Norah Owaraga

EOC joins government bodies felled

Uganda’s Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) was shoved onto my consciousness this past week. News stories abound about the “EOC boss,” Mrs. Sylvia Muwembwa Ntambi, EOC Chairperson, being charged with fraud in the Anti-Corruption Court, with nine other “EOC bosses.” New Vision Reports: “Ntambi and nine other employees of the commission face 25 counts of causing…

Makerere fire is ancestors’ warning: decolonize

These past couple of days, I have been reflecting on the power of a name. Specifically, the meaning to which we attach to our name; the meaning that others attach to our name; and what reactions our name elicits. Does our name keep us rooted within the culture of our ancestors or does it render…

Iteso naming rituals are disappearing

People have studied – have gone to school – have attained formal global-western education, and are in their work places there. When a child is born, it is no longer the case that the father of the child will even bother to ask the elders that: “a child has been borne what name should it…

Loss of a civilization – Iteso names and naming practices are vanishing

In the past, it would be like, today a woman in the other home has delivered a baby and we would all go for etal (a custom – in this case, ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a new child). Part of the naming ceremony was that when a name is given, the mother gives…