Sandwiched Japadhola to be born again

May 20, 2019

The organizing team is calling upon tribesmen and culture enthusiasts to converge and celebrate their existence besides reasserting their ways in an era of being flooded with information through social media.

PEOPLE   JOPADHOLA   CULTURE

Sandwiched between the Bantu and Nilo Hamites, the educated, traveled and intermarrying Japadhola based in Eastern Uganda are fast losing their culture, a wealth of history and the traditional lifestyle. 

"The more reason we need a renaissance of Japadhola ways," revealed the minister of tourism, culture, and antiquities Solomon Owino.  "Come June 4th-8th and we will exhibit to the world our: history, cuisines, dress code, important sites, and language."

The venue will be in Tororo but important historical importance will also be unveiled to make the area harvest the benefits of the booming tourism industry.

 Solomon Owino

"Originally we worshiped gods called Ajok and Were," confided the minister of youths and sports Steven Omeja. "This god helped our ancestors resist assimilation into aggressive: Banyole, Iteso, colonial administration Baganda agents and Basoga tribes."

Adding that, that is how the tribe got the second name of Badama (face the fire) from Widoma a Japhadola word, way back in the 18th Century. It implied concerted resistance.

"As if that is not enough, in the past, there used to be arranged marriages where babies were booked with rings and necklaces. Alternatively, peers could help a suitor force a girl into sexual submission," narrated Omeja with nostalgia. "With the world becoming a single village these details will be lost."

 Omeja

The organizing team is calling upon tribesmen and culture enthusiasts to converge and celebrate their existence besides reasserting their ways in an era of being flooded with information through social media.

"Look at traditional weddings, dance styles, and dress code," lamented Omeja. "We have our ancestral ways and yummy cuisines like: boo, akeyo, ayuyu and Magira. These days youth risk obesity because of depending on junk food."

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