Acholi chiefs resort to traditional rituals to get rainfall

GULU, UGANDA: Acholi cultural chiefs have unveiled their plan to conduct traditional rituals to appease the gods for rain. Weeks of drought have affected crop production in several rural communities in the region sparking fears of famine in the coming months.

Rwot Odong Lira II, the cultural leader of Lira Palwo Chiefdom told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that there is a need to turn to the traditional practices to summon the gods for rain owing to the long dry spell.

Odong says that whereas the new western religion is good, cultural leaders shouldn’t forget their tradition of seeking the root course of the current dry spell by consulting their gods.

He rallied his subjects to support the cultural leaders in the region to finance the processes of undertaking traditional rituals that involve offering sacrificial animals, regalia, and food. Rwot Odong however admits that the change in the rain pattern is also partly being facilitated by the destruction of the forest cover and wetlands and urged his subjects to desist from destroying the natural cover.

The Deputy Paramount Chief of Acholi, Rwot Otinga Atuka Yai acknowledges the the lack of rainfall in the region deserves traditional intervention to appease the various gods for the rain to return. Otinga however says that the cultural leaders are unable to perform such rituals because they are expensive and require external support from clan subjects.

Kasimiro Ongom, the Chief of Patongo Chiefdom in Agago district says clan members will on Wednesday conduct rainmaking rituals at Amyek hills to appease the gods for the return of rain. He says the ritual will be conducted to appease Acuka Nyambere, the god of rain in the area.

Ongom however urged his subjects to desist from cutting down shear nut trees in the region, a vice he says has greatly contributed to the alternating rainfall pattern. Already, local leaders especially in districts of Amuru and Gulu have raised concerns over food shortages that is being experienced owing to the prolonged dry spell.

In May this year, Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) predicted that areas of Amuru, Nwoya, Gulu, and Pader districts in Central Northern parts will receive rains characterized by thunderstorms and would last until late June with a little break until mid-July and a tendency of above-normal rainfall over the region.