By Denis Edema
Armies from eight countries, including Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Malawi, have credited various cultural norms from their respective places of origin for guidance in executing their mandate.
The armies were brought together by the 19th cultural gala (2023/2024) held at the Senior Command and Staff College (SCSC) Kimaka, in Jinja City.
Maj Gen George Igumba, the Commandant of the College, said as security practitioners, they do consider the notion of culture as very important in finding solutions to some of the (security) challenges.
“Culture is key in finding solutions to some of the security challenges that are deviling our great continent,” Maj Gen Igumba said at the weekend.
He, however, said the Democratic Republic of Democratic is yet to come on board and participate, while Malawi and South Africa have had their first participants to grace the annual cultural gala.
This year’s cultural gala, held under the theme: “Harnessing African Unity and Security through Promotion of Our Rich Cultural Diversity for a Common Destiny”, took the officers six months of research on their respective cultures before making their presentations.
The Third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio, Ms Lukia Isanga Nakadama, in a speech read for her by Government Chief Whip, Mr Denis Obua, said enriching the College with African cultural content will enhance the students’ ability to understand national, regional, continental and international affairs.
Ms Nakadama added that the government appreciates all efforts aimed at exposing the students to their countries’ basic research and presentations, which puts them at a “universal and internationally acceptable level”.
“This training is to enable our security forces to identify areas where they can appreciate cultural similarities and diversities to facilitate the execution of the task,” Ms Nakadama further explained.
Maj Arthur Timbaganya, a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) officer, said such events bring them together with officers from different countries understanding how cultures relate, while Lt Col Robert Amanya, also from the UPDF, said such (cultural) galas are instrumental in understand behaviours of an individual.
