By Patrick Opio
Senior Communications Officer
Lira University has earmarked ten acres of land as a donation to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) for establishment of the Regional Cultural Centre.
While presiding over a consultative meeting attended by the University Management and a team from the MGLSD, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Jasper Ogwal Okeng lauded the Government for their plan to establish Regional Cultural Centres across the country. The meeting was held at Public Health Board Room on 11th June 2025.
Prof. Ogwal Okeng noted that the Regional cultural Centers offer numerous benefits including serving as hubs for preserving and promoting local heritage, fostering a sense of community identity, and contributing to cultural tourism and economic development.
The MGLSD Team Leader, Mr. Ojede Francis, Executive Director, the Uganda National Cultural Centre (UNCC)-Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, revealed that Government, through the Gender Ministry, plans to establish magnificent and international standard Cultural centres in all regions of the country.
“We are simply looking for lands then the legal, construction other processes will commence. We are humbled and happy with Lira University Management for their generous donation of the land for this huge project,” Okello notes.
The Ministry Team eloquently explained the key benefits of the Regional Cultural Centre as:
- Preservation and Promotion of Culture:
The center acts as repositories of traditional knowledge, customs, and practices, ensuring their continuity for future generations.
- Community Building and Identity:
It provides spaces for cultural exchange, fostering a sense of belonging and strengthening relationships within communities.
- Educational and Socialization:
Cultural centers offer educational programs, workshops, and events that enhance understanding of local heritage and cultural values.
- Economic Development through Tourism:
By showcasing local traditions and cultural attractions, the center can attract tourists, generating income and creating employment opportunities for local communities.
- Support for Local Artisans and Businesses:
The Cultural center can provide platforms for local artists and entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their products, boosting their economic activities.
- Community Engagement and Empowerment:
These centers can actively involve community members in the preservation and promotion of their culture, empowering individuals and strengthening local leadership.
- Advocacy for Cultural Rights:
Cultural centers can play a role in advocating for the rights of indigenous communities and promoting their cultural heritage.
- Research and Documentation:
They can facilitate research and documentation of cultural heritage, ensuring its preservation and accessibility.
- Collaboration and Partnerships:
The Cultural Center can act as catalysts for collaboration between various stakeholders, including government agencies, cultural institutions, and community groups.
What is Culture?
According to the Ministry of Gender, Culture concerns itself with socially transmitted behaviour patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions and all other products of human work and thought. Culture includes intangible and tangible heritage, which is varied, complex, and in constant evolution. The tangible heritage includes monuments or architecture, art and crafts, sites, manuscripts, books and other objects of artistic and historical interest. The intangible heritage includes language, oral traditions, performing arts, music, festive events, rituals, social practices, traditional craftsmanship, knowledge and practices concerning nature.
In summary, culture can be defined as; the sum total of the ways in which a society preserves, identifies, organises, sustains and expresses itself.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Okaka Opio Dokotum, also Chairperson UNCC Board, said that the cultural heritage of Uganda includes artistic and cultural expressions. “These are language and literary arts, performing arts, visual arts and handicrafts, indigenous
knowledge, cultural beliefs, traditions and values, cultural sites monuments and
antiquities,” Prof. Okaka Opio Dokotum explains.
Some of the Cultural heritage expressions explained in detail below:
Language and Literary Arts
Language is the means of expressing the creative arts of orature and literature. Uganda has a rich variety of indigenous languages and dialects. English is the official language of Uganda and Kiswahili is the second official language.
Literary arts as a by-product of language ensure the development of orature and literature that often depicts the culture of Uganda’s people. The various languages are a unique storehouse of knowledge and have facilitated the communication between people within and outside the country. In addition, literary arts are one of the existing cultural industries in the country.
The development of languages in Uganda has not been uniform and tended to privilege some languages over others. In addition, the multiplicity of languages does not facilitate direct communication amongst communities. Information in indigenous languages has to be translated to English and vice versa if it is to be shared. This often results in gross distortions and loss of meaning. In relation to literary arts, the available literature is limited because some languages lack orthographies.
Performing arts
The performing arts include; dance, drama, music, theatre, motion pictures, opera, traditional sports and the marching arts such as brass bands. The performing arts in Uganda are used for self-expression, education and sensitisation of communities as well as for entertainment. In the communities, traditional and modern performing arts have been popularised as a means to facilitate participation by communities in development. In addition, cultural, educational institutions and the private sector have supported the performing arts. Consequently, jobs have been created for a growing number of Ugandans. Participation by artists in the performing arts is limited because of inadequate capacity.
The available opportunities in capacity building are limited to apprenticeship and are within formal institutions, which are few. The training focuses on acquisition of skills in the art and seldom includes marketing and promotion of the art. In addition, capacity building is limited to modern performing arts.
Visual Arts and Handicrafts
The visual arts and handicrafts include among others; basketry, mats, ceramics, beads, pottery, hand-woven textiles and products, toys, jewellery, bags and ornaments, leather products, batik, wood carvings and paintings.
The raw materials used in the production of visual arts and crafts are readily available in the country. Visual arts and crafts are produced in almost all regions of the country with product differentiation based on culture and history. This has promoted the identities of the various communities and created avenues for income generation.
Some of the challenges facing the visual arts and crafts are; inadequate quantities and poor quality of products due to limited capacity of producers and marketers. There is limited research about the products and the markets and the materials from which visual arts and handicrafts are derived are threatened by environmental degradation.
Indigenous Knowledge
Indigenous knowledge (IK) is the traditional local knowledge existing within and developed around the specific conditions of a community indigenous to a particular geographical area. IK is diverse, accessible, affordable and acceptable to people. IK provides the basis for problem solving strategies for local communities especially the poor. IK is commonly used in agriculture, traditional medicine, health care, food preparation, education, natural resource management and a host of other activities in rural communities. IK is also characteristically relevant for women who use it to perform their traditional roles and responsibilities.
Although IK is useful to people, limited research has been done. IK is inadequately documented, quantified and developed. In some cases, it has been marginalised and threatened with extinction by modern knowledge and environmental degradation.
Coupled with this, is the absence of organising frameworks that would provide information to innovators on who needs the innovations, how to find the users and when to approach the users.
Cultural beliefs, traditions and values
Ugandans have different beliefs and traditions that are deeply rooted in their cultural and religious values. The beliefs, traditions and values have contributed to the propagation of social harmony and development.
These beliefs, traditions and values sometimes conflict with modern laws. Some of these include; widow inheritance and female genital cutting. This has led some people to regard culture as retrogressive. In addition, Ugandan cultures are continuously adopting and adapting because of local and foreign influences. In some cases, this has led to the degradation of the moral fabric of the society with the most affected category being the youth.
Cultural Sites, Monuments and Antiquities
Uganda has several cultural sites and monuments. Some of them are man-made while others are natural. These sites, monuments and antiquities are important for sociocultural and educational purposes. They promote tourism and consequently create employment for people. The natural sites also enhance the protection of the environment.
Despite their importance, the sites and monuments are not adequately maintained, documented and people’s awareness of their value is low. In addition, some of the antiquities are not collected and those that are kept in the Uganda Museum are not accessible to all people.
