“In order to sustainably safeguard Empaako heritage, we need to stop getting tired of thinking outside the box,” Rev. Fr. Dr. Kabura

Rev.Fr. Dr. Kabura Pascal Adyeri making a presentation

Rev. Fr. Dr. Kabura has appealed to people from the Empaako communities to keep researching more on Empaako heritage so that concrete knowledge on Empaako origin, communities which use Empaako and Empaako meaning can be got “We are researching on Empaako because there is a gap which we want to fulfill. A good researcher doesn’t stop from finding more and the moment we create a ‘berlin wall’ then we shall have limited our capacity to find more important knowledge on Empaako intangible cultural heritage.”Said Rev. Fr. Dr. Kabura Pascal Adyeri.

While speaking at the Empaako capacity building workshop on Empaako heritage yesterday (Wednesday, 19^th December 2018) at Fort Breeze Hotel, Rev. Fr. Dr. Kabura Pascal Adyeri further reiterated that research on Empaako intangible cultural heritage will assist people from Empaako communities to know the exact meaning, usage and origin of Empaako intangible cultural heritage for it to be sustainably safeguarded and revitalized from generation to generation.

Rev. Fr. Kakyomya Isidore Araali of the Runyoro – Rutooro foundation who is also attending the one week residential capacity building workshop organized by Engabu Za Tooro and supported by UNESCO encouraged people from the Empaako communities to safeguard Runyoro – Rutooro language since language is the backbone of our intangible cultural heritage like Empaako naming system in Uganda.

Stephen Rwagweri Atwoki making a presentation

The Executive Director of Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action) who also doubles as a UNESCO cultural expert while speaking at the same meeting compared Empaako to religion which survives on mystery, ‘therefore if Empaako loses the mystery then it loses the meaning and that’s what we followed to explain the meaning of Empaako.’ Said Rwagweri Atwoki

The former regent of Tooro King and a popular show host of a culture programs on Voice of Tooro (VOT) like Muzahura, Rev. Richard Baguma Adyeri indicated that Empaako just like language is an important tool for identifying where a person comes from hence the need to preserve it, ‘people of Empaako come from the greater Bunyoro Kitara’ Said Baguma Adyeri.

The one week residential Empaako capacity building workshop to be held from 16^th – 21^st December, 2018 held at Fort Breeze Hotel located in Kabarole district aims at empowering Empaako Empaako bearers to document their own heritage has been attended by over 30 people from the Empaako communities including the head of the Basongora Cultural institution Omukama Kasagama II.

Empaako is naming system whereby in addition to a family and given name, a child is given a special name called Empaako selected from a fixed and closed list of 12 (twelve) Empaako names shared by the entire society and used as a declaration of respect, endearment or affection.

This practice has been shared and transmitted from generation to generation in Empaako communities of Batooro, Banyoro, Banyabindi, Basongora, Batuku, Batagwenda, Banyaruguru, Bagungu, Ba NyaMboga and Baziba located in Western Uganda, Eastern DR Congo and Northern Tanzania respectively.

Basongora cultural institution head making a presentation

However, the Empaako naming practice is facing threats of extinction mostly due to decline of its mother language (Runyoro - Rutooro), modernization, abandoning our traditional rituals, weakening cultural institutions especially at clan and family levels and attack from modern religious extremist denominations.

The 12 Empaako’s are Okaali which is reserved for a king, Acaali, Bbala, Apuuli and Araali which are only reserved for men and finally, Abbooki, Adyeri, Abwoli, Akiiki, Amooti, Ateenyi and Atwoki for both men and women.

Currently, Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform) is implementing a UNESCO co-funded project UGA 01210 aimed at revitalizing ceremonies and practices associated with Empaako naming system in Uganda among the communities of the Batooro, Banyoro, Batuku, Batagwenda and Banyabindi of Western Uganda so as to enhance their capacities to transmit knowledge and skills to successive generations and to mobilise practitioners to revive the Empaako naming practice.