 | |
| Author | Moses Isegawa |
|---|---|
| Original title | Abessijnse kronieken |
| Country | Uganda |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Publication date | 1998 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 512 |
| ISBN | 9780375406133 |
Abyssinian Chronicles (Abessijnse kronieken) is a 1998 novel by Ugandan author Moses Isegawa. [1]
The book is set in Uganda, in the 1970s and '80s. The book follows the life of narrator Mugezi Muwaabi, as he plots his own independence from his parents and capitalizes on his considerable natural resources of charm and intelligence. [2] A grandfather, a father and his son are the three figures that form a tripod from which the novel is set. Grandpa represents the traditional order, his son Serenity the chaos of transition, and Mugezi the despair of a younger generation over the dead end of transition and its own prospects. Rootless and bitter, Mugezi flees to Europe from Uganda. [3] [4] The first part of the book centres on Mugezi, a young man growing up in post-colonial Uganda. Born in 1961, a year before Uganda attained independence, Mugenzi describes a troubled childhood living under the tyranny and strict rules of his parents. The family moves to Kampala, the nation's capital about the time Idi Amin comes to power in 1971. In the second half of the book Mugezi is excited about the country's prospects under Idi Amin, following the ouster of Milton Obote and his corrupt government. Soon, however, Amin's regime descends to the depths of brutality and mismanagement – starting with a botched "Africanization" campaign that leads to the expulsion of thousands of Asian businessmen. [5]
The book received both positive and negative reviews.
Richard Eder of The New York Times said : Abyssinian Chronicles suffers from a disabling split. It is best as a chronicle of Ugandan history and of the struggles of different generations of a family to cope with it. It is weakest as a third world bildungsroman. [3]
Anderson Tepper in a review in Salon noted: "Abyssinian Chronicles doesn’t quite synthesize the jumble. Instead, the reader is left, like Mugezi at the end, alone, a bit wobbly and haunted from such a long journey." [6]
Maya Jaggi in The Guardian wrote: "Abyssinian Chronicles may lack the sedate control of distance, but it has a momentum and energy that derive from the trauma it tells from the inside." [7]
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Janani Jakaliya Luwum c. archbishop of the Church of Uganda from 1974 to 1977 and one of the most influential leaders of the modern church in Africa. He was arrested in February 1977 and died shortly after. Although the official account describes a car crash, it is generally accepted that he was murdered on the orders of then-President Idi Amin.
Moses Isegawa, also known as Sey Wava, is a Ugandan author. He has written novels set against the political turmoil of Uganda, which he left in 1990 for the Netherlands. His debut novel, Abyssinian Chronicles, was first published in Amsterdam in 1998, selling more than 100,000 copies and gaining him widespread national attention. It was also very well reviewed when published in English in the United Kingdom and United States, in 2001. Isegawa became a naturalized Dutch citizen, but he returned to live in Uganda in 2006.
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Henry Kisaja Magumba Kyemba was a Ugandan political figure who held several high positions and finally became Minister of Health during Uganda's rule by Idi Amin. He served in that post from February 1974 until May 1977, when he fled into exile. He was also the author of State of Blood, a 1977 book he wrote after his flight from Uganda that describes Amin's tyrannical rule.
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Moses Ali is a Ugandan politician and retired military general. He is the Second Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of Government Business in Parliament. He previously served in the Cabinet of Uganda as Third Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of Government Business from May 2011 until June 2016. He also served as the first First Deputy Prime Minister from June 2016 to May 2021. He has served as the elected Member of Parliament for East Moyo County in Adjumani District since 2011.
Sarah Kyolaba Tatu Namutebi Amin, also known by her stage name "Suicide Sarah", was a Ugandan dancer who was dictator Idi Amin's fifth and last-surviving wife. She met Amin when she was a 19-year-old go-go dancer and they married in 1975. The couple had three children but Kyolaba left Amin after he went into exile in 1979. She moved to England where she ran a restaurant and later a hair salon. She died from cancer in 2015.
Basil Kiiza Bataringaya was a prominent Ugandan politician in post-independence Uganda. He was the Leader of the Opposition at the beginning of the Apollo Milton Obote government, and then he changed parties and was appointed to the powerful role of Ugandan Minister of Internal Affairs. He was imprisoned, tortured, and was one of the first political prisoners to be executed by the Idi Amin regime.
Isaac Maliyamungu, also known as Isaac Lugonzo, was a Ugandan military officer who served as one of President Idi Amin's most important officials and supporters during the Ugandan military dictatorship of 1971–79. Born in the Congo, Maliyamungu was one of the members of the 1971 coup that brought Amin to power, and was thereafter responsible for brutally suppressing dissidents throughout the country. Rising in the ranks, Maliyamungu amassed great power and earned a feared reputation. He was responsible for the mass murder of civilians and soldiers suspected of being disloyal to Amin.
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Godfrey Serunkuma Lule is a Ugandan lawyer. He was Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of Uganda for Idi Amin and defected, becoming a prominent international critic of Amin. He went on to found the prominent Ugandan Law and Consulting firm Sebalu & Lule Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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