Ateker Re-Union Festival to Boost Regional Integration

The Gender, Labour, and Social Development Minister, Betty Ongom Amongi, has re-echoed the Ateker reunion festival’s objective, which is to encourage and support regional integration for social-economic transformation.

The Ateker Re-Union Culture Festival 2024 will take place in Soroti city, Uganda, from November 26-29, 2024.

While addressing the media at Uganda Media Centre (UMC) on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, Amongi said that the celebration is a vibrant testament to the communities’ reunion decades after their separation and dispersion.

“These communities share linguistic and cultural ties, and the festival aims to celebrate and strengthen these bonds,” she said.

According to her, the festival will feature a variety of events, such as cultural performances that showcase the unique cultural expressions of the Ateker communities and beyond through traditional dance, music, drama, and storytelling.

“There will be an exhibition of traditional crafts, attire, literature, foods, and medicine for the Ateker People,” Amongi said.

The minister noted that other key activities will include traditional games and football under the concept of the Ateker Cup of Nations for the promotion of physical fitness and cultural preservation.

Additionally, she stated that tree planting initiatives will be one of the major greening efforts focusing on the indigenous tree species, aimed at promoting environmental sustainability and economic empowerment to the community since climate change remains a big obstacle to Africa’s development.

Amongi further highlighted that workshops, panel discussions, and conferences on the selected topics will be organized for different target groups drawn from the Ateker community and other stakeholders to engage on challenges preventing the Ateker people from embracing the African renaissance.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will be the chief guest, and other heads of state from Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Ethiopia will grace the event.

The Ateker festival, which is celebrated under the themeCelebrating Shared Heritage, Forging a Path Towards Peace, Prosperity, and Cultural Renaissance, will also feature members of Ateker Communities, including the Nyangatomo of Ethiopia, Topotha, Bari & Torit of South Sudan, Iteso, Turkana, and Masai of Kenya, Iteso, Karimojong, Jie, Dodoth, and Langi of Uganda, and the Masai of Tanzania.