Sign up to Minority rights Group International's newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news and publications. In 1986 Alice Lakwenas charismatic Holy Spirit Movement mounted an insurgency in the Acholi region. Uma, F. K. (1971). Even bride-wealth marriages are now often mainly nuclear-family affairs, and other alternatives to traditional marriage are common. "In 1997, the Catholic, Anglican, Muslim, and later the Orthodox religious leaders of Acholi formalized their increasing cooperation on peace issues by setting up the Acholi Religious Leaders' Peace Initiative (ARLPI). Much of that hierarchy continued With colonial rule came a new hierarchy of chiefs, clerks, and policemen, all under the authority of a district commissioner. In precolonial Acholi, lineage heads and elders were most responsible for social control, though one of the attractions that assisted the development of chiefdoms seems to have been the ability of rwodi to help settle disputes that involved more than one lineage. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. When not disrupted or dispossessed by the violence endemic since the mid-1980s, most Acholi remain primarily mixed farmers. While rwodi, members of royal lineages, and lineage heads all seem to have been somewhat better off than others before the latter part of the nineteenth century, social stratification appears limited, owing primarily to both limited wealth in the society and redistribution. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customised ads. Omissions? (unpublished thesis) Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International . Central to the new order were a set of notions about political leadership in which chiefs (rwodi; sing, rwot ) shared power and decision making with the heads of chiefdoms' constituent lineages; a system of redistributive tribute within each polity, with the chief at the center; and royal, often rainmaking, drums as symbols of sovereignty and authority. Payera chiefdom and in 1911 they established here the Gulu township (Whitmire, 2013, pp. "Some Notes on Acholi Religious Ceremonies." In the past, medical problems were addressed through approaches to various spirits, by visits to diviners, and by the use of herbs, roots, and other folk medicines. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. B. K. (1994). [CDATA[ of as dialects of Acholi. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. During this time, people were separated from their land for long periods, and many people disappeared or were killed. Since independence, a relatively few Acholi army officers have managed Children are highly prized, and historically a couple did not set up their own household until the birth of their first child, living until then in the household of the husband's mother. As droughts and ." [13] The refugees in the camps have also been subject to raids by both LRA and government forces.[10]. Traditionally, lineage heads and elders were the most knowledgeable aboutand involved withthe lineage and chiefdom jogi, although rwodi also had a role to play in ceremonies involving the latter. Latigo (2006), "Northern Uganda", p. 90-92, Branch, A. They also kept goats, sheep and cattle. In response, Musevenis government forced 1.4 to 1.9 million civilians into camps where they ostensibly were to be protected by the Ugandan army. The combination of the two events, have put pressure on the LRA to lay down its arms. Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo and Pader. This in turn forged new political entities and identities as well as wider social relations. 102-104, Southern Sudan and the Government of the Republic of the South Sudan, State Minister for Foreign Affairs (International Affairs), https://www.peoplegroups.org/explore/GroupDetails.aspx?peid=15068#topmenu, "2014 Uganda Population and Housing Census Main Report", https://www.peoplegroups.org/explore/GroupDetails.aspx?peid=14887#topmenu, James Ojent Latigo, Chapter 4: "Northern Uganda tradition-based practices in the Acholi region, 1. Graduating Essay, Department of History, Makerere University (Kampala). The conflict had dramatic effects on the local census of 2014, those seven districts were combined inhabited by just under 1.4 million people outsiders: The Arabs had established a killing government on Acholi, some of the chiefs who . (1988). Political Organization. His stated political aims are to rule Uganda according to the Biblical Ten Commandments. Childlessness is one of the most serious misfortunes imaginable; women are typically blamed, and the marriage often ends or the husband takes a second wife. An individual had personal claim to land that he and his wife (or wives) had under cultivation or that had been cultivated but was lying fallow, and such rights passed from father to son. Given the low population densities and minimal land pressure, almost anyone who was willing to clear and work unused land has been welcomed by lineage heads responsible for such land and, while they functioned, by the rwodi of chiefdoms within whose domains the land lay. A company limited by guarantee in the UK no. Changing Uganda: The Dilemmas of Structural Adjustment and Revolutionary Change. "[21] In discussing the peace talks of 20052007, Latigo noted leaders who called for a revival of the traditional processes of the indigenous people by which they worked for accountability and justice, namely, mato oput. