When Members of Parliament participate in smoking weed, the whole community may eventually engage in the consumption of such narcotics and other forbidden substances, believing that this is an acceptable practice because their legislators or LC V chairpersons engage in it.
Locals tend to ape the conduct of their leaders. Premised on this analogy, leaders in any community should exercise caution while commenting on matters of public interest and conducting themselves in public.
In one of the leading cases in Kenya, a community killed cattle thieves after they allegedly received instructions from their Member of Parliament. The legislator had reportedly signalled to the community that whoever was found herding cattle after a whistle was blown should be killed because he could be the thief being pursued. This demonstrates the dangers of mistaken beliefs and actions premised on directives or instructions from community leaders.
Rudeness, insolence and arrogance among some Bamasaba are increasingly gaining traction, with some local leaders, including Members of Parliament and district chairpersons, allegedly leading the crusade to insult other leaders.
For example, after the Umukuka gave LC V chairpersons Shs27 million under the Mutoto Code, they allegedly used about Shs6 million to pay media platforms and bloggers to undermine His Highness the Umukuka and his ministers.
Some local leaders have allegedly developed a habit of hiring media personalities to attack the cultural institution with all sorts of negative messages. This is unacceptable and should be condemned in totality. If you bequeath wrong characters to others, just wait; it will boomerang at any time. A leader who does not believe in peaceful coexistence in society is not worthy of the label.
When the President recently dispatched the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda to represent him and deliver his support to the Imbalu Launch 2026, some sections of MPs and politicians allegedly created a hostile environment that made it difficult for the Parliamentary Speaker to execute his responsibility of officially representing the President.
At a personal level, while at the High Court for mediation, an elderly man in his early 80s, an engineer from Nabumali Centre, accosted me before the High Court, breaking all decorum associated with court proceedings.
I restrained myself as a public relations officer of the cultural institution. It could have appeared disgusting for me to physically confront such an old man in the precincts of the High Court, considering that I am almost half his age. However, I knew there were several legal avenues available to curtail such idiosyncratic behaviour had I chosen litigation.
As a community, we must develop a culture of respect, tolerance and the ability to restrain ourselves. We should never allow emotions to spill over. Our emotions are like blood; we should never allow them to spill onto others.
As a community that characteristically celebrates the same culture and customs, let us be guided by our traditions while in public spaces.
I recall with sadness when a similar crowd charged at His Excellency the President when he had come to officially launch Imbalu around 2012. The consequences were bitter for those who ignored decorum in public spaces.
There have also been attempts to overthrow the cultural institution. A Member of Parliament was recently seen allegedly paying rowdy groups to take over the leadership of the cultural institution, forgetting that a cultural institution is guarded by the State. Why would one want to endanger the lives of others?
We encourage polite behaviour and generally unfailing courtesy while in public spaces. As a cultural institution, we expect civility, urbanity and acquiescence within our community.
Propaganda against the cultural institution will never be accepted. Anybody with any concern must bring such concerns in good faith for dialogue with cultural actors. The cultural offices are always open to Bamasaba people and other groups.
Through mediation, the cultural institution is beginning to enjoy peace and mobilize its people for development.
When cultural visitors come to the Bugisu region, they are indeed guests of the Umukuka and the Bamasaba people. It is not within the protocols of any community to humiliate its guests.
That is why we recently conveyed our apologies as a cultural institution to the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oboth Oboth, and the entire Budama cultural fraternity for the unbecoming conduct of some of our people during the recent launch debacle.
Nobody should hide behind the so-called Imbalu spirits to misbehave towards guests of the Bamasaba people. By our culture, there are no such spirits; it is a hoax. Any claim that there are spirits that make people behave wildly is unacceptable, since we are not witch doctors.
Therefore, nobody should hide behind intoxicating substances such as alcohol, weed, marijuana and narcotics to humiliate cultural tourism in Bugisu.
We equally condemn the defilement of young girls, as well as the theft of people’s property, during the recently concluded Imbalu launch.
The Bamasaba people must uphold the values of respect, hospitality, discipline and peaceful coexistence. Our culture should unite us rather than become an excuse for disorder, violence or disrespect towards our guests.
By Steven Masiga
The writer is a legal scholar and spokesperson for the Bamasaba Cultural Institution.
