MBARARA – The Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda [CCFU] has appealed to the government to prioritise culture in the tourism sector which is mainly dominated by the country’s landscape and wildlife.
According to Fredrick Nsibambi, the deputy executive director of CCFU, a non-governmental organisation based in Kampala, cultural tourism, if prioritised, can greatly contribute to national development as it has the potential to earn government revenue.
He made the call recently in Mbarara City during a two-day training of journalists from Kigezi and Ankole sub-regions centred on cultural rights and heritage promotion.
Nsibambi urged government to safeguard African cultural values for socio-economic transformation, saying Western modernisation should be embraced with caution.
“We can’t stop the evolution of technology as Africans. What we can do is embrace technology as it comes with the benefits of promoting our cultures. Therefore, we prefer our culture to be mainstreamed into the tourism sector so that it contributes to national development,” he said.
Nsibambi further appealed to the government to mainstream culture in educational institutions, learners in the country have a right to know their diverse cultures.
He said: “Government needs to mainstream culture in our education system. Now that we have a new curriculum which is competence-based, learners can be involved in cultural projects to groom children culturally.”
He added, “Before the kingdoms were abolished in 1967, Uganda’s cultures were vibrant and people were proud of their cultural identities but in the absence of cultural institutions, different cultural practices actually disappeared which need to be restored.”
The deputy executive director said that cultural leaders can as well be used to mobilise communities against environmental interference.
“Ideally when we talk about climate change challenges. Our cultural leaders can mobilise people to document and publicise the indigenous knowledge that we can use to address climate change,” Nsibambi said.
However, Nsibambi condemned government for evicting the Batwa communities from national parks and forest reserves, saying it violated their human rights and cultural values. The Batwa, found in western Uganda, are some the few indigenous communities in Uganda.
While speaking to the journalists during the training, Bishop Sheldon Mwesigwa of Ankole Diocese and vision bearer of the establishment the East African Revival Museum, called for support, saying that the museum would boost faith-based museum.
He also encouraged schools to organise tours to museums to enrich students’ history for academic excellence. “With the education system of Uganda, people study theory but here there is what we call faith-based tourism where students can come and study church history revival,” he said.
Mwesigwa appealed to the government to support the church in Ankole in their efforts to establish the East African Revival Museum in Uganda. “Our main challenge is funding but we wish to put up a better museum if the government can also support us,” he said.
According to CCFU, for the last 15 years Ugandans have embraced the notion of museums and currently Uganda has about 25 community museums that include; the Uganda National Museum, and Ankore Culture and Drama Actors’ Museum.
Others are Koogere Community Museum in Fort Portal, Obudhingiya Bwa Bamba Museum in Bundibugyo, Madi Community Museum in Moyo, Cultural Research Centre Museum, Uganda Railway Museum in Jinja, Mbale, Karamoja, and Acholi among others.
https://thecooperator.news/kumi-rdc-urges-ugandans-to-embrace-saving-culture/
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