Muniini K. Mulera

Farewell Seforooza muhara wa Ruraara rwa Mikaro-Rugwisa

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziApril 16, 20170 comments

Her name was Seforooza muhara wa Ruraara rwa Mikaro-Rugwisa rwa Bugashu bwa Rushwiga rwa Nyamiyonga ya Rwego rwa Birondoorwa bya Kazooba ka Nzira ya Kasigyi ka Kahanya ka Kataashe ka Minyaruko ya Nyamicence. Her clan was Omusigi w'Omuzooba. Born 92+ years ago at Rutooma in the ...

Floods and landslides are not God's will

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziMarch 28, 20170 comments

Omugurusi Ezra Kisigo Mulera in Mparo, after the rains (late 1980/early90s). Photo by Edward Nobel Bisamunyu After the dry season, the rains. That is how things worked in my childhood in Mparo, Rukiga, Kigyezi. The rains of Katumba (March) soaked the hills and mountains, with ...

Kigezi High School Junior: Recalling the history-making Class of '66

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziFebruary 12, 20170 comments

Dr. Charles Musinguzi mwene Barabogoza and Dr. Muniini Kwehangaana mwene Mulera, fellow inmates of Kigezi High School Junior (1965-66), in Mburara, Nkore, Uganda on January 24, 2017. It was our great luck that we should be the group that would close the chapter on the junior ...

Muhabura- The Guide: a photo-essay

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziJanuary 11, 20170 comments

All photos in this essay shot with a cellphone. She straddles the Uganda-Rwanda border with a silent majesty. Muhabura (The Guide), an extinct volcano (or so they say), whose date of last eruption is unknown, was completely covered with mist and clouds when we arrived ...

Sun kisses Lake Bunyonyi goodnight

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziJanuary 9, 20170 comments

Lake Bunyonyi, Kigezi. The Sun kisses her good night on the evening of January 9, 2017. What words can express the visual experience? How does one convey the sense of peace and calm? Lake Bunyonyi, this 25 km long lake, with a perimeter length of 64 km, is Africa’s second ...

Poor roads stunt Kigezi's development

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziJanuary 9, 20170 comments

I am in Kigezi, enjoying the warmth and hospitality of Banyakigezi, renewing old friendships, catching up on developments in the lives of relatives and taking in the breathtaking beauty of this blessed land. For the most part, nearly every experience fills me with joy. Not even ...

Kigezi District Council Members 1961

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziDecember 6, 20160 comments

Dr. James Mugisha gwa Kikira kya Mbagyeruka gave me a printed copy of this photograph more than ten years ago. It is one of my most treasured records of our history, not only because I knew many of these elders but also because it presents leaders who were very firmly grounded ...

Katiikiri: The man who fed future leaders

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziDecember 6, 20160 comments

Memories of 1966 flood black with torrential force. That bloody year of political and military turmoil stands out like a sore thumb in Africa’s history. Though I was aware of the news reports and listened to my parents discussing the political upheaval with their friends in ...

Time and Names of the Months in Rukiga & Runyankore

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziApril 3, 20160 comments

How time was measured in the pre-colonial area that became Kigyezi (Kigezi) is hard to determine. The elders I spoke with were not aware of the traditional equivalent of seconds, minutes, hours or dates. It is almost certain that such concepts were not part of our ancestors' ...

London Convention to usher ICOB into teenage

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziJuly 19, 20160 comments

I have been in London since Saturday, enjoying the cool but comfortable summer while looking forward to the fourteenth annual convention of the International Community of Banyakigezi (ICOB). The London Team has done an outstanding job of preparing to receive delegates to the ...

Amaziina G'enogo and Millet Bread Etiquette of the Bakiga

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziJune 20, 20160 comments

Few things are as culturally painful as watching a modern school-educated Mukiga or Munyankore eating oburo (millet bread) and enyama (meat). Out comes a knife and fork, delicately supported by soft, washed and well-oiled hands. The millet bread, already pre-cut into ...

Lessons for ICOB from Canada and the World Jewish Congress

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziJuly 4, 20160 comments

In the 35 years that I have lived in Canada, I have been most impressed by the citizens’ ability to transcend political differences to achieve shared goals and collective interests. If we need a new hospital in our community, for example, we mobilize funds from the community ...

Leaders should put Kigezi first, self last

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziJune 13, 20160 comments

Written in January 2013 I have spent the last week in Kigezi, the one place I am happier than anywhere else on Earth. The thick morning mist that gives way to glorious sunshine invariably triggers memories of a happy childhood spent exploring the mountains and valleys of Bushengyera, ...

We must keep ICOB resolutely non-partisan

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziMay 24, 20160 comments

When the International Community of Banyakigezi (ICOB) meets in London, England during the weekend of July 22-24, there will be very good reason to celebrate an organization that has exceeded the modest expectations of a small group of people who midwifed its birth in Toronto, ...

Clans & Totems of the Banyakigezi

By Muniini K. MuleraKigyeziApril 2, 20160 comments

Enganda Z'Abanyakigyezi Please click Enganda Zabanyakigyezi - Clans & Totems of Banyakigyezi 2019 to refresh your memory re: your clan, your clan totem and your clan's friend. Banyakigyezi youth who were born abroad may find this very helpful as they get into the years of ...

Worrisome political trends in Africa’s Great Lakes Region

By Muniini K. MuleraKenyaDecember 12, 20170 comments

The state of politics in our great lakes region continues to show a worrisome trend. As Kenya celebrates 54 years of independence today, the legitimacy of its government is questioned and challenged by opposition party leaders and members. The results of the elections that returned ...