Managing Diversity – Uganda’s Experience Managing Diversity – Uganda’s Experience A collection of essays produced by the Pluralism Knowledge Programme in Uganda Managing Diversity – Uganda’s Experience A collection of essays produced by the Pluralism Knowledge Programme in Uganda Published by the Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda on behalf of the Pluralism Knowledge Programme partners in Uganda ISBN:978-9970-9274-0-1 Managing Diversity – Uganda’s Experience Contents PART I INTRODUCTION THE CROSS-CULTURAL FOUNDATION OF UGANDA PART II MANAGING DIVERSITY - THE NATIONAL CONTEXT 1. The Politics of Identity: Assessing the Influence of Ethnicity, Regionalism, Religion and Gender in Uganda – A Literature Review KAYISO FULGENCIO 1. The Role of Patronage in Shaping Uganda’s Economic, Social and Political Spheres - A Literature Review EMMANUEL MARAKA 1. Politico-Cultural Pluralism, Diversity and Public Order Management in Uganda Today - A Discussion Paper JOHN – JEAN BARYA for HURINET-Uganda Managing Diversity – Uganda’s Experience PART III MANAGING DIVERSITY - COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES 1. Perceptions of Diversity and Pluralism in Selected Sites in Northern and Central Uganda INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND STRATEGIC STUDIES (GULU UNIVERSITY), THE GULU NGO FORUM, THE MPIGI NGO FORUM AND UGANDA MARTYRS UNIVERSITY 1. Living with Ethnic Difference in Uganda - Reflections on Realities and Knowledge Gaps with Specific Reference to Kibaale District JIMMY SPIRE SSENTONGO 1. Intolerance, Stigma, Exclusion and Persecution of People with Albinism in the Elgon Region UGANDA NATIONAL NGO FORUM 1. Community Conversations on Restorative Cultural practices in the Mt. Elgon Area RONALD ELLY WANDA PART IV PLURALISM – AN ACQUIRED VALUE 1. The Family: At the Heart of Managing Cultural Diversity - Conversations with 35 Ugandan Leaders and Rural Women and Men EMILY DRANI, VUSIA SANTA IZAMA 1. The Element of Pluralism in Schools, its Management and its Effect on Schooling DEVELOPMENT NETWORK OF INDIGENOUS VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS 1. Managing Diversity in African Universities - Living and Challenging Difference on four Ugandan Campuses VUSIA SANTA IZAMA AND THE CROSS-CULTURAL FOUNDATION OF UGANDA PART V COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS TO MANAGE DIVERSITY 1. Inter-Religious Action/Collaboration: Myth or Reality? A Comparative Study of Faith-Based Organisations and Inter-Religious Networks Supported by the Inter- Religious Council of Uganda KAYISO FULGENCIO, INTER-RELIGIOUS COUNCIL OF UGANDA 1. Documentation of Pluralism within the Women’s Movement in Uganda - Re- echoing Voices of Women Activists UGANDA WOMEN’S NETWORK Managing Diversity – Uganda’s Experience 1. Managing Diversity: Perspectives from Eight African Countries - A Review of APRM Reports TABITHA NAISIKO PART VI REFLECTION PIECES 1. Celebrate Plurality DAVID ZAC NIRINGIYE 1. An Inventory of Civil Society Initiatives for the Promotion of Pluralism and Tolerance in Uganda IVAN AMANIGA RUHANGA 1. Legal Pluralism And Culture In Governance – What Works? THE CROSS-CULTURAL FOUNDATION OF UGANDA 1. National Identity Development: Reflections on the Cases of Uganda and Tanzania CHRISTOPHER TUMWINE 1. Understanding Local Perceptions of Pluralism: Is this of any Relevance to Uganda? JOHN DE CONINCK 1. A Time to Act on National Peace and Development UGANDANS CONCERNED FOR PEACE AND NATIONAL COHESION - PRESS RELEASE PART VII CONTRIBUTORS AND PLURALISM PROGRAMME PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS Managing Diversity – Uganda’s Experience I. INTRODUCTION 0 Managing Diversity – Uganda’s Experience Managing diversity in Uganda – how relevant today? THE CROSS-CULTURAL FOUNDATION OF UGANDA Developing a pluralistic society and ‘managing diversity’ are seen as increasingly necessary– if challenging – considerationson the political, cultural and socio-economic agenda of most nations in the northern hemisphere.But is this also of relevance to contemporary Uganda? We are fond of saying that our nation is culturally rich and diverse, but more rarely do we investigate the consequences and challenges of managing such heterogeneity, both within our communities and as a nation. Yet these challenges seem ever more present. Whether it is the complicated relationship between cultural institutions (usually representing ethnic interests) and the unitary state; the fragmentation of our national territory (or not) into ever more numerous districts; the continued feeling of disenfranchisement in northern Uganda; or the complicated dosage of political posts according to region, ethnicity and religion (often, it seems, in preference to competence). Wherever one looks it indeed seems that managing diversity remains a challenge in Uganda today. Is this surprising? Uganda’s