A museum for karamoja
The manager of the museum, Mr Daniel Araptorritich shows Karimojong boys some of the collections at the museum in Moroto town. PHOTO BY Steven Ariong
What you need to know:
After Karamoja got its first museum, the region now has an opportunity to compile its history and share it with the world.
Amuseum in Karamoja? Yes – Moroto got its first museum to celebrate the history, culture and traditions of the Karimojong people.
The people from this area are a proud lot and for generations have kept their cultural values intact, almost managing to preserve their pre-19th century culture before Uganda came into contact with western civilisation.
The Karimojong culture is a rich heritage and one that attracts many inquisitive people. However, little has been recorded or gathered to benefit today’s culture fanatics or future generations.
This has been largely due to insecurity in the region. With the museum in place, it could be easier to compile the history of the Karimojong and share it with the world.
The French embassy in Uganda funded the project through its Co-operation and Cultural Affairs department. The Karamoja Cultural Museum situated in Moroto District has amazing collections giving the people of Karamoja and others access to the incredible paleontological heritage of the region.
Ms Rose Mwanja Nkaale, the commissioner of antiques and director of Uganda Museums, said the establishment of the Karamoja Cultural Museum is aimed at boosting the study of the origins of the great apes and humans in the region.
She said since 1995, French and Ugandan researchers have been exploring the paleontological sites of Napak and Moroto. “In a period of 17 years, hundreds of plant and animal fossils dating as far as 20 million years have been unearthed,” she said.
The museum will help to raise students’ awareness of the rich heritage of the Karimojong and people who lived in the area before them. It is also an opportunity for Karimojong and other visitors to physically appreciate conservation of their culture, as well as the displayed fossils found over the years.
The museum in Karamoja is still being reorganised since it the first of its kind to be built in Karamoja. The main historical things which are already displayed include Karimojong traditional clothes, bones and others.
However, Ms Nkaale said in the few coming months all the expected Karimojong historical artefacts will be available at the museum. A museum is an institution that preserves and displays a collection of original objects, whether they are ancient artifacts from the Indus valley civilisation or the modern works of miniature artefacts.
Museums are important because they play a vital role in education, students can learn a lot about topics and theories around them. They can get a chance to see history, getting to feel art and touch culture, Mark Angella, a resident of Singila on the outskirts of Moroto municipality who didn’t know what a museum is all about, explained.
Andrew Keem Napaja, Kotido’s Resident District Commissioner, said Karamoja region was a historical region without a museum and yet it had a lot of historical artefacts for public viewing.
“Now that Karamoja has a museum, we hope that our students will pass history and sell the good image of Karamoja region,” he said.
The LC5 chairperson Kaabong District, Mr Joseph Komol, asked the faculty members of the museum to pick the best Karimojong students in History and train them to have enough knowledge about the objects or specimens and eventually employee them as guides at the museum.
