President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni during the Piny Luo festival celebrations in Siaya County, Kenya, was installed as an elder, a move expected to significantly foster unity among the East African countries.
The Piny Luo festival, which was officially opened on Monday, December 30, 2024, and closed on Thursday, January 2, 2025, was attended by different key dignitaries who included President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Members of the Luo community from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda engaged in traditional practices meant to remind them of their journey through history.
In his acceptance speech, President Museveni noted that by 1900, the whole of Africa had been colonized, followed by over 600 years of slave trade, which was a big humiliation, however much the then chiefs tried to fight, but they couldn’t manage the intruders.
However, in 1912 the beginning of modern resistance cropped up under the African National Congress that united Africans to form a formidable force against colonizers and the slave masters.
“This group had four historical missions, which included chasing the foreigners and getting independence, creating prosperity for the African people, strategic security—how Africa can be secure after the past and the current incidents, ensuring Africa is never again under threat—strategic security.” Museveni said during the cultural festival
The president challenged African countries, specifically the East African Community (EAC), that unlike in the past, where Africans relied on spears, arrows, and stones, it’s high time Africans united to challenge their former colonizers, who have the capacity to operate from the moon with high technologies.
“The strength of spears and other rudimentary tools—we don’t need them now; rather, as Africans, we need strength that can defend us from all threats. As other people are in the moon for us, we are here on earth, and these people can spray us with dangerous chemicals as if we are insects,” Museveni said.
The President called on Africans to unite strategically and embrace the political federation of the East African community that will lead to prosperity by producing a good or service that will enhance economic ties that can lead to collective growth.
President Museveni’s recognition as an elder positions him as a symbolic leader who can facilitate discussions on regional issues, which is likely to encourage other leaders to prioritize unity and collaboration over nationalistic tendencies that have been an impediment to the EAC.
The East African Community (EAC) faces several challenges that hinder its effectiveness and integration efforts; hence Museveni’s installation as a Luo elder is more than a cultural honor, but it represents a strategic move towards uniting East Africa through shared heritage, political collaboration, and economic integration, which in the long run will inspire regional leaders to work together towards a common goal of prosperity and unity.
