By Joseph muyingo
For decades, many Ugandans have known Sudhir Ruparelia as one of East Africa’s most successful businessmen. But behind the hotels, schools, real estate projects and investments lies a more personal story — one of belonging, identity and an attachment to Uganda that survived exile.
Speaking during a conversation with Pan African Pyramid (PAP) speaker Andrew Irumba Katusabe at Crane Chambers, Sudhir reflected not only on his family’s history but on a deeper question: what does it mean to call a place home?
Born in Kampala in 1956 and raised between Kampala, Jinja and Kasese, Sudhir described himself as a fourth-generation Ugandan, saying his family’s roots in the country go back more than 100 years.
His earliest memories were not of boardrooms or business, but of a childhood surrounded by Uganda’s natural beauty.
Growing up in Katwe-Kabatoro near Queen Elizabeth National Park, he remembers elephants wandering into family compounds, lions appearing unexpectedly during drives, and evenings shaped by the rhythms of life in western Uganda.
His family ran a modest business and valued education, giving him what he describes as a normal middle-class upbringing.
Then came 1972.
When President Idi Amin ordered Asians to leave Uganda within 90 days, thousands prepared to depart. But Sudhir says he struggled to accept the reality.
Unlike many who immediately arranged to leave, he delayed.
Uganda, he explained, was not a place he had moved to — it was the only country he had ever known.
His father had been born here. He had been born here. His childhood, friends and memories were here.
“I wanted to stay,” Sudhir recalled.
Even after his parents left, he remained behind until the final days of the expulsion period.
Eventually, circumstances forced him onto one of the last flights out of Uganda at just 16 years old.
Yet leaving Uganda did not mean leaving behind his sense of identity.
Years later, after rebuilding his life abroad, Sudhir returned and invested heavily in the country where his story began.
Today, his journey stands as more than a business success story — it reflects the enduring idea that home is not always defined by where life takes you, but by where your roots remain.
For Sudhir, Uganda was never simply where he was born.
It was where he always intended to belong.
