UK-based Ugandan author seeks to awaken Africa through mindset shift
By Moses Oketayot
Emmanuel Kirunda; the author of the books Fourth Heritage and Beyond the Fourth Heritage, is a civil engineer by profession who points out in his book that Africa’s problem stems from six killer mindsets which include; victimization of post-colonial influence, inferiority complex by which Africans feel inferior to Europeans and Asians, self-hatred by which Africans hate each other and want to embrace foreign cultures, herdism, copycat; whereby we Africans want to consume foreign ideas and things, and the sixth killer mindset is the elite dilemma that the more educated Africans are, the more disconnected they are from their traditional roots.
Emmanuel Kirunda showing his British and Ugandan version of the Fourth Heritage books he authored
Kirunda says the elite dilemma is something that will take a few years to resolve. He further says that it is a psychological limitation that leads to the development of cognitive dissonance and confusion between embracing our own cultures and values or Western culture.
It was from the two books that Kirunda and his partners came up with the idea of forming an organization that will spearhead a change in mindset among Africans so that they can become better versions of themselves. The fourth heritage initiative will be officially launched on Monday 12e September 2022 at the Uganda National Cultural Center in Kampala (UNCC).
Kirunda says the mission of the initiative is to be a leading mindset transformation organization in Africa. He added that God has given everyone the right to criticize their religion, culture and colonial influence, which in the long run influences how we think and how we do the things we do.
Charles Batambuze of National Book Trust Uganda Executive Secretary says Kirunda’s two books make a good read and encourage the public to read it so that they can improve their mindset and perspective on different issues in society . He encourages Ugandans with good ideas to put them on paper in writing so that others can also benefit.
Andrew Lwanga Ssebagala; the UNCC’s production manager says they chose to partner with the Fourth Heritage Initiative because the initiative is informed by books that inspired the organization’s formation.
The launch will be honored by experts including author Emmanuel Kirunda, Fagil Mandy; an educator, founder and director of the Organization, Dr. Grace Baguma; National Curriculum Development Executive Center and Abbey Mukiibi; renowned media personality and actor.
In 2021, Ugandans published 1,683 new books according to Mr Batambuze. But he says that’s still a long way off the 42 million people. He also said there were about 300 bookstores in the country.
The books cost between 30,000 and 80,000/= and are available in all major bookstores in the country.
There are 100 community libraries and 42 public libraries in Uganda, but the reading culture is still weak and much needs to be done in schools to improve the reading culture. At the end of the day, remember that what you read has a big impact on what you do as a person, and all great world leaders are great readers.
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