Family: Leta Aga Afa Dria
In his 2024 Boxing Day sermon to visitors (mainly his brother James Dramani's descendants) plus own children, Kefa Dobo ("Esther's Number One" as he labelled himself) revealed that he prays every evening for GOD to help Ita's children. He read a Bible passage about Cain and Abel plus likened the gathering under trees behind the family kitchen to Noah's Ark of only eight people.
Kefa taught, "We are Ojapi... GOD will bless us... Everything has value, whether it's a safariant... or even a small black ant... People are stubborn for no reason... We used to speak one language... No one can understand GOD's wisdom... Have endurance... Leta aga afa dria! Ile mi agoi lele, aga 'bani 'ba nguzu [Translated from Lugbara: Love is greater than everything! Love your friend, instead of hating people]... A church house is just a shed; MUNGU ni asi-a [GOD is in the heart]... Death is a thief. This home is our Golgotha, Ita set it and said her burial should be here, not the church..."
Kefa amused his listeners when he added: Osubi azi ki 'dia 'di 'ba nya ai koko [There are some bean leaves around here eaten without salt]. He further disclosed that he used to drink kpete [local beer] but not the Whiteman and Indian brew used to poison people. Nevertheless, he praised the Whiteman for making his faded but longlasting, book-carrying leather bag which was older than many people on the compound in Baria Village, Ulupi Parish, Ajira (formerly Tara) Subcounty, Maracha East Constituency (Uganda). He wanted it recoloured blacker.
Adventure: The Ancient Hills of Tara
On a sunny Boxing Day in Twenty24, my big brother took his family (wife Jackie plus children Ethan, Kizi and Ariel) to see our paternal uncle Kefa Dobo in Baria Village, Ulupi (previously Ojapi) Parish, Ajira (formerly Tara) Subcounty, Maracha East Constituency (Uganda). I journeyed along with them and so did our father James Dramani, big sister Gladys, youngest sister Rachel and first nephew Joshua who coordinated transportation with Springs (Arua) driver Abdul (aka Boyi). We met Acidri in Nyadri and he showed us a plot of land dad had booked to buy. Amos the Dentist was leaving when we arrived in Ojapi (one of the original Tara parishes before politics divided the land); then assembled at the graveyard and dad prayed.
After breakfast (maize from Anyafio, rice and tea), a short service was held while sitted on blue plastic chairs under two trees behind the kitchen and Kefa preached about Leta [Translated from Lugbara: Love] being greater than everything. After touring the pine tree forest dad had planted, family members were introduced in the centre of the compound: Kefa's wife Rasili, son Fred plus his wife Christine, daughter Peace, other sons William and Tom, grandniece Leya (sister Miriam's granddaughter), Awania, etc were present.
We walked to the well down North inspired by my mother's 2022 departure from Earth; all my bro's three children from Buganda rope-fetched a full jerrycan each, then strutted down to the stream in the East where we used to fetch water in the 2000s. I warned them not to pull the dry grass because it cuts. Ethan climbed up the rocks and was amazed by the view of ancient Tara with its numerous hills while Kizi stepped on a stone inside the water. Ariel wanted to navigate other routes but we returned to the compound for a very tasty lunch buffet (No rice so that enyasa could be enjoyed double to the maximum) accompanied with water and soda.
Having said goodbye to the home dwellers especially Kefa whose Lugbara words I translated to the three Kampala-City-borns, we met LC5 Chairman Ahumed Brani at the compound exit; I told him Ethan wanted to become the Subcounty Chief. The four of us trekked to the Bypass Road on the West, found three cows and some goats grazing, crossed a seasonal river, took photos and returned to the Ojapi Main Road at about 5pm; Ariel felt very fatigued but I told her to walk slowly until she regained energy while Ethan and Kizi filmed videos plus captured snapshots for WhatsApp. Giving the acceptable excuse of tiredness, we did not go as far as Ojapi Primary School classroom blocks but stopped at the pitch side. Then we walked back to the St. John Church of Uganda Uliapi mango tree shade and waited for the bus parked at home to pick us as the sun set steadily. Geofrey came to talk to the lads for a while before heading to Ajira Trading Centre for a Chelsea match (which they actually lost allowing Arsenal jump to 2nd place the next day).
