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Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how the Somali-Ugandan community recovered agency in the post-Amin era as they galvanized around the shared agenda of building businesses successful enough to accrue political leverage. They also imagined a future in which they could have an impact on the country's ongoings.

Paper long abstract:

Somalis have been living in Uganda since the late 1800s, initially settling in smaller numbers in Karamoja and eventually transforming Kisenyi in Kampala into a fully-fledged ‘little Mogadishu.’ The burgeoning community, whose presence in Uganda is often overlooked in scholarship, had longstanding ties with Idi Amin. Amin was aided by his Somali counterpart, Siad Barre, in 1972, to fight off the threat from Tanzania, which culminated in Amin’s perception of expanding Somali-Ugandan businesses as less threatening than Asian-led businesses, despite the Somali-Ugandan community’s continued political isolation. Oral history interviews conducted with elders in Uganda show the fall of Amin signified a new beginning for this community. In late 1979, Somali-Ugandans from all parts of the nation gathered in Kisenyi to discuss how to cope with the political turmoil. It was decided then that going forward, business would be used as a tool to influence legislation. As evidenced by what are now recognized as successful commercial empires in several arenas, including Café Javas, Hass Petroleum, the Oasis Shopping Mall, and hundreds of smaller businesses, Ugandans from the Somali community laid the groundwork for their socio-economic as well as political traction. The purpose of this paper is thus to investigate how Somali-Ugandans, as they steadily rose to positions of power in both politics and business, rejected marginalization and envisioned a future in Uganda where they would be able to influence national affairs while still being recognized as Ugandans.