The politics of Uganda should be de-tribalised
Jun 10, 2005
SIR — “Uganda’s No.1 columnistâ€, John Nagenda was most disappointing in his article “Keep the Vision Clean†published on June 4.
SIR — “Uganda’s No.1 columnistâ€, John Nagenda was most disappointing in his article “Keep the Vision Clean†published on June 4.
While he applauds William Pike for “not been sucked into our tribal maelstrom so often at the centre of our political lifeâ€, Nagenda indicates he is tribalistic himself! He reminds us of the tribal composition of those who went to London to debate the lifting of the term limits.
He writes: “Still I couldn’t help noticing that three of the four main speakers were from western Uganda, two Banyankole and the Muhororo “cousinâ€. Certainly it can only be a tribalistic mind that worries much about the ethnic composition of debaters rather than the
content of the debate.
I am not very sure if other “tribes†from Uganda were not allowed to go for the debate but certainly 20 years should have been enough to diminish the tribal content from the mind of the group in the
political class where the Nagendas fall.
My prayer to Nagenda is that rather than being “deeply upset†by the exportation of essanja to Europe, which is a temporary issue, he should at least, for the sake of the young generation, struggle to de-tribalise the politics of this country. Some of us are also deeply upset by this incessant tribalism of the old political class which has a cascading effect to the young generation.
Please remove this “albatross†of tribalism from our midst.
Nathan Byamukama
byam_nat@yahoo.com
While he applauds William Pike for “not been sucked into our tribal maelstrom so often at the centre of our political lifeâ€, Nagenda indicates he is tribalistic himself! He reminds us of the tribal composition of those who went to London to debate the lifting of the term limits.
He writes: “Still I couldn’t help noticing that three of the four main speakers were from western Uganda, two Banyankole and the Muhororo “cousinâ€. Certainly it can only be a tribalistic mind that worries much about the ethnic composition of debaters rather than the
content of the debate.
I am not very sure if other “tribes†from Uganda were not allowed to go for the debate but certainly 20 years should have been enough to diminish the tribal content from the mind of the group in the
political class where the Nagendas fall.
My prayer to Nagenda is that rather than being “deeply upset†by the exportation of essanja to Europe, which is a temporary issue, he should at least, for the sake of the young generation, struggle to de-tribalise the politics of this country. Some of us are also deeply upset by this incessant tribalism of the old political class which has a cascading effect to the young generation.
Please remove this “albatross†of tribalism from our midst.
Nathan Byamukama
byam_nat@yahoo.com