Personal experience of Kantilal Kakad

Expulsion

On 40th anniversary of the expulsion of Ugandan Asians from Uganda, I wish to express my views to say how bad situation in Uganda was and how fortunate we had been. The state of affairs in Uganda was very fearful. In the evening in Kampala city, we would lock ourselves in our homes while the military were patrolling the streets. We did not have the expectation that all the British Asians would come out of the country alive. However, a month after the announcement that all Asians must leave Uganda, my wife, two daughters ( Nimita and Jyoti) and I managed to come out of the country, leaving my excellent and respectable job as bank officer and all our personal belongings and property. We landed at Stansted airport early morning of 1st September, 1972, where we were greeted by the Ugandan Resettlement Board. We were given breakfast at 5 am and clothes and other necessaries to protect ourselves from the cold weather. We were given a choice to whether to go stay with relatives or friends or a camp organised by the Ugandan Resettlement Board. We went to the army camp at Yeovil in Somerset. After about 10 days, I enquired about whether I would be able to get work, but this was a transit camp, we had to wait until we got to Stradil camp in Admington before this became a reality. After a short stay here, I was offered a job in Hemel Hempstead with a US company, Addressograph & Multigraph and at the same time, council, being a New Town, offered us Council house accommodation.

Settled in Hemel Hempstead

We stayed in Hemel Hempstead from 1972 to 1998. There was a small Asian community in a wonderful town and enjoyed my life here. My two daughters were educated here. Nimita became a teacher and Jyoti a solicitor.

Our Gratitude

I am grateful to the people of Hemel Hempstead and to the council and Salvation Army. I would like to mention Major Ward, who made our settlement very successful, ensuring in the days that we had all necessary day to day things. I would also like to mention Chief Executive Officer June Street, who also looked after our needs. Obviously, we are graceful to the Government of the country and in particular Sir Edward Heath who showed great courage we when taking all 30.000 or so British Asians out of Uganda safely.