By Abbey K. Semuwemba

9^th July 2012:

HRH Mutebi - The King of Buganda

Multiculturalism tells us that Uganda is a collection of various cultures – but with a dominant Baganda culture. Yes, there is a lot of rage against ganda culture, or whatever it represents – largely because of historical reasons.

But my appeal to people feeling like that is to find it in their hearts to forgive Buganda for past mistakes and we move on. We have a country to build, and it will require the collective efforts of almost everyone.  The majority of our problems are a result of not knowing what valid behaviour is when you have any sort of power on this planet.

I am not suggesting that ‘Buganda should eat up the other “nation-blocs” for the sake of Uganda, but I am suggesting that all elites in Uganda, regardless of their tribal differences, should come together and build the nation called ‘Uganda’ around the most dominant culture in Uganda.

This is something that is already happening on its own.  But it may be helped even further if, rather than looking at Buganda nationalism as the most dangerous thing that has ever happened to Uganda, elites like Bunyoro’s spokesperson, Mirima Henry could start looking at Buganda nationalism as an opportunity to build a solid nation state.

Buganda culture as we know it is a stable hybrid of several cultures, and this is something that our great Kings historically worked on with a lot of zeal. Bwebawambanga ekiitundu, bawambilanga ddala!!!!!

Throughout history, cultures have never co-existed without eventually mixing and destroying one another. Inter-tribal marriages are an important phenomenon to examine because they can be a barometer for tribal relations and cultural assimilation. I think the British foresaw this and that is why they came up with the 1962 constitution.

I am not saying Buganda should forcefully assimilate people into its cultures.  What I am saying is that there should be a leadership role to see that tribal differences in our country are skilfully diffused. This should be done through educating people and promoting the dominant culture and language.

Just think about it:  For more than fifty years, non-Baganda politicians and media have upheld Buganda kingdom’s “crimes” as an inescapable point of reference for them to abolish kingdoms and federalism (in 1966 by Obote), tribalise the army (as was the case in 1964-71 and 1980-85), tribalise the public service and education (as Museveni has openly done), and to weaken Kingdoms (as Obote did and Museveni continues to do).

Others may argue that strategies cited above were intended to achieve the same result – namely, build a strong and united Uganda.  But it has not worked.  Instead, we have ended up with paternalistic tendencies towards the dominant tribe in the country.

This has discouraged assimilation and created separation and more divisions in the country.  It is easier to assimilate Ugandans than to separate them the way some politicians have been trying to do.  And the easiest way to assimilate Ugandans would be to rally them around the dominant culture in the country – which is Buganda culture.

Fighting Buganda will make the nation-building goal even more imaginable.  You cannot build a Uganda without a strong Buganda culture embedded in it – it is as simple as that!

Bunyoro and Henry Mirima’s strategy appears to be to appeal to non-Baganda because of their personal feelings against the Baganda.  It might find favour among most politicians in power today – even though it could spell doom for the Uganda project.

And Jesus prophesied this.  In Matthew 24:3, Jesus was answering the disciples questions about “…what shall be the sign of thy coming and the end of the age?”  In reply, Jesus said, one of the signs would be ”…for nation shall rise against nation”.

The word “nation” in Greek is “ethnois” – and it’s where we get the word “ethnic” from.  Therefore, to paraphrase it, Jesus really meant when “ethnic groups shall rise against other ethnic groups.”  Whatever Jesus predicted or said, let it happen elsewhere and leave Uganda alone.

Lessons from China

Let me give you an example.  China has more than fifty separate peoples.  But they only have Mandarin as their dominant language, even though their history is probably worse than that of Buganda.  Bunyoro Spokesman Mirima may have some “beef” against some Baganda kings but he is living in the past.

China’s emperor-ism history should help him get out of it. One of the Emperors of China walked around with vials of pure alcohol which he often gave to his own staff, killing them instantly in the process.  Even in recent times, China was known for its brutal Emperors.

But this has not stopped its current leaders from finding ways of uniting the population behind them.  So there is a lot to learn from China and how it got itself out of the deep hole it was in and marched into its current greatness on the world stage.

In my view, federalism within Uganda and regional blocks such as the East African Federation is the way to go.  I cannot envisage a situation where Uganda is dismantled into small nation-states and it ceases to exist.

Buganda nationalism may therefore turn out to be a good thing for everybody in future.  END.  Login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories mid-week for our updates

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