Browsing by Author "Alexander Paul Isiko"

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Between tradition and modernity: imbalu of the bamasaba and human rights discourse
(Jumuga Journal of Education, Oral Studies, and Human Sciences (JJEOSHS), 2025-08) Juliet, N. Wabwire; Robert Kuloba Wabyanga; Alexander Paul Isiko
The Imbalu culture of the Bamasaba people is well known in scholarly works as a rite of passage, which involves a series of rituals that culminate into circumcision among the Bamasaba males. The cultural practice is also recognized by UNESCO under the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and protected in various Human Rights instruments as a right like article 37 of the 1995 Uganda constitution, and the United Nations’ International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The paper sets out to explore human rights abuses, embedded in culture which in some circles have called for either its abolition or modifications to suit the modern cultural trends. This enlists questions. How can Imbalu be celebrated with respect to contemporary human rights discourses? How can the cultural heritage of the Imbalu be preserved and maintained in the face of mounting pressure to change some of the cultural values of Imbalu? This paper is descriptive and analytical, based on the ongoing research study on Imbalu among the Bamasaba people of Eastern Uganda.
Pentecostal scholarship in Uganda: trends, trajectories and challenges
(Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024-11-05) Robert, Kuloba Wabyanga; Alexander Paul Isiko
Although there is a plethora of scholarly works on African Pentecostal scholarship in Uganda, there is a notable invisibility of local Ugandan scholars in the publication pages. Prominent in Pentecostal studies in this context are the works of foreign scholars such as (in no particular order) Barbra Bompani, Ben Jones, Elizabeth Bremner, Robert Gibbs, Lars H. Williams, K.T. Zemlicka and Alessandro Gusman, among others. This triggers questions that interrogate the invisibility of indigenous Ugandan scholars in the field of African Pentecostalism. This is not to discount efforts made by the few local scholars such as Paddy Musana, Moses Isabirye, Fred Jenga and Samuel Mugisa, although the focus of their studies on the phenomenon presents a different dimension of invisibility. In this chapter we interrogate the problem of invisibility—not only exposing the quantity in scholarship but also quality of works on the phenomenon by indigenous Ugandan scholars. Efforts are made to review scholarly works/terrain in contemporary African contexts, the quality of scholarly works of the Western scholars and researchers and finally examine the scholarly situation in the local context. We have also examined the scholarly landscape that informs the limited representation of indigenous Ugandan scholars in the field of study.