The circulation of Uganda’s fifteen nations as a basis for discussing the future governance direction of Uganda has raised some fundamental questions that the champions of 15 nations have not been able to answer. There are three principal characteristics that define a tribe or a nation:
1. Common ancestry;
2. Common language;
3. Common religion.
Applying these criteria raise questions about the fifteen nations. Take Buganda for example. We always hear those who refer to themselves as Bana ba Kintu and others are called Bana ba Kimera. These are two ancestries.
Then there is the question of language. There are different mother tongues in Buganda. While at Ntare School in the early 1960s we witnessed Baganda students teasing Bakooki students for not speaking proper Luganda. So Luganda is not a common/ancestral language. There are various religions and there is no one common religion in Buganda. Based on the above is Buganda a nation?
In Kigezi clans were just compressed into artificial tribes for colonial administrative convenience, hoping that ultimately we would metamorphose into a nation. But that didn’t happen. That is why after independence Kigezi split into three groups: Kabale, Bufumbira and Rukungiri. Within these three groups there are major differences.
Take Rukungiri. We have Nilotic/ Batutsi/Bahororo and Bantu/Bairu/Bahororo – two distinct ancestries. Ankole has same characteristics as Rukungiri. Toro is another case of different ancestries.
Knowing who we are does not mean we are not patriotic. And opponents should not use this civic education to score political points. All people in the world want to know their origin and DNA tests are helping in this regard. The Ugandans that were compressed into artificial classifications must be given a chance to find out who they are. That is legitimate.
The champions of the 15 Uganda nations need to come forward and explain how the grouping of these 15 nations came about.
Eric