Minister of Agriculture Hon Frank Tumwebaze has come out in defense of Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who has taken heat lately for his comments about Bachwezi.
On Monday night, Muhoozi warned terrorists detonating explosives in the central region that they would not defeat descendants of Bachwezi.
“I pity those who think they can defeat Bachwezi,” Muhoozi tweeted.
“Uganda is a nation of descendants from Bachwezi, those who are throwing small bombs around will learn a tough lesson!” he added.
The tweet attracted mixed reactions on social media, as it was deemed by some commentators as divisive.
“I had decided to keep quiet to your tweets but your (sic) a tribalism,” responded one Christine on Twitter.
“Uganda is consisted of Nilotes, Hamites, etc, who ain’t Bantu or even Bachwezi…Leaders appreciate diversity.”
Minister Tumwebaze this morning, while responding to a cartoon which portrayed Gen Muhoozi as attempting to superimpose the Cwezi history onto the whole of Uganda, said the Land Forces Commander was misunderstood.
“I think Gen (Muhoozi) as a curious Pan-Africanist, wants to stimulate debate about some of these historical known facts about African origins but where consensus has never been built,” he said.
“What’s wrong with us debating who the Bachwezi were and what was their role in building African nationalism as well defining black identity?”
He added, “We can debate to agree or disagree without having to throw contempt at each other’s views. The story of the Bachwezi is taught in our history. Why is it taught? Perhaps to provoke learners and scholars to trace more about origins of the black race and Africa in general.
“Discussing these unresolved historical claims therefore, isn’t in any way a deficit for African nationalism on any one. My knowledge about African history is limited but it does no harm to debate and interrogate some of these historical claims about Bachwezi, Batembuzi, Bantu etc.
Gen Muhoozi himself doesn’t believe his comments were divisive, saying early this week, “Bachwezi are our ancestors. Why do you fear them?”
He added: “They are our black angels. They were herdsmen and blacksmiths.”
