.
• A Ugandan, educated or not, will never worry about a foreigner, unless they do something immoral or illegal. We just generally don't care. If you are here and you behave yourself, you will be here, even without papers.
• People find immoral acts more concerning than illegal acts, unless they are illegal and immoral. Illegally connecting yourself on an electricity or water grid will be overlooked by neighbors for years, even decades, just remember to greet them when you pass them. If you slaughtered your cat or dog and ate it, you will be dragged to police. NOTE: we don't have special beliefs in dogs or cats, people just find it disgusting and weird that someone would eat a cat. That's how much immoral things get you into trouble here. An illegal Chinese immigrant was tolerated for months until he SAID that he eats dogs! They dragged him to police. An average Ugandan mother would see a 17-year-old with a beer (its illegal) and not feel so concerned but will be much more concerned with a 19-year-old boy or girl and especially a girl dating a 30 or 40-year-old partner, yet that is totally legal. The gay don't even stand a chance. An overwhelming majority is homophobic here. An attack against a gay couple is unlikely but they would certainly despise you.
• A man and a woman who live together are generally referred to as husband and wife, even if they are not legally married. People will mostly describe it as an "unholy marriage", literally! The words "girlfriend" and "boyfriend" are almost NEVER used on people who live together. Seriously. Living together mostly means marriage. The normal real legal marriages also exist. Weddings are everywhere. We still get married (wed) but domestic partnerships are rampant.
• People RARELY DIVORCE back here. Its very very hard to see (legally) divorced people here. When marriages fail, most of the time people will part ways and they won't legally divorce and both of them most of the time wont mind, except highly educated or very religious people. Here, its like if you fail with your partner, you both don't care whether the papers still say you two are married. Every one will just walk. Wives normally show up at their (legal) husbands' funerals when they separated ten or twenty years ago but never legally divorced and both remarried without any issues. Its very normal.
• We have two rain seasons, March-April and August-September. But the sun still shines during the rain seasons. It is impossible for a week to pass by without a sunny day. Sometimes it shines and rains at the same time. So beautiful. Our summers (January and July) are hot but there are still some rains. We find the western Winter, Summer, etc amazing! Snow for months!!! Those stories we hear from westerners or watch in the movies surprise us.
• If you like to tour, we've got beautiful rare and exclusive Flora and Fauna! We have got birds, Gorillas, beautiful mountains, waterfalls, plains. For tourism you can rest assured this country has got a lot to show to visitors (not the infrastructure, though). Some visitors went as far as naming us the PEARL OF AFRICA.
• Almost all the water is fresh. Victoria, The Nile, Katonga, all the water is fresh. Except Lake Albert in north western Uganda. However, the water that is pumped on the national grid is not safe for drinking, we have to boil it first. Funny!
• The cost of living is low. Most foreigners I've talked to find it surprisingly low. The most expensive hotels start from USD $162. There are amazing hotels all between $25 to $100. You will sleep comfortably, securely, with a nice view, nice breakfast, shuttle, etc for under $50. Food is cheap too, and fresh. 5-Star hotels lunch is below $50 for most dishes. My lunch is around $3.5, and that is nice lunch, comfortably above average. My boss, a millionaire in dollars, has a normal lunch of 8 dollars and he is considered EXTRAVAGANT. High class lunch will still be around $10 to $15. I have personally never seen a menu with lunch beyond $30, even in the best restaurants.
• Transport is cheap. An airport taxi from Kampala City to Entebbe Airport (33KM) is between $25 to $40 depending on the company. And we have Uber too. You could go from any part of Kampala to any part of Kampala for less than $25. 
  We have boda boda! These are commercial motorcycles. Very fast, reliable, cheap, unsafe sometimes but very convenient. They are in every inch of the city. Edit: Lately we have Boda Bodas you order on Apps. SafeBoda, Uber Boda, Taxify and others. Just install any of those apps and start enjoying even cheaper Boda rides. These are also much safer.
• We drive on the left! You have been warned. An overwhelming majority of cars here are bought second hand, mostly from Japan. But brand new rides are also sold here. Nisan, Jeep, Mercedes, Toyota, Kia, etc have dealerships in Kampala. You wont get super car, though. Parking in the city center is around $0.6 an hour. Gas is at its all-time high currently at approx $1.1 and Diesel at $0.9.
• We are relatively corrupt, i have to admit. I think we are really corrupt! So corrupt that it was almost becoming normal for someone to prepare cash (bribe) as soon as a cop (traffic) stops you . You PAY them and they will let you go without a question. No license, no registration, no question about the condition of the vehicle. Corruption goes up to high levels of government. You have seen ministers arrested for corruption…. This is a problem. We are working on it but you have to know.
• We have a couple of diseases too. HIV is between 9 and 12% as of 2014. Malaria kills many infants. Ebola has attacked us before but we have defeated it - thrice. We don't have the best healthcare system you can find but we fight.
• Education levels are still alarmingly low, though we have put a lot of energy on this in the last 20 years… Its beginning to pay off.
  Ugandans speak English and they speak it well, compared to other non English people or countries. Many studies rank Ugandans as the best English speakers in Africa. 
  Surprisingly, people are relatively well-informed, given the low levels of education. An ordinary Uganda in the villages has an average of 7 school years but knows about the US, UK, Russia, Iran, North Korea (and South), Bush, Putin, Trump, Clinton, Saddam, EU, Nuclear, Microsoft, Bill Gates, Usain Bolt, Roger Federa, Serena Williams, Michael Jackson, Arsenal, UN, Mugabe, Brazil, NOKIA, Samsung, Facebook, Aljazeera, BBC, Akon, FIFA etc. Oh! I almost forgot China! The one thing most Ugandans don't know or insurance. Very few people insure even those who are required to insure things, especially cars, rarely claim when trouble. When you knock someone's car, the first thing is to trade insults, then negotiate on the payments depending on who was in the wrong. Very few call their insurance after an accident.
• We have Christians (83%), Muslims(15%), Traditionalists, etc, We don't work on Sunday. On Saturday, most people will work half day.

I find Uganda hospitable, peaceful, lovely, free and fun.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

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