By Bill Dan Arnold Borodi
Uganda Christian University (UCU) Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi has urged governments, scholars and technology developers to use artificial intelligence (AI) to preserve Africa’s oral traditions rather than replace them.
Delivering his inaugural professorial lecture titled “A Historiography of Orature and Media Culture for Young People in Uganda”, Prof. Mushengyezi said AI and other digital technologies should complement indigenous knowledge systems while safeguarding the cultural values embedded in oral traditions.
“The mediation of modern technology does not mean that oral communication as a process of information exchange has stopped. Orature is still one of the ways human beings communicate, whether at home or even on social media,” he said.
He said digital technologies are essential for preserving oral traditions as the custodians of indigenous knowledge age, but cautioned that AI cannot fully capture the context, language and performance that define oral heritage.
“The question is whether every aspect of the oral performance context may be reproduced through transcription, translation and digital manipulation using tools such as artificial intelligence,” he said.
Mushengyezi also called for increased investment in local language publishing and digital preservation to ensure African stories and knowledge are passed on to future generations.
Closing the lecture, UCU Council Chairperson Rt. Rev. Prof. Alfred Olwa said the future of Uganda and Africa would depend on preserving and creatively reimagining indigenous intellectual and cultural resources.
“When people lose their stories, they gradually lose their identity,” Olwa said, adding that universities should produce graduates who combine academic excellence with moral leadership.
Jimmy Sisyasa, a Master’s graduate in Strategic Communication, working with UCU’s Communications department, said the lecture highlighted the need for traditional communication systems and emerging technologies to complement each other.
“The old and the new need each other. Traditional communication offers the structures that should guide how we use new media and artificial intelligence,” he said.
The lecture that was held at Nkoyoyo Hall was the fourth professional lecture at UCU. Prof. Mushengyezi is a literature and communication scholar; has published extensively on storytelling, indigenous knowledge and youth media; and has led research initiatives aimed at strengthening scholarship and innovation.
