Strangers Everywhere: Exclusion, Identity and the Future of Nubians in Northern Uganda

Charles Amone,Head Of Department Of History In Gulu University, Northern Uganda

doi:10.15580/gjpss.2013.1.170913844

Charles Amone, Head Of Department Of History In Gulu University, Northern Uganda

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https://doi.org/10.15580/gjpss.2013.1.170913844

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Abstract

This paper discusses Nubian identity formation vis-a-vis the politics of exclusion in Uganda during and after the British colonial rule. It traces the history of the Nubians from the time of their imperial service as slave soldiers of the Egyptian Government in the Equatoria Province up to the time of settlement in Northern Uganda’s Gulu and Kitgum Districts. The main argument is that Uganda’s Nubians have always been regarded as strangers by the people among whom they settled. The author contends that the future of the Nubians in northern Uganda lies in their willingness and ability to assimilate and to be assimilated.

Highlights

The Nubian phenomenon in Uganda, as well as in other parts of East Africa, is not a sudden, alien intrusion but an integral part of its modern history (Zubairi and Doka, 1992: 1)
Omar (1985: 428) has argued that the term “Nubian” in East Africa, and Ugandan sense, is a comparable misnomer, a creation of Ugandans and other East Africans, and that there are no links between the Nubians of East Africa and the real Nubians of Upper Egypt and Northern Sudan, there is reason to believe that the Nubians of East Africa take their name from the original Nubians of Egypt and Sudan
Evidence provided by Stanley (1890: 319), Baker (1862:21) and Johnston (1903: 163) show that the Nubians of East Africa descended from the 19th century slave traders from Egypt who commanded small military forces in their raids in what is South Sudan and Northern Uganda

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The Nubian phenomenon in Uganda, as well as in other parts of East Africa, is not a sudden, alien intrusion but an integral part of its modern history (Zubairi and Doka, 1992: 1). The origins of the armed forces of modern Uganda were the Sudanese soldiers commanded by Dr Emin Pasha, Governor of Equatorial Nile till 1889 These soldiers were of various tribes in Sudan under the command of Fadl el Mula, a 6 feet 4 inches tall Lugbara and Salim Bey, a giant Makaraka: they were, as mentioned, adopted by Captain Fredrick Lugard who was employed by the Imperial British East African Company (IBEACo.). The mutiny and administrative reform caused a substantial reorganization, and in 1901, the King’s African Rifles (KAR) was founded, covering all East Africa, the regular forces in Uganda, whose foundation was Nubians, becoming the 4th (Uganda) Batallion (Holger, 1991: 559-580) To prevent another revolt, the colonial government diversified the composition of the military. The Nubian case demonstrates the fluidity of ethnic identity and its responsiveness to changes in political situations

The Settlement of Nubians in Northern Uganda

Discrimination against Nubians

CONCLUSION