Bantu people are believed to have left Nigeria/Cameroon border on massive and gradual migration about the time of Christ (R. W. July 1998). They entered the great lakes region about 2-3000 years ago. They entered Uganda through south west and/ or western corner. So they are the indigenous occupants of Rujumbura County (remnants of Bambuti are believed by some researchers to be Bantu people who adapted to a forest environment).
In
any country, population increases when the birth rate exceeds the death
rate (natural increase) and in-migrants exceed out-migrants (net
migration). Population decreases when the death rate exceeds the birth
rate and out-migrants exceed in-migrants. When population is growing
very fast as in Sub-Saharan Africa the expression “population explosion”
is used. When population is declining very fast as in developed
countries the expression “population implosion” is used. The two
figures below taken from David Yaukey et al (2007 ) show birth, death,
natural increase, net migration and growth rates of the United States
between 1910 and 2010. In countries with accurate, disaggregated and up
to-date statistics it is easy to determine the relative contribution of
natural increase and net migration to total population growth.
This is my tenth book. The ten books
represent fifty years (1961-2010) of critical reading, research and
writing on development issues with a focus on four areas: (1)
comparative advantage and economic and social transformation; (2)
population growth and birth control; (3) population densities and
environmental damage; and (4) structural adjustment and poverty
eradication.
In
searching for the truth or completeness I have always looked for those
aspects that are absent from standard development discourse to give
readers all the information needed to make informed decisions. For
example, when someone writes about a glass half full, I research and
write about the empty part of that glass. Based on this dialectical
approach, I have drawn conclusions and learned lessons that differ from
standard positions in the four areas.
I have learnt and concluded that (1)
static comparative advantage in the production and export of raw
materials is not a wise course of action because it will not generate
sufficient resources to transform a country’s economy and society; (2)
relying on birth control alone without educating girls beyond primary
school and empowering women economically will not bring about the
desired results in fertility reduction and demographic transition; (3)
high population densities are not always caused by natural population
growth (births over deaths) and high densities do not always damage the
environment. There are cases like Kilimanjaro area of Tanzania where the
environment has not been damaged by high population density and
Machakos district of Kenya where the environment has benefited from high
population density; and (4) thirty years of stabilization and
structural adjustment programs in Africa undermined progress in social
and environmental sectors and failed to sustain economic growth, create
jobs and reduce poverty.
The word Bantu relates to the languages spoken by African black peoples. Some 80 million people speak Bantu languages and belong to many groups including Zulu, Swahili, Baganda and Kikuyu. There is general agreement that Bantu people originated from the grassland area in the Nigeria/Cameroon border. About the time of Christ (1 AD) they began their migration which was gradual and in small groups. It is not clear what triggered the movement out of their original home although population pressure has been mentioned. They brought with them short horn cattle, goats, sheep and poultry (domestic fowl) and knowledge of iron working. By 1500, they had settled into central, eastern and southern Africa (R. O. Collins 2006, R. Oliver and G. Mathew 1963 and The World Book Encyclopedia 1983). Their economic activities and degree of specialization depended on ecological conditions. For example, those living outside of the Congo forest became adept at cereal production and stock herding. Those near water bodies engaged in fishing. Those near iron ore became smelters. They traded surplus.
Bantu introduced an agricultural revolution through the spread of new crops, new farming techniques and pastoralism. Bantu also diffused new ideas such as iron-smelting, pottery making and cooking. As farmers and stock raisers Bantu had a more reliable source of food supply which led to more permanent settlement and development of more organized and complex societies. These societies resulted in the establishment of more elaborate socio-political institutions, new forms of trade exchange and cultural formations. There was a major social and political transformation. They were not stateless people without civilizations.
Sometime back The Observer (Uganda) published an article using my research material which show thatBahima, Bahororo, Banyamulenge and Batutsi (who are cousins) were Nilotic Luo-speaking people from Bahr el Ghazal, southern Sudan.Some Ugandans called me and complained why I had written such an article. Some denied the research findings arguing that they were descendants of Bachwezi and white people and therefore not Luo. One Ugandan subsequently wrote that Bahima and their cousins were not Luo but Basoga were. I wrote back showing that Bachwezi were black and not white people.Bachweziwere a Bantu aristocracy.
Ordinary Ugandans like this rural farmer are unlikely to see the impact of the new National Development Plan which focuses on exports, and market driven development. (Photo credit: Creative Commons)
6 May 2010 [MediaGlobal]: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni launched a New Development Plan in Kampala last week. The plan specifies five-year incremental actions to achieve the 30-year National Vision Framework and develop Uganda from a least-developed to a middle-income country.
Key tenets of the plan include development of infrastructure, particularly roads, railways, energy, air and water transport, and human capacity building. The plan emphasizes public-private partnerships and a continuation of export and market-driven development.
Successive national governments since independence in 1961 have struggled to develop the country, oscillating between wanting to nationalize the economy and relying on conditional foreign aid. In 1986, after having attempted to nationalize the economy, Museveni needed foreign assistance. Ever since, Museveni has worked under structural adjustment programs with the IMF and the World Bank. Structural adjustment demands liberalization of the economy, opening the country to exportation and tariff free imports, and balancing the budget, which has led to decreases in state spending on social services.
Critics claim that these policies do not benefit the majority of Ugandans and maintains a colonial model of exporting raw materials and importing expensive goods. Eric Kashambuzi, a Ugandan activist and scholar and current senior policy advisor on the United Nations Millennium Promise Project, told MediaGlobal “The colonial policy of producing what we don’t consume, and consuming what we don’t produce in terms of manufactured goods has remained in place.”
The Great
Lakes Region of Africa is occupied by two major ethnic groups.
Bantu-speaking people arrived in the area from Cameroon/Nigeria
border some 3000 years ago. They brought with them short horn cattle,
goats, sheep and technology. The Nilotic Luo-speaking people arrived in the
area some 600 years ago from Southern Sudan. They brought with them
long horn cattle. They subsequently adopted Bantu language, religion
and other civilizations such as Bahutu King's title of Mwami in
Rwanda.
A
dominant feature of their interaction is that political power was
achieved through the barrel of the gun especially in Southwest
Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda and increasingly in Eastern DRC. Warfare
intensified with the arrival of foreigners using European weapons.
Weaker societies were raided for slaves and colonial domination.
Since independence in the early 1960s armed struggle has remained the
main method of capturing and retaining or losing political power.
The
new breed of leaders in Burundi, Rwanda, DRC and Uganda came to power
through the barrel of the gun. Since the introduction of democracy in
part as a requirement for financial and technical aid, elections
have been won by those who control guns. Attempts to replace democracy
at gun point with real democracy using such instruments as the media
have faced serious challenges.
The cost of exercising freedom of
expression, assembly and of selecting one's representatives has been
very high. Many people have been gunned down, others tortured and
imprisoned. Their family members and relatives have been harassed and
their inalienable rights violated in many other ways.
The
purpose ofthis publication is to urge citizens of present and future
generations in the region to continue the struggle - with support of
their friends and well-wishers around the world - until the power of
democracy has defeated the barrel of the gun. With combined effort it
will happen sooner rather than later.
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