On the ride back to Arua, we met and ferried some men to Ajira including Isaac (one of the 1991 Ojapi Air Raid survivors whose wife Monica gave us a bunch of bananas). Kizi commented that the people we bypassed in the area were very friendly and greeted us unlike in the city where they can even knock you.
Ancestry: Vura Parish
TARA
There is another Vura in Maracha
On Wednesday 28th August 2019, Tom Wadrile and his family hosted several visitors (probably a hundred) at their ancestral home in Ajulepi Village, Vura Parish, Tara Subcounty (Maracha East Constituency). I attended the traditional Lugbara meat-sharing feast with my father (James Dramani), 2nd cousin Amos who drove us there, his colleague Sunday and some young females from Arua. At that time, a blue and white passenger boat had sunk in Lake Victoria and it was one of the issues we discussed. We fetched plastic seats in Juliet's white Nissan pickup from near Kololo Trading Centre while other people handled different preparations.
Tom's wife Rose amused me while washing an avocado when she commented, "This is high life!" Indeed, the place is very strategic with a classic Lugbara Kari-stic view of Mt. Wati in Terego where she comes from. Denis (Tom's first son from Bunyoro) was around and so was Brian (first child with Rose), Benji (recording with an iPad) and Mary (last born); Barbra was out of the country studying. Tom's sister (Coach Leo Adraa's wife) had unfortunately already departed (I missed her), but his brother Asutia was there as usual with his family. Okuonzi (Tom's other brother) and his Muganda wife were also present with their child. I was happy to see UPDF soldier Buga at the function; reminded me of our abrupt rendezvous in Wandegeya one morning. A Roman Catholic father who I occasionally saw at Tom's house in Kyebando Kisalosalo (Kampala City) said prayers before sunset. Apaga's son Denis also graced the occasion, hadn't seen him for over half a decade. Aunt Rasili attended too.
The main event took place in the sunny afternoon. After one of the clan elders said a prayer, an old man from near Karongo (later transferred to Ajira Subcounty that broke away from Tara) who came with two wooden crutches told the adi [Lugbara legend] for about one hour on some rocks under a big family tree. The wind was blowing kindly even though it interfered with my itel smartphone recordings a bit. The ancestry narrator wore a fading-red cap, light khaki coat, cream shirt, teal trousers plus mismatched slippers and sat on a green plastic chair: 'Bapi Vura dri, azi ama woro ci... Ama o’do Kodro si... Ama Kodro anzi... Kodro ma anzi... ki azia; na ri ki dra ki mva akoru, na ri ki mva tro ci... Ma aca di Ajua-i. Ajua 'du oku piri piri azia, aziri [Translated from Lugbara: Relatives of Vura, I greet us all... We start with Kodro... We are Kodro's children... Kodro's children... are six; three died childless, three had children... I reach Ajua. Ajua took in total six, seven wives]...
Ajua is the great ancestor of all the seven original Tara parishes. Vura (whose name was given to the parish where we gathered) was closely related to Ojapi whose name was used for the parish where I come from, even if politics changed it to Ulupi. My grandmother Esther (1906-2004) is actually a sister to Tom's grandfather Anatolio. Just like the old man narrating the adi, my uncle Kefa Dobo once told me in Twenty10 that Ajua had a son named Otu. His mother was from Ovisoni (southwest of Ayivu, about 5 kilometres from URA Customs in Vurra) where Amos comes from. Otu's son was called Vura.
"Ama do ripi 'dia 'di, Otu ti do ama ni 'ba [We sitted right here, Otu fathered us]..."
The old man mentioned so many people and places around Vura Parish being connected to those listening through marriage including Kakwa in Sudan, Ombachi in Koboko, Rendu, Otravu, Yidu, etc. The headquarters of Tara are in Kololo, Vura Parish.
After the legend, questions were asked and discussed. Tom had a chance to speak and warned that if the new generations do not learn their culture, they may mess up in relationships. He also urged his people to support the Church so that i'de ku [it does not fall].
