DR IAN CLARKE: Appreciating traditions and culture

There are a number of artists in Uganda, some of whom sell their works abroad for large sums of money. I find it impossible to place a value on art since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and how the piece speaks to me may be quite different from how another individual sees it. On the other hand, I may just be a ‘Philistine’ who has never been taught to appreciate the nuanced expressions of art.

One well known artist is Taga who paints familiar scenes from Kampala, the people of Uganda and birds. His paintings of a man pushing matoke on a bicycle, or flooding in the city capture many of those moments we have all witnessed. He has also written a book on the cultural significance of the totems of Uganda. I got into conversation with Taga on Ugandan cultural traditions, of which he has a great breadth and depth of knowledge. In all societies there are those who do not know their own history and traditions, especially when they are not taught at school. I was brought up in Northern Ireland, and because that part of Ireland is under British jurisdiction, I was taught British and not Irish history and consequently had no understanding of my Irish heritage until I read it up when I was older. This lack of appreciation of both sides of Irish history has contributed greatly to bigotry and intolerance in Ireland, with each tradition understanding only one side of their heritage.

Many years ago, Bishop Misaeri Kauma gave me the name Busulwa, which made me a member of the Kkobe Clan. The Kkobe is a yam, sometimes referred to as an air potato, which the members of the clan are not supposed to eat. I have read several stories about the origin of the Kkobe totem, one of which is that it fell on the head of the clan founder at his introduction ceremony, another about the theft of the yams by a clansman and the subsequent shame. Each clan in the Buganda Kingdom has a particular function to carry out at the coronation. The Kkobe Clan play a role in preparing bark cloth for the king, the leaders of the Monkey Clan are entrusted with adorning the Kabaka at the coronation and adorning of his relics after his death. All the clans also had a duty of preservation of their environment such as trees which serve as home for monkeys while the Mmamba and Nngonge (Otter) clans preserved the waterways – which is why they were usually located near wetlands and rivers.

Taga tells the story of travelling deep into the village where he found a man by the name of Kafeero preparing to cut down a big tree. After greeting and getting directions from the gentleman, he asked, ‘But why are you cutting down trees that you are supposed to protect, since you are a member of the Monkey Clan?’ It seems that over the years the tradition of conservation has been lost. These clan duties were way ahead of their time in terms of environmental conservation but sadly have not been preserved.

Before Christianity came to Africa the Baganda had their own religion which was not displaced by Christianity but grafted on. They believed in one supreme god, Katonda, who had created Kintu, so it was not difficult for them to accept the Christian God. They also had their own places of worship in which there was preaching, teaching and healing. These shrines were their churches, so when Christian churches were introduced, they were not so different, though one major difference was that the Christian churches were not places where healing was carried out, since the healing function took place in hospitals. Therefore, the Kiganda healing function became more important in the shrines. Sadly, it also became commercialized and corrupted. More recently healing has been reintroduced into the new wave of Pentecostal churches where the performance of healing miracles is emphasized, again and been followed by commercialization and corruption by some pastors.

The Christian religion came with ten commandments, while the Kiganda religion had only one – ‘Obuntubulamu’ – which could be interpreted as being humane. Interestingly, this single commandment had previously been summed up by Jesus in the Golden Rule: ‘In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.’ I do not think we should be stuck in past traditions, since the world is changing fast, and we need to adapt to it, but it is important that we understand them in order that we know where we have come from and are not quick to make judgements on others from a different cultural background.