The inaugural Elgon Festival staged at Mbale SS grounds has by normal standards been registered a success. Despite the heavy rains that interfered with the day’s program, the event that kicked off on Saturday 11th, June and went overnight through to the next morning on Sunday has now come to an end, but left people with so many talking points.
Formerly the Imbalu Parade and festival, strictly for showcasing the Bamasaaba pride in their culture, the vibe in this year’s event was turned up a little bit as Masaba tourism initiative partnered with Babana Basha to stage an even bigger and more exciting thing.
To fit the billing, other ethnicities were all embraced to showcase on the occasion, and that’s where the line has been drawn; there is where has risen misunderstanding of the event and it’s motives, that’s probably why opinions have been divided on the just concluded Elgon Festival.
It’s however mostly people who didn’t attend the event that are faulting the show to have been inappropriate, after coming across ‘disturbing pictures of naked girls’ at the show online. In the most trending picture making rounds on Facebook and WhatsApp, teenage-looking girls are seen to have lined up, covering only their middle parts of the body using scattered green banana leaves, leaving their bare chests all out – exposing their sharp pointed breasts.
“Is it a nudity contest? That’s not our culture!” Some concerned Bamasaaba have been murmuring, asking questions and noting that it’s not in their tradition or culture for girls and women to appear in public with bare chests.
Time FM radio presenter, Ibra Musosi, who was also among the organisers explained that the festival was all about celebrating cultural diversity in the Elgon Region.
About the photos (of ‘naked’ girls) making rounds online, Musosi explained that, “Those are Gishus (Bamasaaba) from Kenya and that’s how they decided to dress for the occasion.”
“The intention was to include other tribes in this celebration. That’s why we had the Bamasaaba and Sapiiny Communities both from Kenya and Uganda, the Baganda (Semei Kakungulu) Community, the Karamoja Community and the Iteso Community,” he added.
“There are also photos of participants of different tribes, and you can see that they all showed up in different styles. It’s not the organizers that told anyone to dress in any way. All the participants knew they were to show up in the cultural wear and if that’s how they presented themselves, then that’s them and who they are,” Musosi reiterated.
To sum it all up, this year’s event was a unique celebration; comprising of a Bamasaaba Cultural parade as usual, Bull-fighting and diverse cultural showcases. The event was closed with a musical concert as Elgon’s finest artists performed, one after another on a special night show headlined by Azawi and Afrigo band. They literally set Mbale City on fire.
