Strangers Everywhere: Exclusion, Identity and the Future of Nubians in Northern Uganda

Abstract

This paper discusses Nubian identity formation vis-a-vis the politics of exclusion in Uganda during and after the British colonial rule. It traces the history of the Nubians from the time of their imperial service as slave soldiers of the Egyptian Government in the Equatoria Province up to the time of settlement in Northern Uganda’s Gulu and Kitgum Districts. The main argument is that Uganda’s Nubians have always been regarded as strangers by the people among whom they settled. The author contends that the future of the Nubians in northern Uganda lies in their willingness and ability to assimilate and to be assimilated.