Browsing by Author "Robert Kuloba Wabyanga"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Between tradition and modernity: imbalu of the bamasaba and human rights discourse
(Jumuga Journal of Education, Oral Studies, and Human Sciences (JJEOSHS), 2025-08) Juliet, N. Wabwire; Robert Kuloba Wabyanga; Alexander Paul Isiko
The Imbalu culture of the Bamasaba people is well known in scholarly works as a rite of passage, which involves a series of rituals that culminate into circumcision among the Bamasaba males. The cultural practice is also recognized by UNESCO under the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and protected in various Human Rights instruments as a right like article 37 of the 1995 Uganda constitution, and the United Nations’ International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The paper sets out to explore human rights abuses, embedded in culture which in some circles have called for either its abolition or modifications to suit the modern cultural trends. This enlists questions. How can Imbalu be celebrated with respect to contemporary human rights discourses? How can the cultural heritage of the Imbalu be preserved and maintained in the face of mounting pressure to change some of the cultural values of Imbalu? This paper is descriptive and analytical, based on the ongoing research study on Imbalu among the Bamasaba people of Eastern Uganda.
Gishu Indigenous Religion and Spirituality: Reviewing Imbalu ritual from a descriptive perspective
(Jumuga Journal of Education, Oral Studies, and Human Sciences, 2025-09-01) Juliet, Wabwire Nambuba; Robert Kuloba Wabyanga
The research article sets out to map out and surveyGishu indigenous religion and spirituality from extant scholarly literature. It argues that the spiritual aspects of Gishu people (also known as the Bamasaba), as epitomized and conveyed through Imbalu cultural practice (that has endured in the contemporary social space), has not received its due scholarly expressions by various scholars who have written about the Imbalu. This article is anchored on the African cosmological worldview framework, as a theoretical paradigm, which emphasis on a holistic view of reality. The data is gleaned from the extant literature on the imbalu, and examined theoretically in mapping and redefining the phenomenon of the African indigenous religion of the Bamasaba people. In its findings, the article posits that the Gishu indigenous religion and spirituality is saliently conveyed through imbalu, in all dimensions: as doctrinal, organizational, ritual, mythical, ethical and experiential, despite remaining unnoticed or acknowledged. To an extent, this leads to a loss of the core religio-cultural heritage. The study takes a gleaning approach, which is a method of collecting and utilizing information that other scholars have often overlooked.