Lango
From Free net encyclopedia
- This article is about Lango people of Uganda.
For Lango of Sudan, or other meanings of Lango on Langi(redirects here), see Lango (disambiguation).
The Lango (plural Langi) people live in the central area of Uganda, north of Lake Kyoga. Lango Sub-region comprises of the districts of Lira and Apac. The Lango population is about 1.5 million according to the 2002 population census.
Their language, Leb Lango or Luo, is mutually intelligible with Acholi, Kumam and some other Luo languages of Uganda and Kenya.
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History
Lango speak a Western Nilotic (Luo) language like their northern neighbours, but share many cultural characteristics with their Ateker (Eastern Nilotic) neighbours to the east. Some anthropologists assert that they are part of a group that migrated from Ethiopia around 1600 A.D. and split into two branches, with one branch moving to present day Kenya to form the Kalenjin group and Maasai cluster. The other branch, called Ateker, migrated westwards and entered Uganda from the north-east. Ateker further split into four groups to form the Karamojong, Teso Kumam and Lango. The Lango migrated further to the west, and there they encountered the Acholi, who they pushed northwards from the northern part of Lake Kyoga. Through prolonged interaction with the Acholi, Lango lost their Eastern Nilotic language (Ateker) and took up a Western Nilotic language (Luo) spoken by their Acholi neighbours. Some historians contest that Lango are part of the Luo who migrated from Southern Sudan, and many Lango identify with the Luo, refuting the theory that they are Ateker.
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Politics and Violence
- Lango have often been victims of the volatile politics of Uganda. The first Ugandan prime minister and two time president, Milton Obote, is a Lango.
Idi Amin
- During the 1970s, state inspired violence by the Government of Idi Amin was used to decimate the elite of the Lango and their neighbours the Acholi.
Karamojong cattle raids
- Together with the Teso and Acholi, the Lango have often been victims of attacks by Karamojong cattle-rustlers.
Lord's Resistance Army
- The 19-year rebellion against the government of Uganda by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is behind a massive population displacement in this region. Rebels continue to attack camps for displaced people, burn homes, loot, abduct children, rape and kill, in a brutal campaign of violence.