Description
Shreds of tenderness by John Ruganda.
The drama is set in the political landscape of Uganda. President Milton Obote was overthrown in a coup d’état by Idi Amin Dada Oumee, making him the 3rd President of Uganda. As is well known, the latter ruled an autocratic regime that saw havoc in the Republic of Uganda. Shortly after his ascension to power, he formed with the help of Israelis and later Russians the State Research Bureau (SRB), which was an intelligence agency for the entire length of his rule between 1971-1979. There were informers from all over the country who worked with and for the sham agency that caused unfathomable pain in Uganda. Many people, especially University dons, fearful of the agency, sought refuge in neighboring countries.
John Ruganda himself was among such people who in the early 1970s sought refuge in Kenya where he worked as a University of Nairobi lecturer before heading to Canada for further education. He spent his most career-life in South Africa as a professor of Literature, until his last days after diagnosis of a malignancy that he retired to his native Uganda. He is a representative of the Refugees who fled the tyranny of Idi Amin. A main character in the play, Wak, is in many ways his own representative.
It is in that light that I now contextualize the play. There are three central characters, Odie and Stella plus their step brother Wak. Their father was a Minister in the previous regime. In this case, we would assume he was the Minister in charge of Tourist in Milton Obote’s government. They were people of means, with numerous endowments as a family. We do not know much about the mother of Wak, although she might have died early on so that the three siblings were raised by the same mother. In the play, Stella and Odie’s mother is spoken of as having been sick when Wak fled the Country to spend 10 years in Kenya as a refugee. Their father had died in the hands of the tyrant as well.