recent history reminds us that this artificial colonial creation is still a young, uncertain entity whose citizens usually find solace and expression in sub-national forms of identity, rather than in their ‘Ugandanness’, a concept that remains difficult to define. It is through these forms of identity that searching and securing resources – whether recognition, jobs, contracts or others – is often undertaken.We also remember that the recent history of Uganda has been characterised by strife, when the sub-national ethnic card has so often been manipulated to the advantage of those in power. The contemporary politics of inclusion and exclusion that determine access to vital resources thus often seem to prolong their colonial trajectory, when foreign religions aggravated intra-and inter-ethnicfactionalism, and the policy of divide-and-rule fed into the pattern of collaboration and resistance to colonialism that kept religious divisionism and ethnic consciousness alive. One could indeed argue that the autocratic rule of post-colonial governments in Uganda since 1962 has reproduced rather than deconstructed ethnicity. In particular, patronage continues to pervade economic, social and political spheres: ethnicity is therefore then neither about pluralism, nor about ‘tribes’, but an ideology of dominance that inevitably results in a significant democratic deficit. In such an environment, favouritism and corruption thrive and result in the current perception that cultural diversity represents exclusion to the detriment of the collective public good. For the future, therefore, effectively managing diversity appears as not only extremely difficult, but as inescapable for national health. It is therefore not altogether surprising that, at a national conference on managing diversity held in Kampala in April 2009, a main conclusion was that, by virtue of Managing diversity in Uganda – how relevant today? 11 the nation’s history and its ethnic, political and religious composition, valuing and managing diversity is central to equitable and sustainable development. The Pluralism Knowledge Programme This conference was held under the auspices of an international initiative, the Pluralism Knowledge Programme and this volume arises from the work of organisations and individuals attached to universities and NGOs, brought together since 2009 by this programme in Uganda. The Pluralism Knowledge Programme (PKP) also linked universities and NGOs across four countries1. The initiative was taken after civil society based organisations in the South signalled growing intolerance, often manifested as fundamentalisms rooted in religion, ethnic affiliation, nationalism, social class, gender and other identities or value systems. As one observer then put it, “It seemed increasingly difficult to mobilise local communities to deal with the complexities of diversity and co-existence, rather than the more accessible but divisive and polarising issues of difference. These developments seemed to curb the organisations’ pursuit of a pluralist, diverse and dialogical culture for development and empowerment.” Responding to this, a group of academics and civil society-based actors expressed a desire to rethink their strategies and reinterpret their understanding of local situations. They decided to cooperatively search for and generate knowledge aimed at developing new insights into diverse manifestations of diversity and to comprehend divergent experiences and views on pluralism. As this volume illustrates, both academic and practical sources of knowledge are considered essential, as is the interaction between them. Academic knowledge offers a broader conceptual understanding of the issues at hand. Practitioners’ knowledge and experiences provide new insights into how fundamentalism pervades the work of civil society organisations and which concrete initiatives best promote pluralism or fail in development practice. Pluralism or diversity? This enquiry is built on the premise that processes of civil society building that are aimed at the ability to live creatively in a pluralist society should be worked out in different directions, at the social or communal level through initiatives of civil society organisations, the business world, by religious and other institutions, in particular in the field of awareness raising, media and in the public debate. It takes as point of departure an understanding of diversity that is essentially descriptive and passive: diversity describes the differences between our respective 1 The Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme is a joint initiative by the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (HIVOS), together with the Kosmopolis Institute of the University for Humanistic Studies in the Netherlands, in cooperation with the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society in Bangalore,