Kampala: Uganda’s richest man Dr Sudhir Ruparelia has been re-elected as a Board member for Indian Association Uganda. He retained his position as the association elected seven members on its Board of Trustees. The election took place on Sunday in Kampala. The property mogul was first elected on the board in 2019.
The elected members include; Dr Sudhir, Munnangi Sita, Goutam Das, Dharmesh Patel, Ashwin Kumar Patel, Chacko Babu and Koduvayur Parasuraman. Indian Association Uganda has for more than 100 years led Uganda’s Indian communities.
In 1972 President Idi Amin expelled Indians from Uganda accusing them of benefiting more economically than indigenous Ugandan, which marked the journey of slowing the country’s economy as factories and other businesses collapsed as they were put in hands of poor Ugandan managers.
However, since the Indian communities returned to the country in the 1980s and 1990s and reinstated the association members have worked hard to improve their relations and participated in charitable activities aimed at helping the disadvantaged in Uganda. Over 27,000 Indians are living in Uganda peacefully, with different communities helping each other and working towards the development of Uganda.
Despite being less than 1 per cent of the population, the Indians are estimated to contribute up to 65 per cent of the revenue collected by government.
