David, I think now you are talking, we may as a foundation in future fund a student to undertake her or his thesis preferable at a Masters level about the origin, social, political and cultural formation of the West Nile citizens. I know there are books about the origin of people of West Nile but most of them are whites writing about us. It's high time. I think Yosa Wawa has some book about the Kakwa, I do not know whether it has been published
Sent from my iPhone On Jul 21, 2013, at 11:35 AM, David Olema <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear all, this is a healthy discussion. Is it possible to involve the > district Councillors in charge of community development involved? These > representatives may help us put together some useful information to > triangulate the two strong opposing opinions. On Sunday 14/07/2013, a > colleague of mine and I were invited to address St. Joseph's College Ombaci > students cultural group hailing from Terego county on, embracing a culture of > hard work as the only way out of poverty, at Cilio Primary school and here we > encountered an amazing who narrated to the audience the origin of the Terego > and many other "groups" in West Nile. I personally asked the Councillor of > Oriama sub-county (Mr. Saka) to organise to capture this story on vedio. At > this point I also recalled my experience at the national museum where I > noticed that many of our (Lugbara) artifacts were missing. To cut the long > story short, I think we need to take a deliberate step to piece together our > history and origin. This is good for us and our children. I now call upon > anthropologists, sociologists and historians among us to take up challenge as > a matter of urgency. Once again I want to thank all of you on this forum for > this constructive debate. I appeal to all of us to keep it health and remain > open minded. Thank you. > > > From: samuel andema <[email protected]> > To: Caleb Alaka <[email protected]>; A Virtual Network for friends of West > Nile <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, 21 July 2013, 9:40 > Subject: Re: [WestNileNet] Do the Lugbara need a traditional Chief > > Hi Caleb, > > Thanks for appreciating our humble opinions. I would also like to thank our > brothers Mr. Acema and Hon. Okuonzi for initiating this debate. Let others > feel free to give their perspectives to the issues being raised in order to > enrich our understanding. Such debates are healthy because they help us to > understand ourselves better. > > Thanks. > > Sam Andema > > From: Caleb Alaka <[email protected]> > To: samuel andema <[email protected]>; A Virtual Network for friends of > West Nile <[email protected]> > Cc: A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, 20 July 2013, 14:29 > Subject: Re: [WestNileNet] Do the Lugbara need a traditional Chief > > Sam and Aggrey, what a treatise, it is not only informative, since Ambassador > Harold is on this forum, I request that he posts his two articles for further > deliberations. We need to understand our past in order to appreciate the > future. I would also appreciate further alternative views. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jul 20, 2013, at 8:21 PM, samuel andema <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear Caleb, >> >> Thank you for inviting us to respond to this very important subject >> regarding the institution of Agofe among the Lugbara. Unfortunately, I seem >> not to have read the articles by my elder brothers Mr. Acema and Hon. Dr. >> Okuonzi or if I did, I never paid much attention to them to be able to >> respond to the specific arguments they have made. I will therefore limit my >> response to their two claims that you have alluded to, namely: 1) that those >> seeking Agofe are self seekers, 2) that the Lugbara were egalitarian and >> believed in equality. >> >> In the first place the claim that those seeking Agofe are self seekers >> without providing sufficient evidence is disrespectful to people like Mzee >> Jason Avutia (Chairman, Lugbara Elders' Association) who played crucial role >> in averting a potentially serious armed conflict between National Resistance >> Army (NRA) and the soldiers who had retreated to West Nile and regrouped to >> resist the NRA under the leadership of Brigadier Go Wilson Toko. The >> soldiers were itching to fight but when Toko convened a meeting with the >> elders from Arua District to seek their approval and blessing a war against >> the advancing NRA, they insisted that war was not the best option. Instead >> the elders offered to go to the front line with white flags to negotiate a >> peaceful entry of NRA into West Nile. As a result NRA entered West Nile >> without a single bullet which saved us from bloodshed and destruction of >> property. Had the elders not intervened and had Toko not listened to their >> wise counsel, our situation would have been worst than the suffering that >> the people of Gulu have endured for decades. >> >> It was against such a background that the need for a more structured >> cultural institution among Lugbara elders arose to facilitate coordination >> and mobilization to respond to common challenges and threats. It is >> important to appreciate the historical context in which Agofe evolved to >> constructively discuss its merits and demerits. This is not to say that >> there can be no self seekers in such an organization. Definitely like any >> organization there will always be some individuals who would want to take >> advantage of such an institution to advance their selfish interests at the >> expense of a common good. With time such self seekers and their selfish >> schemes will be exposed. In my view, the question should be how we as young >> people can build on what the elders have done but not to tear it down for >> equally selfish reasons. We should be discussing how we can make the Agofe >> more democratic, transparent, and all inclusive. The constitution of Uganda >> recognizes cultural institutions as legitimate institutions to play >> complementary roles in promoting unity and service delivery. The Agofe can >> play an important role in resolving conflicts and fostering unity, >> preserving our institution memory through artifacts, promoting our cultural >> identity, promoting tourism, developing language etc. >> >> While I agree with Acema and Okuonzi that the Lugbara were generally viewed >> as an egalitarian society by the dawn of colonialism, I do not subscribe to >> the notion that social formation among the Lugbara communities was static >> and the institutions of leadership would not have grown beyond clans. In >> fact to the contrary, colonialism came in as a disruption to state formation >> among communities of West Nile as Ahluwalia (1995) and Leopold (2005) >> accurately describe in their books entitled "Plantation and the Politics of >> Sugar in Uganda" and "Inside West Nile" respectively which I encourage those >> interested in the history of our people to read. Copies of these books can >> be found in Aristock Bookshop in Kampala. Our challenge is that we have a >> poor reading culture which limits our ability to objectively examine >> documentary evidence to make plausible arguments. >> >> I would like to conclude by suggesting that the executive of this forum >> should consider organizing an event in form of a workshop or a conference in >> which people with strong views about the notion of Agofe can be invited to >> present alternative views based on research evidence. I would be willing to >> offer my own perspective to the discussions. >> >> Thanks. >> >> Sam >> >> >> >> Subject: [WestNileNet] Do the Lugbara need a traditional Chief >> >> >> Some time ago, Ambassador Achema Harold, opined in one of the dailies that >> those seeking Agofe are self seekers, that the Lugbara were egalitarian and >> believed in equality. Hon Dr. Okuonzi MP Vura rebutted the same, and >> supported the idea, it is not the most pressing issue we have, Sam Andema >> and father Ruffino and others what is your take on this matter. >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> _______________________________________________ >> WestNileNet mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet >> >> WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ >> >> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including >> attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. >> _______________________________________________ >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> WestNileNet mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet >> >> WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ >> >> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including >> attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. >> _______________________________________________ > > > > _______________________________________________ > WestNileNet mailing list > [email protected] > http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet > > WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. > _______________________________________________ > >
_______________________________________________ WestNileNet mailing list [email protected] http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. _______________________________________________
