By George Murumba

15^th Aug 2011:

Right: Singer Chameleon at Kibuli Mosque on Friday

Jose Chameleon, Uganda’s top musician, has converted to Islam.  According to the moderator of the online forum Ugandans-at-Heart Mr. Abbey Semuwemba, Chameleon’s conversion to Islam “…has been received with mixed emotions among Ugandans”.

“…It has received more reaction than when former vice president Dr. Specioza Kazibwe, Jeje Odongo, and others converted to Islam”, Semuwemba added in an email to Uganda Correspondent.  Apparently, the hoarse-voiced “A” list Ugandan music star is now called Gaddafi Chameleon.

Richard Mukasa, a London based member of the same online forum said, “…religion is a kind of technology or invention which has been used to spellbind and captivate the minds of African people.  As such, African people have been made to be dependent on the thinking and creativity of Arabs and Europeans”.

According to Semuwemba, there are a lot of people who feel like Mukasa about religion because of either what is happening around the world or their past experiences.  “…I met a guy here [in the UK] who told me almost the same stuff as Mukasa.  He is devoted to our traditional African religion rather than the bible or the Quran”, Semuwemba said.

The forum moderator then asks an interesting question:  So why would some people think that because Islam was brought to Uganda by some Arab slave traders, it does not mean anything more than the African traditional religions we had before?  “…It has got to mean something to a lot of people who are not Arabs, and that is why it has got over a billion followers all over the world.  The same goes with Christianity and other religions”, he argues.

He also thinks what is disturbing Africans at the moment is the dominance of Western civilization over African values and yet it is claimed that civilization started from Africa.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.