Gulu local government to popularize Acholi anthem

Gulu district authorities have come out with strong proposal to popularize Acholi anthems in schools, and also to see that the portrait of paramount chief is hanged in both private and public offices to make Acholi culture visible in the Northern map.


Gulu district speaker Douglas Okello Peter

This was revealed by Gulu district speaker Okello Douglas Peter, who expressed disappointment because majority of people in the region do not know how to sing Acholi anthem. Yet, many young people in the region have not even set their eyes on the paramount chief, which sends a signal of cultural ignorance by young generations.

“You see, none of the schools in singing Acholi anthem, merely because they do not know how to sing it. And, it is now that we need to popularize it for identity and love among us Acholi, as other tribes are doing theirs in their regions,“ the speaker noted over the weekend during social accountability day organized by Gulu district and NGO forum.

He added that, since peace has come to Northern Uganda, there is a need for the cultural institutions to be visible and to teach the youth about values of the Acholi culture. They have missed to learn as others were out outside the region because of the war.

Recently, the prime minister of the Acholi chiefdom Kenneth Oketayot said that it was nice to hear that people in northern Uganda are now interested in their culture. Also, there are many people outside of Uganda who storm to the place demanding to know more on proverbs and many other teachings of the culture.

He urged the young people to come up and research, to use knowledge and experience of old men and women to write as many books as possible, targeting expansion of the ideas based on the Acholi culture.

While most of the chiefs in Acholi also blame lack of knowledge as a reason because some men beat their wives and call it cultural rights, which they distanced very much from Acholi culture and vowed to use such men as bad example in books for misrepresenting beautiful culture.