Family festival launched to redeem respect for African culture

The Inter-religious Council of East Africa Secretariat and Global Peace Foundation Uganda chapter have launched the first edition of the family festival that will give opportunity for celebrating the family, faith, freedom and the vision of one family under God.

The festival which will be presided over by President Yoweri Museveni will revive African Renaissance”.

The event will be held at Kololo Independence grounds on June 29, 2024 and the keynote speaker will be the Chairman of the Global Peace Foundation, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon.

Speaking during the launch at the Uganda Media Centre, the President Global Peace Foundation Uganda Chapter, Peace Service Ambassador, Milton Kambula said that the festival will highlight the importance of traditional extended family values and interfaith cooperation in advancing freedom and the vision of a twenty-first century African renaissance.

“We are meeting to celebrate the vision of one family under God, a path of reviving the African renaissance. We are motivated that once again Africa is becoming the centre of world peace, with kings and religious leaders uniting and building the capacities of families and communities can help us raise a new population that can build a new Africa for the future,” Amb. Kambula Milton said.

Amb. Kambula said that the festival is expected to culminate in the establishment of a policy framework to support the implementation of the African renaissance through the revitalisation of inter-religious councils and associations of Kings and Queens across the continent to lead peace building, the unity and socioeconomic transformation of Africa.

“It is hoped that through these efforts, the festival will contribute to the promotion of African values and the empowerment of communities to address the challenges facing the continent which include; youth unemployment , corruption, terrorism, violence, poverty, crime, immorality, human rights abuse, poor governance and environmental degradation,” Amb. Kambula emphasized.

Amb. Kambula asked African leaders to invest in families as a way of solving all development bottlenecks Africa is facing.

He promised that this festival will train parents on how to raise children who can benefit their families, communities and the African continent.

“Parents have a role of nurturing children of character , civic virtues , entrepreneurship and innovations.”

Amb. Kambula added that school teachers will be aligned with parents and elders in the community on a common shared vision, best practices and whole of society parenting and mentorship curriculum so that a complete child is produced to serve the public and private sectors of Africa.

The co-chair council of presidents of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU),  Metropolitan Jeronymos Muzeeyi said that festival will provide a platform to explore best practices in peace building and share ways to address poverty, education and community health initiatives.

“Under the influence of globalization, the traditional African family system is increasingly getting challenged and weakened as new family patterns emerge and get diffused over the continent. As your top religious leaders in Africa, we believe that there is a lot at stake if we fail to stand up to protect and defend the family, freedom and our religious and cultural values,” Muzeeyi said.

Muzeeyi noted that as a precursor to the festival, various activities and discussions will take place including; tree planting in Mayuge, debates, religious freedom roundtable, youth startups empowerment drives, tourism activities, community service for peace, exhibitions, the Uganda Martyrs’ trail and environmental conservation initiatives.

During the launch, the Minister of Public Service, Wilson Muruuli Mukasa who is also a co-chair of the festival national organising committee noted that government has given its full weight behind the festival and the President is expected to come with his first family to inspire youth about the benefits of having a family.

“We shall not only celebrate but promote the African spiritual and cultural values in the face of erosion of culture; we expect that at the end of the day, there will be increased respect for African traditional extended family values and the structure will be strengthened,” he  said.

The Family festival will see over 20, 000 people in attendance as well as former presidents and leaders from the continent.

He called on everyone reading this article to come and enjoy the traditional organic food, performance of top musicians, exhibition, parenting training, student career guidance, blood donation and scholarship opportunities at the festival  on June, 29, 2024 at 8am