Why legislation that protects indigenous cultures, languages, and territories should be revived, passed

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OPINION

By Mariam Mutonyi Wangadya

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to thank the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda for organising this commemoration of the 2025 International Day of the World’s indigenous Peoples.

I also wish to applaud the organisers for the choice of venue for today’s activity. As you all know, Ndere Centre is the heartbeat of Uganda’s cultural soul. In fact, this venue is a typical reminder that our identity as Ugandans is woven from the rich cultures of many unique peoples.

Today, we celebrate not just the existence of indigenous minority groups (IMGs) but their resilience, their wisdom, and their rightful place in shaping Uganda’s future.

This year’s theme, Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Self-Determination: A Pathway for Food Security and Sovereignty, could not be more urgent. When we talk about the Tepeth or the Ik of Karamoja, the Benet of Elgon, the Batwa of southwestern Uganda, the Maragoli of Bunyoro or the Basongora, we are not talking about the past.

We are talking about living communities, here and now, struggling for land, recognition and dignity in the only country they have ever known. Yet, somehow, we act like they are invisible. And friends, invisibility is the most dangerous form of violence and violation of human rights.

Uganda’s Constitution, under Article 36, guarantees the right of minorities to participate in decisions that affect them. But that right remains more theoretical than practical for most IMGs.

Let me share with you a few examples: In Karamoja, the Pokot and Tepeth have been pushed to the rocky outcrops, not by nature, but sometimes by mining concessions. Licences are issued for gold and marble beneath their feet, yet in some cases, the title deeds do not bear their name.

In the Elgon region, the Benet were evicted from their ancestral lands in the name of conservation. Sometimes I wonder, how can we conserve forests by evicting those who planted the trees? The Batwa of Kisoro. They used to be guardians of forests. These are human rights issues. Not just cultural events. Not tourism anecdotes.

Food security is about full participation. When communities determine what they plant, how they store it and how they share it, they are not just surviving. They are sovereign. Self-determination, therefore, is not a political luxury. It is a practical necessity.

At the Uganda Human Rights Commission, we take this responsibility seriously. We have had meetings with the indigenous groups. We are documenting the lived experiences of indigenous groups. We are advising government MDAs to engage the indigenous people before any development projects are initiated. We implore the indigenous persons to collaborate too!

But of course, we must go further. Indigenous people must fully participate in development. We must translate public messages into indigenous languages. We must ensure that national development plans are not written over the silence of indigenous communities. We must include indigenous youth in national conversations, not as museum pieces, but as innovators of culture, agriculture and enterprise. No one chooses to be a minority. But we all choose whether or not to ignore them.

Today, I call on Parliament to revive and pass legislation that protects indigenous cultures, languages, and territories. I urge civil society to fund indigenous-led initiatives, not projects about them, but by them. And I invite all of us to rethink what inclusion really means.

Let’s not commemorate today with speeches only. Let us raise this day into shifting from sympathy to solidarity. From cultural admiration to constitutional action. From pity to policy. Because as long as a Maragoli, Ik, Vonoma or Benet child cannot speak their language in school, we are not yet free.

As long as the Batwa are remembered only as forest people and not citizens, we are not yet equal. And as long as development means unnecessary eviction for some, we are not yet just.

Uganda is beautiful because it is diverse. But it will only be dignified when that diversity is protected. Let’s ensure that the next time we meet, we are not still discussing rights, but delivering them.

May this day mark the start of real self-determination for every Ugandan, in every language, on every acre. God bless you. God bless Uganda. For God and my Country.

The writer is the chairperson, Uganda Human Rights Commission