Who is Opoka?
Apr 22, 2009
The Acholi believe that since the LRA war has ended, the region (northern Uganda) should be cleansed to keep away disasters such as hunger and floods. Without cleansing, they say, people may commit suicide or run mad.
By Vision Reporter
The Acholi believe that since the LRA war has ended, the region (northern Uganda) should be cleansed to keep away disasters such as hunger and floods. Without cleansing, they say, people may commit suicide or run mad.
They suspect last year’s floods which displaced over 300,000 people and killed 90 in northern Uganda were caused by spirits.
Michael Opoka, 83, has a vast experience in Acholi culture and its traditional practices. That is why he was chosen to carry out the cleansing rituals.
Opoka studied up to technical school and served the Government as a technical tutor and later as a parish chief. He parted ways with the Government in 1971 when President Idi Amin took over.
The Acholi community elected him as a member of the Acholi Ker Kwaro (Acholi cultural institutions) in 1976, a post he held until 1990, when he was elevated to treasurer of the same body and later the head of cleansing.
But Opoka had begun this work much earlier. “My grandfather was the head of cleansing among the Acholi. As a young man, I witnessed some of the ceremonies he presided over,†Opoka says.
In 1944, he says, he migrated from his native Paicho village to Koro sub-county due to shortage of land.
In 1990, the chief of Koro clan died, but all the people close to him had left. “Cleansing had to be performed before burial, but there was no one to do it. Because I am a close relative of the Rwot (Paramount chief of Acholi), I was tasked to do it,†he says.
Opoka did the rituals so well that the community elevated him to head of cleansing. He says cleansing does not call for spiritual transformation. “All you need to know are the cultural practices of the Acholi,†he says.
The rituals, Opoka says, are a sign that the war is over.
The Acholi believe that since the LRA war has ended, the region (northern Uganda) should be cleansed to keep away disasters such as hunger and floods. Without cleansing, they say, people may commit suicide or run mad.
They suspect last year’s floods which displaced over 300,000 people and killed 90 in northern Uganda were caused by spirits.
Michael Opoka, 83, has a vast experience in Acholi culture and its traditional practices. That is why he was chosen to carry out the cleansing rituals.
Opoka studied up to technical school and served the Government as a technical tutor and later as a parish chief. He parted ways with the Government in 1971 when President Idi Amin took over.
The Acholi community elected him as a member of the Acholi Ker Kwaro (Acholi cultural institutions) in 1976, a post he held until 1990, when he was elevated to treasurer of the same body and later the head of cleansing.
But Opoka had begun this work much earlier. “My grandfather was the head of cleansing among the Acholi. As a young man, I witnessed some of the ceremonies he presided over,†Opoka says.
In 1944, he says, he migrated from his native Paicho village to Koro sub-county due to shortage of land.
In 1990, the chief of Koro clan died, but all the people close to him had left. “Cleansing had to be performed before burial, but there was no one to do it. Because I am a close relative of the Rwot (Paramount chief of Acholi), I was tasked to do it,†he says.
Opoka did the rituals so well that the community elevated him to head of cleansing. He says cleansing does not call for spiritual transformation. “All you need to know are the cultural practices of the Acholi,†he says.
The rituals, Opoka says, are a sign that the war is over.