Society-Uganda - On November 20, 2010, I attended the dinner gala to launch the Makerere University Female Scholarship Foundation at the Kampala Serena Hotel. At some point, the emcee of the night, George Piwang-Jalobo, quoted from an article written by my late father, E.M.K. Mulira, nearly thirty years ago. Now George also happens to be the Northern Region representative of the Uganda Land Owners Association, of which I am Chairman.

George got my attention when he said my father's article offended him when he first read it... That it was no more than the usual Buganda arrogance.

What did late E.M.K. Mulira write about?

My father wrote about his vision of the hand as a metaphor for the unity of Uganda, that is: if Uganda were a hand, Buganda would be the palm and the other regions would be the fingers. George then narrated the things that contributed to his changing his mind about my father's article.

And that is: (a) his commitment to national reconciliation across the North-South divide in Uganda in the context of the 20-year long LRA war; and (b) the work of HRH Sylvia Nagginda, the Nnabagereka of Buganda, as patron of the Christian Children's Fund, especially when she launched an appeal for the children of Northern Uganda in 2003 at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel.

George said Lt Gen (Rtd) Moses Ali, then deputy Prime Minister, represented the Government, and Dr William Kalema represented the business community. Dr Kalema commended the Nnabagereka for her appeal in his remarks on behalf of the business community. According to George, Dr Kalema said: "the Nnabagereka loves all her children North and South."

Soon after the Nnabagereka's appeal, George said he took a young man from Karamoja in need of A-level scholarship to Dr Chrysostom Muyingo, former Minister of Education in the Buganda Government and in charge of the Kabaka Education Fund.

Dr Muyingo was among several Mengo ministers who had accompanied the Nnabagereka to the Northern Uganda appeal. Dr Muyingo gave the young man from Karamoja a scholarship at Lubiri SSS where he completed successfully.

He was admitted to Makerere University on Government scholarship and has since graduated, thanks to the Nnabagereka's appeal for the children of Northern Uganda. In doing this, George said the Nnabagereka unfurled the glory of Buganda for the benefit of Karamoja!

Then he said that he finally understood what my father, late E.M.K. Mulira had written more than 30 years ago, i.e., that Uganda benefits when Buganda, the palm, helps the other parts, the fingers, and vice versa! George called this a "theology of creation" of the hand in its function of all its parts.

Soon after the Makerere University Female Scholarship Foundation dinner gala, George said he was approached by several people who attended the dinner launch. They asked him to write about this story of "Uganda as a hand." He told them it was E.M.K. Mulira's story, not his.

He asked me if I had a copy of the original article he had read in 1985 in the former Church of Uganda owned newspaper, the New Century, of which my father served as Editor.

Last weekend, as I rummaged through my father's papers, I happened on the original draft of that article, in his own handwriting. I was so excited that I quickly called George with the news. He, however, had another vision: It was I, not him, who should write about it!

At the time of his writing, E.M.K. Mulira had not envisioned that a time would come when all parts of Uganda, the so-called fingers, would be wealth producers. Today, we know differently.

With all the oil and mineral finds in other regions of Uganda, the equation is even more dynamic. It behooves us, as Ugandans, to work together, stay together and enjoy together our God-given wealth.

May I mention, too, that the sum-total of all this is land. Land is our unifier--our mother who it is our natural duty to love and nurture.

As we go to elections tomorrow, I urge all Ugandans to remember that whatever our political differences, eventually we are one; our destiny is one and we must stand or fall together.

We have bloodied Mother Uganda long enough and she is in great need of healing. Let us not even contemplate further bloodshed on our beloved Uganda, whatever the outcome of the elections.

The author is the Chairman, Uganda Land Owners Association (ULOA).

Eve Mulira

The Observer/17/02/2011