Honourable Virtual Parliamentarians This issue of the Agofe being at the Presidents office is I believe one of those issues of people looking for the brown envelope. I have read all posts by the Retired Amassador Harold Acema and Dr Okuonzi. I did not read anything insensitive to those seeking a Lugbara Chiefdom other than the fact that the Lugbara have independently not under any cultural authority as those practiced in Buganada, Bunyoro, etc. But surely do need this useless class system among the Lugbara? In my growing in West Nile I have enever heard of any Lugbara chiefdom, other than the clan leaders which I know every clan has. Moreover these clan leaders were/are not class based, and are considered by their age and wisdom within the clan and their selection was/is never through a vote as expressed by the retired Ambassador. My father was one on the elders in our area and whenever some white people wanted to know more about the history of our area, the local government officials always brought those white people to him. I never heard him talk about any Agofe or meeting with Agofe or him being a surbodinate of an Agofe. Indeed I think it is right to call those going to the President to seek authority of Lugbara Chiefdom self seekers. Personally to me we rather focus on discussing the challenges of WNF rather than talk about Lugbara Chiefdon that has never existed. Here is the latest Harolds Latest post about the same: http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/The-story-of-West-Nile--From-DRC-to-Uganda-to/-/689844/1921012/-/5hluvq/-/index.html
On Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 1:21 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. > _______________________________________________ > >
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