The recent visit to Rwanda by Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Keinerugaba, Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Operations and Commander of Uganda land forces had a big story that media outlets ignored. The cow giving ceremony by president Kagame to Lt. Gen. Muhoozi was simply mentioned in passing, yet it carried much more significance.
In as much as the events highlighted by the media were important, the untold big story was the essence and significance of the Rwandan and African culture where president Kagame gifted cows to Lt, Gen. Muhoozi. It came to my realization that schools of journalism have taught us to tell stories from the Western point of view thereby influencing the African journalist to be alienated from his native culture, hence the failure to tell the African story ‘brewed in an African pot’.
When Kagame hosted Lt. Gen. Muhoozi at his private home, they had time to talk about a number of issues concerning Uganda – Rwanda relations, their personal and family matters. It goes without saying therefore, that there are qualities that President Kagame appreciated in the personality and character of Lt, Gen. Muhoozi that prompted him to offer cows to his special guest.
President Kagame gave his visitor a shepherd’s stick and both walked to a kraal where Kagame selected as much as ten of his good looking cows as a gift in accordance with the Rwandan tradition. Kagame’s sons Ivan and Brian were present as witnesses of the special bonding of their father and Gen. Muhoozi. This gesture is symbolic not only in the relationship of the two, but also in Uganda-Rwanda bilateral relations that have been at all-time low in the last three years. Uganda-Rwanda relations was the purpose of Gen. Muhoozi’s 1st and 2nd trips to Rwanda.
The cow gifting by a head of state, is an African cultural diplomacy- establishing a stronger interpersonal as well as inter-state bond rooted in the African cultural traditions and values. Other visitors who received cow gift from president Kagame were President Yoweri Museveni in 2011 and late Tanzanian president John Pombe Magufuli in 2016. Muhoozi can count himself among the lucky few that president Kagame considers as special friends.
President Kagame and Lt, Gen. Muhoozi come from ‘the cow culture people’ and the significance of the cow giving ceremony has much deeper meaning both to the giver and the recipient. A cow is the most precious and treasured gift in the Rwandan culture one can give to a friend, whose intrinsic and cultural value has no monetary equivalence. A cow is a symbol of love, expressed to a trusted and reliable friend. Through this cultural gesture Kagame and Lt. Gen. Muhoozi made a peace pact based on African tradition, symbolizing a new relationship, that binds Rwanda and Uganda not to involve in any form of plot against each other, but only to be defined by peaceful relations and comradeship. From our forefathers, the act of cow giving establishes confidence and mutual trust.
Lt. Gen. Muhoozi appreciated the gesture by president Kagame through a post on his twitter account. "In our interlacustrine culture, especially among pastroralists like the Banyankore, banyarwanda, Karimojong, Dinka and Masai there is no greater demonstration of friendship than somebody giving you a cow. Afande Kagame ampeire enyana ikumi zempano omunte ze ze’Inyambo.” (…Afande Kagame gifted me ten heifers among his Inyambo cows).
President Kagame did not choose to give his guest the coveted foreign and imported cattle breeds like Friesian Holstein, Jersey, brown Swiss and the like; but opted to give him the long horned pure African cattle. In Rwanda, this breed traditionally known as Inyambo is very adorable and owned by very few cattle keepers. These pure breeds were traditionally selected through a process that involved a three-layer inter-breeding process between high quality cows, a process that was done by ordinary Rwandan cattle keepers who knew no vocabulary of genetics.
Cows gifting speaks volumes according to the Rwandan culture. President Kagame gave away the very best of his cows as that is what his beloved guest deserved. Each cow had a name implying the attachment the giver had on each of the cows. According to the Rwandan culture, the recipient in some way recognizes the great gift offered to him or her. Gen. Muhoozi can always make it known to his friends by an exclamation- (Kagame wampaye inka / Kagame who gave me a cow!), hence appreciating the special gift and admiring the giver. This is how special the cow gift is in the Rwandan culture.
Western dominance in almost all spheres of life has alienated us from our own culture to the extent that we do not give it value yet it is more meaningful in defining who we are and how we relate as the African people. From the time of colonization there have been deliberate efforts by the west to destruct and kill our cultural heritage because they know our culture stands for high moral values and keeps us united to safeguard our interests.
In 1835, One British colonial governor Lord Macaulay, while addressing the British parliament about their colony of India said, "..I do not think we would ever conquer this country unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage”. This colonial philosophy was applied even in Africa and indeed it was successful.
Lord Macaulay further went on with his address to give a proposal to the British house, to replace the education system and culture in order to change the thinking of the colonized to hate their own and like what is foreign. "For if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation”, Lord Macaulay concluded. This deliberate strategy used by colonialists of poisoning and killing African education and culture is what makes us lose appreciation of what makes a big story in the African cultural set up.
Diplomatic practice requires all concepts of diplomacy to be integrated including cultural ones. The cultural practice signifies a renewed chapter with an unwritten peace pact reached during talks between president Kagame and Gen. Muhoozi. Rwandans and Ugandans have much assurance that their countries are on the right track to recover their lost glory as allies and ready to give support to each other in case of need. This was the practice in our cultural relations in the African society.
Giving value to our culture as expressed by president Kagame can be a great opportunity to cement friendship that translates into good relations with a common understanding, for peace, security and development not only for Rwanda and Uganda but the East African region, Africa, and the world.
Gerald Mbanda is a retired veteran journalist and former Head of Media Development Department at Rwanda Governance Board.