Bibliography of Kigezi Sources - Ian Cantwell

Some articles are available on the internet and are either free or by subscription only.
Copying the title into a search engine is the fastest way to establish e-publication. Note that
some articles are available on both open source and fee-paying sites; there's no need to spend
money when you don't have to. Development-related works are freely and easily available.
Online coverage of older works is patchy.
Recent scientific journals, and the like, are mixed, depending on contracts with internet
publishers. For the debate concerning open access versus subscription in the following 18th
century Irish joke may be pertinent (Spirit of Irish Wit, London, 1811):
“Mr. Burke, author of the Sublime and Beautiful, going to a bookcase, and finding it locked, said,
“This is a Locke on the Human Understanding”.
For non-academic websites – a word of warning – they tend to quote each other word for
word without acknowledgement and it can be difficult to establish the original source or their
credibility.
A Short History of Sources
The bibliography shows that in the period after independence intellectual curiosity was still
strong following the English and European university tradition, particularly in Makerere
University, originally East African University. However Idi Amin's hatred of and subsequent
pogroms against those he perceived as 'intellectuals' brought original research and publishing
to a sudden halt in most academic disciplines. Then the harsh world of economic reality set in
and the function of books is now mostly utilitarian; to get a job, ideally with a degree, and
sometimes books have to be used for work.
One possible interpretation is that books as a source of reading pleasure or to satisfy curiosity
has become less common with less personal investment in knowledge for long-term personal
development. Book costs are another inhibiting factor as the price may equal a week's wages.
According to James Tumusiime (Chairman and MD of Fountain Publishers), 2000:
“Moreover those bad times killed the book-reading habit as many teachers resorted to stencilling
or photocopying occasional pages and some used past examination papers to teach from. There
were children who came out of primary school never having handled a book.”
A review of the publications shows that the golden age of history was in the late 1960s and
early 1970s when there were many significant publications of books and in journals. The
majority (24) of theses and dissertations in Makerere University were published between
1968 and 1976, peaking between 1969 and 1973.
Between 1981 and 1992 a further five were published that are cultural, and contain some
historical background, except for one that is a diocesan history. Another was published in
1994 and, since then, silence. This is mirrored in the Uganda Journal who has published
many articles on Kigezi, history, development and natural sciences since 1934, the last was in
1982.
Two major exceptions are Festo Karwemera who has published many books on Bakiga
culture, language and history in Rukiga and Bishop Ernest Shalita who published similar
topics in Bafumbira in Rufumbira with two in English.