Bujagali spirits relocated

Aug 20, 2007

BUSOGA traditional healers performed rituals at Bujagali in Jinja yesterday to ‘relocate’ spirits from the falls, where a 250MW hydropower dam is to be constructed,

BUSOGA traditional healers performed rituals at Bujagali in Jinja yesterday to ‘relocate’ spirits from the falls, where a 250MW hydropower dam is to be constructed, report Ibrahim Kasita & Moses Nampala.

At the climax of the rituals, one of the healers only identified as Nfuudu placed a spear wrapped in bark cloth in the roaring Bujagali falls. After a while, he took it out and later took it to the new site at Namizi West, about eight kilometres from the falls. This marked the final relocation of the spirits, announced the healers.

“The spirits have accepted to relocate. To prove that they were happy, there was rain as we relocated them. This will allow the construction and completion of the Bujagali hydropower project successfully,” the leader of the healers, James Christopher Mutyaba, said.

Mutyaba, who was described as the chairman of 11 Busoga chiefdoms, slaughtered three cows, 20 goats and chicken at the new site, where a small shrine of bricks was hurriedly constructed.

They sang, feasted on meat, matooke and drank local brew during the rituals that kicked off on Sunday and ended yesterday.

Dressed in bark cloths and beads, joyful elderly men and women numbering about 30, smoked tobacco in long brightly decorated pipes as they danced at their new site worth over sh11m. The whole relocation exercise cost about sh21m. Project developers, Bujagali Energy Limited, purchased the site measuring 1.2 acres, following a compensation agreement.

“The blood sacrifice is to get the spirits embedded under the River Nile waters to relocate. This is a clear testimony that we are behind the project,” Mauta Lukowe Naigaga said and argued that the spirits, if not appeased, could get angry and do harm.

Nabamba Budhagali, the chief oracle at Bujagali, did not participate in the rituals.

Some officials from the Busoga Kingdom attended the ceremony.
They included, John Kadoko, the minister for culture in the Kyabazinga’s office.

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