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"igNXChGgDPbig_bsHwJgxoRb9NTulTcrPPRjDe2iFNY-86400-0"}; The Acholi's harrowing ordeal began under Idi Amin's dictatorship in the seventies. 2 I Abstract The aim of this thesis will be to decipher why Acholi ethnic identity remained such a critical political tool in late and post-colonial Uganda, from 1950-1985, just b administration within the region and the district headquarters were erected in the area of the Most prominent among them was the Uganda People's Army (UPA) in Teso and Lango sub region, the West Nile Bank Frontiers (WNBF) in the West Nile region, the Uganda People's Democratic Army, the Holy Spirit Movement and the LRA in the Acholi region. Pyerino Okoya and Lt. Gen Bazilio Olara-Okello. In addition to these six languages, some authors also classify Labwor (Ladefoged, Museveni has held absolute power since, surviving unrest, civil war, and numerous attempts at coups. Soon after, the NRM started pacifying the northern region, which is home to several ethnics, including the Acholi and Lango. 26). Acholi have played a pivotal role in the turbulent post-independence era. traditional local forms of organisation were based on smaller units, often only consisting of "[9], Milton Obote, the first leader after independence, relied on Acholi Luo people and Langi Nilo Hamites or Ateker peoples in government. in 1911 in response to the British confiscation of Acholi guns was the Administrative divisions within Acholi, however, both during colonial rule and since independence, have often reflected preexisting sociopolitical units: lineages at the parish level; chiefdoms at the subcounty level; and larger zones of the most intensive (and peaceful) interpolity interactions at the county level. The presumed nominal forebears of the present-day Acholi group migrated South to Northern Uganda from the area now known as Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan by about 1,000 AD. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any payment information on a server. 3 vols. Over the twentieth century, chiefdoms in Acholi have become vestigial institutions, and the fences that once enclosed villages have disappeared. with the British and those who managed to obtain Western education. Kasozi, A. Linguistic Affiliation. That is why the Lango neighbours refer to the Acholi as Ugangi, meaning people of the home. This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Ugandan minister of internal affairs and leader of the government negotiating team, noted the effectiveness of the traditional system. [22], In January 1986, the junta government of Gen. Tito Okello-Lutwa in Uganda was overthrown by Museveni and his NRA rebels. From early on, girls and boys learn gender-appropriate behaviors and activities, and these are reflected in both their play and their chores and other responsibilities. One obvious candidate, Bazilio Olara-Okello who, although unrelated to Tito Okello, was, as in the case of Oyite Ojok, another officer who participated in the overthrow of Idi Amin. alongside the other Luo groups in Uganda and Kenya following several waves of migration southern part of the country relatively young. The relationship between (real) brother and sister is often very close, especially when one acts as the lapidi (nurse-child) to the other, as are the bonds between the children of sisters. 61). the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), echoing some of the spiritual themes used by the Holy Spirit Once chiefdoms were established, Acholi religious beliefs focused on three types of spirits (jogi; sing. other parts of Uganda, where hundreds of thousands of peoplemany The republican constitution adopted in 1967 abolished the monarchies and assigned ultimate political power to an elected president. The PEPFAR Uganda 2023 Science Summit on HIV and TB: Following the Science and Sustaining the Gains as PEPFAR Turns Twenty This report is a record of the virtual summit organized by the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Uganda for its stakeholders; Uganda Ministry of Health (MoH) including its Public Health Fellowship Program (PHFP), implementing partners, and . B. Webster, eds. With colonial rule fight the Arab slave traders and his colonial administration was viewed as not very invasive Localized lineages have been the fundamental social units in Acholi, Even in this . with the British was through Samuel Baker. the northern parts remained ignored for a long time. For example, among Acholi, husbands pay a bride price to their wives fathers, and this payment supports the traditional belief that women are the property of the husband, since a payment was made for her. Milton Obote, the independence leader, relied heavily on the support of his fellow Luo-speakers Acholi and Langi in government. