Someone intelligent coined the phrase "The beauty of the world lies in the diversity of its people.” We find this phrase to be representative of our Uganda. Representative because our Pearl of a country is home to more than 50 tribes including the largely unknown Ik people from northeastern Uganda.
This diversity is spread domiciled among only four larger groups of people - ethnicities. These are the Bantu, the Hamites, the Nilo Hamites, and the Nilotics.
So in essence even though ours is home to 50+ tribes, we are essentially the same people.
The similarity of our peoples is best displayed at traditional wedding ceremonies.
Among the Baganda, the traditional marriage ceremony is known as Okwanjula - literally, the Introduction. It is at this function that a delegation from a groom-to-be’s family led by his father, his maternal aunt, and a clan elder visits the bride-to-be’s family with their son. Men don Kanzus for this while the ladies, including the bride, don Busuutis.
In Acholi culture, the institution of marriage, referred to as "nyom," involves the heterosexual union of a man and a woman. This union adheres to the principles of Acholi culture, formalizing their relationship and officially recognizing them as husband and wife.
When an Acholi man encounters a woman who captivates him and whom he plans to marry, the initial demonstration of responsibility involves making a casual visit to her mother's home, accompanied by a friend. Subsequently, once the visitors depart, the woman informs her mother about their identity, and an investigation ensues to confirm that the prospective couple is not closely related by blood or clan.
Ultimately, the man discloses his romantic aspirations to his own family. Upon reaching a consensus, they embark on the formal introduction and negotiation of the bride price.
Among the Banyankore, festivities to celebrate the union of a bride to her groom typically lasted more than a month. The most common function is Okweyanjura (to introduce one’s self to the bride’s family) which is always followed by Okuhingira (to accent to the groom’s family head’s request that their son be allowed to marry his bride).
At Okuhingira the bride is given gifts by her family to help her start her own family. These gifts are called Emihingiro. Typically, Emihingiro includes Omugamba - a long wooden rod onto which are attached traditional gourds for milk, ghee, soup, eshabwe, etc. Omugamba precedes the arrival of the bride at her first unveiling on her wedding day. It is always carried by two bachelor boys (brothers) from her father’s household.
This uniqueness of our cultures is what informs our choice of the Hon. Shartsi Musherure photo as a guest at an Okuhingira ceremony in her Bweera Constituency of Mawogola North as our Photo Of The Week.
It is our prayer that you our readers will share with us images of traditional wedding ceremonies such that together we can pay homage to the diversity and beauty of our cultures.
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