Pomp, colour as Acholi cultural gala kicks off

Hundreds yesterday thronged Kaunda grounds in Gulu Municipality for the second edition of the Acholi cultural festival.
The annual festival was launched last year by the cultural institution with the aim of bringing the Acholi together to celebrate and promote their culture.
This year’s gala is organised in partnership with the Uganda Tourism Board, the Uganda Breweries Ltd and Airtel Uganda under the theme “Promoting Acholi Heritage”. It ends tomorrow.
Already on display at the venue are traditional artefacts, cultural dances and songs, traditional clothing, musical instruments, and historical books, among others.
One of the cultural enthusiasts, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they are determined to educate the Acholi youth about their culture.
“There is a lot that the current generation needs to know about this beautiful Acholi culture and its practices because tomorrow it will be them (youth) to carry it on. It will be a shame if we do not pass to them the information we have,” she said.
Mr Ambrose Olaa, the institution’s prime minister, said they hope to instil the spirit of hard work among area residents.
“The main focus of the festival is to see how much we can tap from the Acholi heritage to promote overall human productivity. We want to understand the productivity level of an average person in Acholi; if you are a teacher or a mechanic, what is the level of your output,” Mr Olaa said.
“Because of the war, the productivity in the region has been very low; we the Acholi have failed to compete in the global arena, we want people to improve their productivity,” he added.
According to Mr Olaa, the Acholi heritage, values and norms are crafted in a way that people are productive.
“Many people, especially the youth, have become beggars from the government, non-governmental organisations and well-wishers. We have a lot of land yet we are not progressing, we are cutting down trees every day for charcoal and these are all signs of low productivity that has made us vulnerable,” he said.
The prime minister said although they had budgeted Shs300 million for the three-day festival, they have been able to raise Shs150 million from various stakeholders and sponsors.
“We continue to appeal for more support to make the event colourful. The content of the event is the same but the organisation has improved greatly this time round,” he said.
Mr Olaa said an invitation has been extended to Bunyoro King Solomon Iguru I but added that he has not yet confirmed attendance.

About the festival

The Acholi cultural festival was launched last year with the main aim of bringing the Acholi people together to celebrate and promote their culture.
Sponsors. Among the companies and individuals that have donated for the festival include Uganda Breweries Ltd (UBL), which donated Shs52 million, Airtel Shs20 million, Mukwano Group of Companies Shs5 million, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah Shs5 million, Stanbic Bank Shs10 million while Arise and Shine Milers donated two tons of maize flour.
Mr Jacob Oulanyah, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, is expected to be the chief guest.