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 <andema...@yahoo.co.uk> 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 > WestNileNet@kym.net > 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 > WestNileNet@kym.net > 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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