Patriotism has become a common theme in President Yoweri K. Museveni’s speeches during national celebrations such as Independence Day. He always talks about how we should promote patriotism and become a people who put the interests of the country before themselves; in the words of John F. Kennedy, a people that does not ask what their country can do for them, but what they can do for their country.
President Museveni has tried to make good on his talk of promoting patriotism by awarding national medals to citizens of various disciplines who he believes have played their role in building the nation well. His government has also launched campaigns like “Buy Uganda, Build Uganda”, which are all praiseworthy. But to really build and entrench the spirit of patriotism among Ugandans we need to go back to basics.
Translate the national anthem into various local languages
Certainly the most important thing to do to promote patriotism is to translate the National Anthem into our various local languages. This anthem is the embodiment of our cultural and national heritage considering how much is sung and the feeling and intensity with which it is sung. It makes you wonder how much more it would unite and galvanize the entire nation if it were promoted among the sections of Ugandans who have no formal education.
All the local TV stations on Independence Day broadcast snippets of random Ugandans ‘murdering’ the National Anthem, firstly by getting the lyrics wrong and singing it out of tune. The opening words of the first verse which read, “Oh Uganda, may God hold you, we place our future in your hands…” is often sung as “Oh Uganda, God bless, we put Africa in the hand of zza…”
To make matters worse, these clips are posted on YouTube where they generate many hits from around the world. The first time I saw these clips of our national anthem being ‘slaughtered’ like this by ignorant Ugandans, I was disgusted and wanted to launch a sit-down strike outside the offices of the Minister for Education as well as the Minister for Gender, Labor and Social Development. that it should be responsible for ensuring that all Ugandans memorize and understand the national anthem as a microcosm of culture and national pride.
Come to think of it, uneducated Ugandans cannot be blamed for not understanding the words of the beloved national anthem, as they are in a foreign language. That is why the time has come for the government to raise resources which will go towards translating the national anthem into all local languages as well as teaching it to all Ugandans, both the educated and the uneducated. Yes, even the elite should not be left behind because most of them only know the first verse but have no idea about the last two verses. Other possible language translation services performed in different countries include;
Somali translation services
Tigrinya translation services
Yoruba translation services
Malagasy Translation Services
Borrow a page from other countries
By translating the national anthem into local languages, Uganda would be borrowing a page from other countries that have theirs in local languages. Rwanda’s national anthem is in Kinyarwanda, while Tanzania’s is also composed in Kiswahili, as is the East African anthem. Even Kenya has a Kiswahili version of its national anthem (Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu). So why shouldn’t our beautiful anthem be translated into Luganda and Bantu languages, which are popular across the country?
After all, even churches are realizing the importance of local languages when translating classic popular hymns into mother tongues. Visit any church on Sunday and you’ll be amazed at how all the popular Christian songs, both old school and contemporary, have local language versions. In fact, this trend of ‘localizing’ foreign songs is not new, as in high schools we used to translate blockbusters into local languages and perform them at social events.
Imagine then what a uniting factor it would be if all Ugandans could sing our national anthem correctly and in all our languages. That would mean that there would be no more blundering at social or national events and at international events that Uganda participates in, where it is sung, we would all come together wholeheartedly like true patriots sing their hymns, and the man who composed it 56 years ago. years. , Teacher. George Wilberforce Kakoma, would smile at his grave.
