Are you ready for CHOGM?

One of the very first things that I learned after stepping off of the airplane in Uganda is that The CHOGM is coming. Buildings are being repaired, hotels are being built, and police are out in full force making the streets safe for CHOGM. Local DJ’s are announcing it, taxis are advertising, night clubs talk about it, and the local television stations mention it at least every 10 minutes. It remains nearly impossible to go anywhere in the city without hearing about CHOGM. In fact, a week before CHOGM arrives it has been announced that there will be two days of National Holiday It is even said that it is possible the city may shut down when the CHOGM arrive. The question remains then; what is The CHOGM?

CHOGM is the 56 Heads of States and 5000 delegates that are going to be visiting Uganda on November 22 and 23. The Queen of England and Prince Charles will be among those visiting. Uganda was colonized by the British, thus those that are a part of the common wealth will be here. The government is building new hotels for the Heads of State and removing houses and businesses in certain areas to make the city look cleaner. The problem with this is that many people are being displaced with no where to go or no means to make a living due to this “cleanup.” Also, the government is spending a lot of money to build these nice hotels that will likely not be able to sustain after the CHOGM leave.

Ultimately the following weeks should be very interesting in Uganda due to CHOGM. A city of 2 million people shutting down is hard to believe, however since being here I can understand how it will likely happen. I will be staying in my house because of the hassle and potential danger with protests and such. I will update this as soon as The CHOGM arrive and will let everyone know what happens.