Uganda’s Minister of State for ethics and integrity, Dr. Nsaba Buturo, has called on the Banyarwanda community in Uganda to strongly uphold their cultural values, saying that this is the basis of development in any society.

The minister made the remarks while officiating at the Intercultural troupe competitions held over the weekend in Kampala.

The event, attended by hundreds of members of the community, was organized by the Ugandan Banyarwanda Cultural Development Association (UMUBANO).

"I’m very impressed by the traditional cultural performances today,” he said
"UMUBANO is one of the many pillars that make up our country. All tribes are pillars and we rely on each other for prosperity and development.”

Using an example of grasshoppers that bite each other, Nsaba Buturo called for unity and harmony amongst members of the community and asked them to avoid messages of divisionism.

"Those who want to divide people shouldn’t be listened to, we are all Banyarwanda,” he said to a big applause from the audience.

UMUBANO Chairman, Mzee Donati Kananura, underscored the need for protecting and loving the Banyarwanda traditional culture.

"We should love our culture and should never at any time deny that we are Banyarwanda. We should instead be proud of it,” he said.

"When you despise yourselves, you will have lost the culture that we are talking about now”,

During the event which was sponsored by among other sponsors, City Tyres, Ingenzi troupe emerged the best and ran away with a trophy and 500,000Shs, while the second and third positions went to Umuco cultural troupe and Imanzi troupe respectively.

The organiser of the event, Herbert Munyangaju, announced that the three winning troupes will go on an all expenses paid trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to attend the East African Community Rwandan Cultural Competitions scheduled to take place in next month.

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