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Kenya
Kenyan Senate Speaker Amason Kingi joins Uganda's Ateker Festival, uniting Itesot, Turkana, Karamajong, and more
Bahati shalom
Nov 27, 2024
The Speaker of the Kenyan Senate, Amason Kingi
The Speaker of the Kenyan Senate, Amason Kingi, is in Uganda for the Ateker Festival, which is the first event of this kind in the region. He was welcomed by Uganda’s Local Government Minister, Raphael Magyezi, and State Minister Balaam Barugahara.
Magyezi mentioned that after the festival opens on Wednesday, Kingi will address the Legal Society on Thursday morning and later meet President Yoweri Museveni.
"The event is big, and I think it could be the first of its nature for the Ateker community, the Itesot, not just those in Uganda, but the global Itesot community. Actually, it's not Itesot only. Ateker are made of the Karamajong; we have the Koth on the side of Kenya, Turkana, the Pokoti, and the Itesot. From South Sudan, we have the Togosi, and Ethiopia, we have the Lendire and the Togosi," Magyezi said.
Kingi, who arrived with his wife and two senators, said the festival aims to bring the Ateker communities together. He hopes similar events will be held in other countries where Ateker people live.
The three-day festival will host leaders from countries where Ateker dialects are spoken, such as South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Uganda.
The Ateker people are believed to have originated from present-day Djibouti and now include groups like the Nyangatom in Ethiopia, the Topotha in South Sudan, the Masai and Turkana in Kenya, the Karimojong and Itesot in Uganda and Kenya, and the Masai in Tanzania.
