Ugandans-At-Heart

Fellow Ugandans At Heart,
      I write this message with anger and disbelief at how cruelty and sheer lack of the essence of being human, has penetrated our Ugandan societies.
      Several months ago, my maternal grand mother passed away. She was the glue that kept the family together after the death of many of her children, leaving many orphans in her care. After her death, one of her daughters took charge of the orphans and other children of her own. Her husband died several decades ago.
     It took me over thirty years to find my maternal relatives in Kigezi. The Danish Red Cross having let me down on many occasions, I decided to use friends to help me find them. Since then, I have done all I possibly could to support them.
     Yesterday, I sent money by Western Union to my aunt for the purpose of family support. Although she had a document with her photograph signed by the LC as her identity, the official in the Kabale Bank refused to give her the money and yet the MNTC numbers and the Test Question and Answer were perfectly in order. My aunt telephoned me while still in the Bank and gave the Banker the phone to speak to me. I told him that I am the sender of the money and that it was okay to issue the money. The Banker told me that he wanted ”an ID” and that, ”I can’t change Company policy because of this one person”. Before I could ask him why he did not consider the document given to him as an ID, he gave the phone back to my aunt. My aunt had to walk out of the Bank without the money. She had also asked if her 17 year old son’s ID was okay, so that I could ask the Western Union to send a message changing the recipient’s name. The Banker told her that he could not accept an under 18′s ID.
       At this moment, I am angry and disappointed and don’t know what even to think about what is going on in our Uganda. Can some one please kindly advise me?
                                                         BJ. Rubin.