Tracy Guma

Yega Orutooro Tracy Guma

It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you, "Yega Orutooro" (Learn the Rutooro Language). Rutooro Language is a heritage and identity of the People of the Kingdom of Tooro located in South Western Uganda. Rutooro is the principal glue that binds us as a distinct group of people. It is a means of communication. It reflects and shapes our values, beliefs and aspirations as Batooro people. It is through Rutooro that we transmit our experiences, our traditions and our knowledge from generation to generation. Cultural heritage is the legacy of tangible and intangible culture and natural heritage which is inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. However, in the face of globalisation and a changing world, Orutooro is increasingly threatened with disappearing and taking with it our entire cultural and intellectual heritage. It is therefore pertinent and imperative that we celebrate, promote and preserve our language, Rutooro for the present and future generations. The best way to celebrate, promote and preserve our cultural heritage and Rutooro language is to share it with others. I therefore, commend Tracy Guma Adyeri and Julian Businge Amooti for their admirable effort and work in preparing and publishing "Yega Orutooro" which will promote and help preserve the Rutooro language. I call upon every Mutooro to be proud of our heritage, ancestral roots and identity and to become the Custodians and Guardians of our language, Rutooro. I urge you to promote and preserve Rutooro by learning, teaching and speaking Rutooro with your children and ensuring that you safeguard and pass our precious language, Rutooro and our cultural heritage and identity from our generation to the next. I invite you all to read and share "Yega Orutooro". Thank you. Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, King of Tooro Kingdom in Uganda