Iguru's campaign OK
OMUKAMA SOLOMON Iguru of Bunyoro has launched a campaign to control adolescent pregnancy and early marriage in his kingdom.
OMUKAMA SOLOMON Iguru of Bunyoro has launched a campaign to control adolescent pregnancy and early marriage in his kingdom.
Iguru's campaign must not only transcend Bunyoro, for the problem he is addressing is a nationwide blight, but should also serve as a pointer to what our traditional leaders can do.
Their role has been contentious. Their ban in the mid 1960s precipitated political and social chaos that is still manifest in many different ways even today.
But that banning was inevitable as their status and the politics of the time was not in consonance with the building of a new nation.
Their reinstatement in the 1990s as cultural leaders with limited political power was a good halfway house that respected respective communities' traditions, while also safeguarding wider national cohesion.
But their freshly defined role has always been under debate. The Omukama has stood out thus far - in addition to this new campaign, he has also been crusading for more profitable farming practices for his subjects.
The other cultural leaders can borrow a leaf from Iguru, and immerse themselves in campaigns like controlling birth rates, planting trees, educating girls, repairing roads, improving domestic health and diet. That would be a great legacy.
Iguru's campaign must not only transcend Bunyoro, for the problem he is addressing is a nationwide blight, but should also serve as a pointer to what our traditional leaders can do.
Their role has been contentious. Their ban in the mid 1960s precipitated political and social chaos that is still manifest in many different ways even today.
But that banning was inevitable as their status and the politics of the time was not in consonance with the building of a new nation.
Their reinstatement in the 1990s as cultural leaders with limited political power was a good halfway house that respected respective communities' traditions, while also safeguarding wider national cohesion.
But their freshly defined role has always been under debate. The Omukama has stood out thus far - in addition to this new campaign, he has also been crusading for more profitable farming practices for his subjects.
The other cultural leaders can borrow a leaf from Iguru, and immerse themselves in campaigns like controlling birth rates, planting trees, educating girls, repairing roads, improving domestic health and diet. That would be a great legacy.