Politicizing Pluralism Or Not In uganda: The Fruits Or Waste

Politics in Africa is a lesson book for many aspects that many appreciate quietly or dispute noisily. When politics provides opportunities that favour the pluralistic diversity then that enshrines popular hope.

Africa was divided up into economic plots by those who met between 1884-1885 at the Berlin Conference to provide a working understand and an opportunity to regulate European colonization and trade in Africa. This meeting was one sided and no delegate from Africa was represented. Perhaps better representation of Africans would have had pluralistic outcomes.  

Presently, the borderlines seem to be intact save for some minor changes in West, East and Southern Africa where countries gained independence in later years or where conflicts still exist. When all is said and done, African countries we know today are as a result of that conference and no one is refuting that. So, many African heads may talk of the historical injustices but this one conference outcome is agreeable to all of them.

In Uganda, Halal butcheries, may not go by that name nor do many appreciate the magnitude of the networks of Islamic-led animal slaughtering practices there. This practice was made official by the British Colonialists and gazetted by President Idi Amin Dada.  This has enabled Uganda meat products to have popular acclaim because it is the Moslems who slaughter animals to be eaten by the public (Halaalization Of Foods). Halaalization is a pluralistic gesture. This inclusive gesture toward the islamic faithfuls has four advantages: it takes in mind their taboos around the killing of animals; therefore allows them not to question procedure; it is a motivation for them to engage in and influence this market; and it is a lucrative industry almost solely run by Muslims and it enables them become employers. When it comes to Halal certification, Uganda is high up on the list of eligible countries by default. Halal certification, like vegetarian food choices increasingly provide a variety of choices from which to sample foods from other cultures. This is good, especially for the tourism industry in Uganda.

I am a muganda man. And I want to add my voice to some misconceptions about the Baganda and our beloved president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. First off, the reference to racism thrown back and forth among many circles in Uganda against the Baganda is an affront to their age old notion of Concurrence and accommodation which are the mainstay of the spirit and faith of Nnono among the Baganda. The household is a preparation for pluralism among the Baganda.

In Uganda, talk of racism in Buganda is to be taken with a bit of salt. I always ask my friends from other tribes/ethnicities what constituted racism according to them. Are we talking of disputes over use of, say, the road or commonly used property? Most times, it boils down to use of resources. I also ask them if in their families they have had a child or two labelled as the black-sheep. If families have black-sheep, why should people be surprised at similar misunderstandings at community levels? When it comes to racist tendencies in Uganda, one should analyse if it is not an issue which can go away after mediation.  I do admit,  there are those who can be provocative and "political-racist", but they can be as scattered as black sheep in different families.

I come from a very large family and during holidays. I looked forward to going to our ancestral home where we were helping hands at our modern large ranch with over 3,000 heads of cattle in Ntuusi. We could engage in different chores from: tagging cattle; cleaning the sheds; repairing the fences; watering the trees; to weeding and pruning.

Ntuusi like many parts of Buganda, has a mixture of ethnicities co-existing as has been for millennia. This area has people from Rwanda, Burundi, Ankole and Buganda who have lived here for so long.  Ruzindana is one example of people who migrated from other parts of Africa to come and settle in Uganda in the late 1940's. He was my childhood friend as well as his sisters and brothers: Kabeba, Karenzi, Birimumaiso, Kamuntu, Ndayiragije and Kyomuhangi. When we got together we shared so much in form of: stories, labour force, helped each other with school homework, shared bed, breakfast and bathrooms. I got to know that Kabeba meant a rat (mice) in Kinyarwanda. I was nicknamed Kamese which means rat in Luganda, by my father. I am told it was because when I was younger I could not pronounce the name Mukasa and instead I would instead say Kamese. 

Ruzindana became a medical doctor and now works with the Rwanda Ministry of Health. Kyomuhangi a sister to Kabeba is a professor at a university in the United Kingdom. We are still in touch but we lost our ranch to a more well armed and powerful hand who treated us with all the contempt and discourteousness a sane mind could behold. There have been abuses against Banyarwanda ethnicities in Uganda, but there have also been numerous instances of courteous regard toward them. There have been abuses against Baganda too. I am sure, we all have stories to tell. The problem is that there seems to be no structure within which to report abuses as well as reward coexistence. 

Uganda is both a melting pot and tossed salad example of how ethnicities, ideologies and cultures in Africa can work together. Working and living together can be supported by the state if it can provide pluralistic opportunities for growth and development.

The writer of these blogs is an American Political Scientist. Read more of these blogs please. Thank you.