Comment
Wars have harmed Africa, but have led to a great genetic mix
Posted Monday, October 26 2009 at 00:00
The factor that is most responsible for intermarriage between Ugandans and Kenyans (excluding those who live at the borders) is Amin.
Thousands of Ugandans, including a large chunk of its elite, many with their families, fled to Kenya in exile.
They created a new pool of eligible young men and women, who married locally.
This may sound cold-hearted, but because it is happening all over Africa, I would argue that refugees and displaced persons are dramatically improving Africa’s genetic pool by hooking up with the people in the societies where they have taken refuge.
It is striking to me just how many people have Ugandan names, and how many Kenyans I know who travel to remote parts of Uganda to visit grandparents, elderly aunts and uncles.
When you marry someone from a town or village that you had never heard of before you met him or her, then you have taken a big step toward becoming a global citizen. Not a bad thing.
Charles Onyango-Obbo is executive editor of the Nation Media Group’s Africa Media Division. E-mail: cobbo@nation.co.ke
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You said it, your story is incredibly cold-hearted! I'm a Kenyan who is about to get married to a Ugandan yet we did not need one of us to be a refugee as a prerequisite for us hooking up. You do many great articles but this is definitely not one of them.
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