Acholi culture remains an untapped resource

By David Labeja

Gulu, Uganda

An Acholi bwola dancer blowing the horn

For so many years in both colonial and post independent Uganda, the Acholi have been used to provide entertainment at national, regional and international public functions, not to mention the various private gatherings that some group of Acholi dancers or the other perform at. 

If Uganda was receiving some guest who marvels at the beautiful Ugandan culture, chances are that Bwola dance, the royal most revered dance in Acholi will be used to entertain such a guest on arrival.

In and around Kampala, parents from Acholi whose children are graduating, wedding or having some sort of celebration still spend a sizeable amount of money to transport Acholi traditional dancers to perform Bwola from Lira Palwo in agago while others bring Larakaraka dancers all the way from Pawidi in Kitgum. 

Whenever I visit Ndere Centre in Ntinda, a Kampala suburb, I notice that the guests and patrons of the center feel cheated on a day some Acholi traditional dance was not performed.  In fact I am willing to bet both arms and a leg that Bwola will be used to entertain Pope Francis I on his papal visit to Uganda later in November.

Bwola is however one of the over 20 unrivalled dances, songs, cuisines, practices and rituals that has remained untapped in the Acholi culture. When last month the Local government Minister Adolf Mwesigye proposed to cabinet that government would create 5 new cities and I saw Gulu in it, I was elated! My excitement was however short-lived when I saw a proposed ‘flat’ Gulu city, while Jinja was proposed as an Industrial City while Fort Portal proposed as Tourism City. I expected Gulu to be a Cultural City!

As a cultural city, Gulu would become a center for tapping resources from the various cultural values that the Acholi people have. Take dances for example. What if we have an annual cultural carnival week, where various dance groups showcase different dances and performances? 

Apart from preserving culture, this can be popularized to attract internal tourism, where Ugandans travel from far and near to come and enjoy the most beautiful and entertaining dances from the world. Look at how the Kampala Carnival has become popular!

From Brazil to Germany, big cities have cultural carnivals, which last not less than three days, and these have proved to be a huge source of revenue for both the host cities and the host countries-what with the hundreds of tourists traveling and paying visa fees to be part of the carnival! I believe that an Acholi cultural carnival would attract such international tourists also, and therefore bring in resources for both the host city and Uganda as a whole. With that, we may never have to rely on donor countries to fund the recovery of northern Uganda.

But for these all to happen, there must be local support from the Acholi community. We the people of Acholi need to rally behind the cultural institution Ker Kwaro Acholi and compel them to think of this as one way of raising the value of Acholi as a community. With the paramount chief and his council of chiefs taking lead, there is so much we can achieve when we invest in Acholi traditional dances.