Sugra Visram

Sugra Visram (15 July 1923 – 29 October 2012), also known as Sugra Namubiru Visram, was a Ugandan politician, activist and businesswoman. She was one of the first female members of parliament co-opted into the Buganda Lukiiko by Kabaka Muteesa II. Affiliated to the Kabaka Yekka Party, she represented Kibuga Constituency (present day Mengo) in Uganda's First and Second Parliaments till she resigned as a member of parliament in 1966. Together with Florence Alice Lubega and Eseza Makumbi, she was one of the first three women to serve in this position in post-independence Uganda. In 2012, she was awarded the National Independence Medal.

Quotes

• Meanwhile, the more conservative Asian leaders, such as Dr M.M. Patel who led the Kampala Asian Association, and the two Ismailis, Sherali Bandali Jaffer and Gulamhussein Kassim Lakha who were prominent in the Central Council of Muslim Associations, followed a middle course in avoiding support for any one party.
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• My initial goal was to help the mothers and children of Uganda to get a good education, obtain better living conditions and have the economic ability to provide a healthy diet
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• I am happy to say that I was given encouragement and assistance not only by women but by men as well, many of whom were in high government offices.
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• The aim was to provide living accommodation at a minimum charge to young girls who had come to Kampala from rural areas to further their education.
• The organization went from strength to strength and I am glad to say is still in existence and carrying out good works to this day
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• there were other organisations that I was a member of. Many of these, like the YWCA, continue with their work today. Up to quite recently, I was active with Uganda
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• I was able to manage both career and family demands smoothly because of the total support I was given by my husband, children, and friends. It also helped that we were well organized
  • [6]
• The Asian people were very happy and proud that an Asian woman had taken the first step to bring all the communities together and to learn from each other whilst helping each other. The overall aim was to speed up the social and economic condition of Ugandan women since they could make an increasing contribution to the overall progress of the country. Certainly, the education, outlook, and ambitions of the children and youth in every society, are shaped by women. For me, great hope lay in the fact that women were advancing the causes that would bring benefits to the family, people and the country. That they are now marching at an accelerated rate towards an equal position with men gives me satisfaction
  • [7]
• I have always had a desire to serve my country . . . I also feel that my social work has been responsible in my taking an interest in politics in view of the confidence I had developed amongst people of all races
  • [8]
• It took away the rights and privileges of an individual and could also act against political organizations which did not see eye to eye with the government
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• The greatest difficulty I had to overcome was to pick myself up and continue working for the good of the country after I walked out of the parliament on a matter of principle,
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• I did so when Obote abolished the universally agreed original constitution and brought on his own. It was virtually a mechanism to open the way for a one-party system. There was no doubt in my mind that it would lead to the end of democracy in Uganda. It goes without saying that it was a horribly frightening experience with potentially disastrous consequences, but I had to be true to my convictions
  • [11]
• I rejoiced when Idi Amin overthrew Obote. No one had any inkling of the horrors that he would subsequently unleash on the country,"
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• I miss the country's beauty, its ideal weather, its fertile land, its beautiful lakes and rivers, its sweet-tasting water. I could go on and on. It is after all my homeland
  • [13]
• I met many friends who had, in fact, returned to Uganda to re-establish their old businesses. These were early days in the transformation of Uganda. Bear in mind that the country was totally ruined before Museveni took over. Now you could see positive signs of the country being rehabilitated. Major projects for rebuilding roads, the national grid, the water system, in fact, the whole of the infrastructure were underway or in the final stages of planning. The health and education facilities were being revived and expanded. The goodwill of the western countries was clearly in evidence and this was complemented by the dynamism of the people and governmental institutions. The not so good developments in the country are the problems with neighboring countries such as Sudan and Congo. Uganda’s greatest strength at the moment is the goodwill it has around the world. The western powers view it as a model of reform in many ways. They certainly want Uganda to adopt a multi-party system.
  • [14]