Your Majesty,
Queen of England, ‘Thank you’
T
he citizens of Uganda thank you warmly and humbly for the visit you have made
to our beautiful country. We cannot tell you enough how honoured we were to have
hosted you in our beloved land Uganda.
We would like to thank you for taking the time to talk to the ones who suffer most in
our community. Your visit to Mildmay Centre has touched us very deeply. You have thus
shown your support to people living with HIV and AIDS. And by shaking hands with
Steven Wakodo at the centre, you are encouraging our nation to overcome the stigma still
attached to people living with the disease, who need to know they are still valued and
loved, no matter what.
We were so happy to see how much you enjoyed the fashion show that our little angels
organised for your entertainment. Your obvious happiness was like a ray of sunshine in
their challenging lives. On their behalf, thank you for being there and sharing your pleasure
and appreciation with them.
We want to thank you for the speech you made at the opening ceremony. You mentioned
the theme of this year’s meeting ‘Transforming Societies’, kindly reminding us that we are
all responsible for the change that we wish to see happening in the world today. And we
appreciate how you stressed the importance of ‘giving people the greatest possible voice in
the way they are governed, and the greatest possible access to education, which are two of
the most important ingredients.’
We thank you also for helping us remember how vital it is to ‘Respect Difference, Promote
Understanding’, which was this year’s Commonwealth theme. Our beloved country
Uganda has been a direct victim from within its own boarders, of a lack of respecting
differences and of a lack of promoting understanding. We have thankfully reached a new
chapter in our history where peace, diversity and understanding will from now on, form
the fabric of our entire society. And each citizen of Uganda should aim to abide to the
principle that ‘we should treat those around us as we would wish to be treated ourselves’
which you so aptly shared at the ceremony.
We thank you for believing in our youth. You are so right in saying that our young people
are filled with ‘almost limitless optimism and enthusiasm.’ And we cannot tell you how
important your views are by saying that ‘young people can and should play a part in the
many global challenges that cannot be resolved by older generations alone, whether in the
Commonwealth as a whole or in each of its member countries.’ You have thereby validated
our young people’s aspirations and visions to transform their country Uganda - and the
world at large - into a more peaceful but also more prosperous place for each one of its
citizens.
Your visit has been short, but oh so much appreciated, and we are truly grateful that we
could see you, from near or far, and hear your kind words who have lifted our spirits and
raised our hopes in a much brighter future for Uganda and its people.
Your Majesty, on behalf of all well-wishers of Uganda, ‘Thank you’.
Long live the Queen.
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