EDITOR - ”The tears from Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II at the sight of the devastation of the resting place of his ancestors at Kasubi is testimony to the fragility of life.

Emotional images and pictures taken of a king crying and the public outpouring of the intense grief should be preserved, microfilmed and stored in the Uganda National Museum. Many people, if any, had ever seen him crying. I have recently visited world class museums preserving emotional images of a totally grounded Germany after the Second World War.

The revenue that Germany collects from over 6,000 museums depicting its emotional history beats the GDP of many economies! The fire at kasubi Tombs has destroyed the institutional, symbolic and ideological contours of pre- and modern Buganda and that in itself history even if it was criminal. Like President Museveni has said, investigations into the incident should be hastened and the findings followed up wherever they may lead.

Since we cannot replace the burnt regalia of historical value like shields, spears, gifts, leopard skins and portraits of kings etc, with better technology we can pass on the emotional heritage to the future generations.

George W. Ntambaazi
Osnabrück, Germany