On Wednesday, November 27th 2024, thousands of members of the Ateker group drawn from Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda braced a heavy downpour to witness and participate in the 2024 edition of the Ateker reunion festival held at Soroti Boma Grounds, Soroti City.
The three-day festival that will end on November 29th, 2024, aims to foster unity among the Ateker group and also showcased a vibrant convergence of the Ateker group from various East African nations including Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
By around 9 a.m., amidst a heavy, cloudy, chilling morning, one by one, each group of the Ateker, including those from the neighboring countries, arrived and straight away took the crowd through a wonderful cultural performance of unique traditional dance.
The festival kicked off early in the morning at Soroti Boma Grounds, where participants arrived in groups, each proudly displaying cultural banners and engaging the crowd with energetic performances.
Among the standout moments were the Iteso group’s ‘eduula’ dance and the Lango people’s ‘Ikoce’ dance, which captivated audiences and drew enthusiastic participation from attendees, including Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu, former deputy Chief of Defense Forces, Vice President Major (Rtd) Jessica Alupo, Minister for Gender Labor and Social Development, Betty Amongi among others..
Despite inclement weather, thousands of attendees celebrated their rich cultural heritage with traditional dances, costumes, and music that highlighted their unity and pride.
Dawning various traditional costumes, each group would arrive while holding a banner and enter the crowd singing and dancing their cultural songs, depicting strong pride, excitement, and total commitment to their values.
At around midday, several groups, including a delegation from Lango, Pokot of Uganda, and those in Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, had already arrived and assembled while devotedly enjoying varieties of cultural discos, including Ikoce dance performed by Lango people.
The Itesot group gigantically presented an eduula dance that fired the crowd wild, and Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu, the former deputy CDF, was seen unreservedly enjoying and critically following this dance.
Clothed in their traditional wear, the performers jumped up and down while performing an ajuse dance, displaying total excitement and love for the culture.
One by one, several traditional leaders, including Yosam Odur (Lango), the Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara, Solomon Iguru I, the 27th Omukama, David Onen Acana II of Acholi, and Raphael Otaya, the Kumam Cultural Leader, among others, arrived and enjoyed the cultural festival.
Before addressing the mammoth crowd of cultural fans as the Chief Guest, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni inspected exhibition sites by various institutions, including arts and those engaging in various innovations like herbal medicine.
President Museveni got excited when he was taken through how the Ateker group used to store their food items safely in the granary (Dero in Lango, eduula in Ateso) during the exhibition.
He underscored the importance of unity within the Ateker community and emphasized the government’s commitment to supporting initiatives aimed at poverty reduction and economic development.
Museveni called up cultural leaders to rally their subjects to engage in various wealth creation activities, including the model farming method.
President Museveni urged community leaders to mobilize their people towards productive activities, aligning with the festival’s theme: “Celebrating Shared Heritage; Forging a Path towards Peace, Prosperity, and Cultural Renaissance.”
According to the president, the reunion is critical among the Ateker community, saying the government will massively support all initiatives that target poverty eradication among the group.
The festival has brought together various Ateker-speaking communities from Uganda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, and Tanzania and is being celebrated in Uganda for the first time in history, attracting the patron of the Ateker people in Africa, H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn; ambassadors from Algeria, Libya, and Angola; cultural and religious leaders; and many other people.
The Ateker-speaking communities include the Nyangatomo of Ethiopia; Topotha, Bari, and Torit of South Sudan; Iteso, Turkana, and Masai of Kenya; Iteso, Karimojong, Jie, Dodoth, Kumam, Lango, and Kakwa of Uganda; and the Masai of Tanzania, plus other closely-knit groups spread across the greater East African region.