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". (Ugandan Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs 1997. (UNHCR, 2012). It was not until 1995 that a constitutional reform recognized such cultural leaders, but they have not been fully restored to previous powers, as so much of society has changed. Girling (1960) notes that as late as 1950 there was still no system of individual land tenure in Acholi; however, such tenure has become increasingly common since independence. The Acholi region and language 51. Milton Obote (196271, 198085). Encyclopedia.com. Most political organizations take the form of a voluntary association of persons or organizations that pools its members' and constituents' financial and other resources, and engages in conventional political actions to affect policy-making outcomes. In Changing Uganda: The Dilemmas of Structural Adjustment and Revolutionary Change, edited by Holger B. Hansen and Michael Twaddle, 162-177. The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. A.D. Of their history during this time only little is known. A single rainy season, from April-May to October-November, produces a reliable annual rainfall nine years of every ten, ranging from 102 centimeters in the central and western portions of Acholi to only 51 centimeters in much of the north and east. The long civil war in the North has destroyed much of their society. Required electronic filing by tax-exempt political organizations. According to the latest census, there are 1.47 million ethnic Acholi in Uganda, amounting to 4.4 per cent of the total population. thesis, University of Nairobi. The activities of the LRA have been devastating within Acholiland (though they spread also to neighbouring districts and countries). . In precolonial Acholi, lineage heads and elders were most responsible Abstract The aim of this thesis will be to decipher why Acholi ethnic identity remained such a critical political tool in late and post-colonial Uganda, from 1950-1985, just before the outbreak of civil war in 1986. Acholi Sub-region is consist of seven districts, namely; Gulu, Kitgum, Lamwo, Pader, Agago, Amuru and Nwoya, and are situtated in northern Uganda. 1 Northern Uganda or Acholiland is formally known as the Acholi sub-region, an area inhab-ited primarily by speakers of the Acholi language, whom I refer to as the Acholi. The Fipa are a Bantu-speaking people of southwestern Tanzania in East-Central Africa. friendly, but after the inception of the British Protectorate of Uganda in 1894, which included Common synonyms for this type of organization are "interest groups," "pressure groups," and . [19], The religious leaders have tried to help end the conflict in the country of the last two decades and to reconcile the parties. "Acholi-Arab Nubian Relations in the Nineteenth Century." Milton Obote (1962-71, 1980-85). Tito and Bazilio, who were Acholi by tribe, fled the country into exile. Individual antecedents of political behavior include political . During the later nineteenth century, the emergent Acholi became involved in the international trade in ivory and slaves, which were exchanged mainly for cattle, beads, blankets, cotton cloth, and firearms. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. colonial times, were the Acholi stood often in opposition to the British colonial rule, the starting It does not correspond to any user ID in the web application and does not store any personally identifiable information. In addition, the peace forums have worked to help establish the Amnesty Commission. Atkinson, Ronald R. (1994). This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Pottery and basket making were widespread and relatively nonspecialized arts, carried out by both men and women. It was also during this period that the name Acholi was coined by the Arab traders, calling These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. When the camps were disbanded and people began to return to their land, customary rules for land tenure did not necessarily have the answers to some of the problems faced by Acholi people: men had lost their fathers from whom they would be granted land; children did not know where their clan land was; women were married to men without following the customary rules for marriage because of a lack of resources; and women were widowed and left with few options for survival. The Acholi sub-region is a part of the administrative region of Northern-Uganda. Encyclopedia.com. became more frequent, more deadly, and more widely spread. With the coming of the ivory and slave trades, and the firearms that accompanied them, conflict became more frequent, more deadly, and more widely spread. Bor Lango organisation to survive, a common identity had to form to support this new social structure of The Acholi dialect is a Western Nilotic language, classified as Luo (or Lwo). Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. formations in the form of chiefdoms and kingdoms by the end of the first millennium A.D. Marriage. Situated 1,025 to 1,350 meters above sea level, the Acholi landscape is typical East African game countryrolling grasslands with scattered trees, streams, and rock outcrops. . ." The Acholi of Uganda: Adjustment to Imperialism. The It has similarity with Alur, Padhola language, and other Luo languages in South Sudan Shilluk, Anuak,Pari, Balanda, Boor, Thuri. At the height of the insurgency, some 1.8 million people were living in camps in the north, and due to a combination of LRA activities and the Ugandan armys counter-offensives virtually the entire population of Acholiland was displaced.