President Yoweri Museveni mourns his uncle

Last Sunday we laid to rest my paternal uncle, Mzee Eriya Riisi, at his home in Kashari. I thank the Lord for the 72 years I have been able to consciously experience my uncle.

Our story is one of the struggle to make modernity and tradition co-exist. It began right from the time I went to him in Ntungamo in 1965 to explain that he needed to move closer to Mbarara because I had seen the advantages of the spraying acaricides to the livestock in the Nyakisaharara area.

The change from then on was organic as I continued battling against drinking unboiled milk, and encouraging more relatives to send their children to school.

Therefore, it is possible for the youth to apply their education and be agents of change in their families and communities.

But that change must be grounded in our traditions so that we don’t lose ourselves in useless trends like an empty glass that changes colour every time a different substance is poured in it. If these principles are paired with hard work, there is guaranteed reward.

“May he rest peacefully,’ Mzee Museveni mourns is uncle.