When you stand at the Ojapi Primary School playground and look north, the first hill you see anticlockwise from Mt. Liru (in Koboko) is named Kodro, probably after the first ancestor in the old man's story. Follow the road northwards, reach Komendaku, then turn right and head to Vura Parish, just like that.
Memorial: 1991 Ojapi Air Raid
MARACHA
No more hate bombs, only peace and friendship
On 20th September 1991, before noon (around 11:45am), two Sudanese Antonov military planes flew from the Sudan-Uganda border. They searched for rebels suspected to be hiding in Maracha Hospital (Ovujo) in vain, but then flew back, got rid of unused bombs in seemingly uninhabited hills and destroyed staff houses at Ojapi Primary School, about 14 kilometres southeast of Koboko in Nacara Village, Ojapi Parish, Tara Subcounty, Maracha County in Arua District (Currently Ulupi Parish, Ajira Subcounty, Maracha East Constituency). Other villages in the Ojapi area include Aliamu, Baria, Erivu, Oliapi, Onayi and Palida.
About three people were killed including a pregnant woman (Mary Jackson) and P3 student (Charles Driwale) while six were injured: Philliam Debo (Chairperson of the victims plus Ojapi Clan) and Isaac Azabo (right leg amputated and given a prosthesis) lost their limbs; Debo thanks GOD for mercy because over 100 pupils would have died. Fred Adriko suffered back pain. Jimmy Aluma, the Headteacher of OPS saw the bombing and had his child injured. Michael Afimani witnessed five bombs (two on a hill near the school and three on the premises). Milton Eyoyo was 7 years old and his teacher Solomon Apadra had taken them outside the classroom as is mandatory to write on the ground before being released to go and at break; they saw two planes in the air and were happily interested, but then it turned into a "terrible experience" in their lives. Residents like Jackson Sadraka and Joel Otoma lost their houses. Additionally, an old grassthatched block and four houses with contents at St. John Church of Uganda Uliapi were desecrated.
After the explosions, President Yoweri Museveni visited the village and made promises including rehabilitation of those who lost their limbs, reconstruction of demolished houses, relief aid, opening the road that leads to OPS and free education for the children of the affected people.
On 11th October 2014, the affected group (Ojapi Air Raid Compensation and Rehabilitation Association) wrote a letter endorsed by local leaders to the Office of the President for compensation and psycho-social support. Responded to on 12th July 2016, Debo received a lettter confirming that their compensation claims had been forwarded to the Office of the Solicitor General plus Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Affairs for consideration and further management. However, in the order paper for the 15th sitting of the 3rd meeting of the 4th session of the 10th Parliament of Uganda (Wednesday 19th February 2020), Hon. James Acidri (MP Maracha East) was to ask the Minister of Justice why the Solicitor General failed to act on the formal request from State House regarding victim compensation.
In 2021, the UPDF 4th Division sent a team of officers to make a fresh assessment of the people injured 30 years behind. Lt. Col. Wilson Bahati, a UPDF officer in Maracha accompanied the team of investigators to the scene of the bombing to ascertain the level of damage and compensate victims. Alfred Jadribo, a native from nearby wants leaders to keep knocking until the end.
A memorial monument to remember the event is also envisioned. Kennedy Inziku believes the young generation can learn from this history.
According to Lugbara oral tradition heard from Kefa Dobo in Baria Village, Ojapi was one of the seven brothers after whom the original parishes in Tara Subcounty were named. The others included Vura (parish where the Tara headquarters are located), Ajulepi, Yidu (Pajama Area), Oliapi (Oliyepi), Aruwe and Rendu. They were the great-grandsons of Ajua who searched for the Source of River Enyau (which has a tributary in Tara). In Onduparaka (Ayivu), Ajua was given a wife who birthed Opodria, who also fathered Naye - the father of the seven true parishes of Tara. Farther down south in Ovisoni (Vurra), Ajua was given another wife who birthed Otu, the father of Vura. The Source of Enyau is located in Ezuku Forest Reserve (Vurra), near the DR Congo border.
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