Crossing a river seems pretty basic. The British built bridge on this stamp was recently replaced in 2018 by a new bridge financed interest free by the Japanese. The question might arise why Uganda can’t do for itself. The answer comes from realizing Uganda was self governed and part of that is nothing gets done without outside help. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The British like to show off accomplishments like the Jinja Bridge on their colonial stamps. And why not, getting something like this done in a place so far away from civilization was quite an achievement. Uganda had proved to be a major loss leader for the previously empowered British East Africa Company. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/09/07/imperial-british-east-africa-company-1890-another-company-fails-to-administer-a-colony/ Yet the new British protectorate of Uganda succeeded where the company failed by working through the traditional local tribal system of Buganda. So much self rule did not mean there was not a desire for independence, even if that makes for an end to progress.
Todays stamp is issue A16, a 30 cent stamp issued by the East African Post Administration that covered the postal system of the colonies and protectorates of British East Africa including Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika. The unit continued issuing stamps for the area for over a decade after 1960s independence and even added Zanzibar in 1968. The stamp featured Jinja Bridge on the Nile River and King George VI and updated an earlier issue showing King George V. The later Queen Elizabeth II update of the stamp issue deleted the Jinja Bridge in order to show the new for 1954 nearby Owen Falls Dam. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used. A mint version of the number 14 perforation is worth $130.
The British gained influence over Uganda in the 1885 Conference of Berlin, the areas tribes had previously affiliated with the Sultan of Zanzibar. British interests were mainly elsewhere and the area was governed by the British East Africa Company, a private entity. When the company proved unable to develop the local economy and bankrupted itself putting down a tribal rebellion the area was taken over by the British directly and named a protectorate. The British had no interest in losing further money on the area and the government left to the local tribe of Buganda. With this the desired connections between Entebbe and Lake Victoria were achieved and cotton plantations overseen by the Bugandans themselves were formed. Indian traders saw to the export and their were very few British involved. This was different from neighboring Kenya which had a fair number of white settlers. The British differed heavily to Buganda’s prime minister Sir Apolo Kagwa who did much to expand local educational opportunities. The Bugandans were keen to keep out British settlers as they felt that would reduce their level of self rule.
The plantation system of worker exploitation and the new educated cadre of young Ugandans lead to increased resentment of the tribal system. In 1952, the British sent a “reforming” new governor, Sir Andrew Cohen to prepare for independence. He promoted new political parties of the disaffected at the expense of the Buganda tribal hierarchy. So independence consisted mainly of taking from the old favored tribe and giving to the new British favorites.
The bridge on the stamp was an early achievement of the Uganda protectorate, which sought to improve trade connections. Jinja is very near the source of the Nile River on Lake Vitoria. In 1954 a new dam was constructed that flooded the nearby falls. The British saw that the dam did not impede the water flow of the Nile as Egypt feared. Later the energy output of the dam was greatly reduced by the mismanagement of the Idi Amin years and lately by falling water levels in Lake Victoria attributed to climate change. A new bridge, now called Source of the Nile Bridge partially replaced the old bridge as part of a new expressway from Jinja to Kampala, the capital. The Ugandans are still not doing for themselves 56 years after independence, the new bridge relying on Japanese interest free financing. Construction was by Zenitaka of Japan and Hyundai of South Korea.
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Sir Apolo. Compared to the British before and afterward and their hand picked Ugandan successors, his was a time of real progress. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.