Chief Tamale Bwoya in Remembrance

Dec 1

With heavy hearts and great sadness we share with you the news that Chief Tamale Bwoya of Uganda was killed in a motor accident on Nov. 17^th in Uganda. The Chief was much loved by all who knew him and an integral part of GPIW’s work. For many years he would travel with us to numerous global gatherings where he would generously share the voice of Nature, that came so naturally into his mindstream. An honored chief, and mentor to GPIW, his life greatly influenced this work.

Chief Tamale Joseph Bwoya was born in Uganda to a lineage of spiritual chiefs of the Ekima Clan. He was the Mugema Bwoya, or Grand Chief, of the Kingdom of Buganda. From an early age he was taken to the important cultural places of the land to be trained and educated for his future role, receiving instruction from some of the leading traditional healers and chiefs. Along with his colleague and close friend Dr. Sekagya Yehaya he helped found Prometra Uganda that provides educational programs on natural healing in a setting of forest schools, to date having trained more than 150 women as natural healers. He worked with policy makers on legislation to protect and promote traditional medicine and the indigenous healing systems of Uganda. Along with speaking at UNEP in Nairobi, and joining GPIW at several UN Climate summits, he has also contributed essays to the books ‘Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth’ and ‘Sacred Seed’. Under direct guidance from Nature he published his own writings in ‘Nature Speaks to Man: The Spiritual Wisdom of Africa. In this book he includes other revelations given by Nature. Like the Kogi of South America, the Chief had an ability to commune directly with the higher forces in Nature.

“Humans should learn to respect Nature and not to consider natural resources, or Earth’s gifts, as commodities to exploit for our own benefit. We should learn to produce what is enough for our needs. Anything produced in excess puts an extra burden on life."

Chief Tamale Bwoya, Kingdom of Buganda

GPIW first met Chief Tamale in 2012 at the Gallman Nature Conservancy in Kenya, founded by Kuki Gallmann, a verdant oasis teaming with wildlife. As we drove five hours from Nairobi to Ol Ari Nyiru in Laikipia, a gentle rain began to fall during a time of serious drought as the jeeps and minibuses reached the gate to the conservancy. Here we were to gather with 70 spiritual and religious leaders from around the world over several days. It was during the night after sharing stories around a fire, when all the tired travelers had retreated to their tents and accommodation, that Chief received a message. In the night he was awoken -- a screen opened before him and he was given a powerful message by a panel of judges representing all the races of the Earth. He was told to write it down and share this message with those gathered. This became known as the ‘Revelation at Laikipia’, which was published in Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth The message warned humanity to begin to restore Nature as we were in a perilous moment of choice and the destructive actions of humanity against Nature were being carefully recorded with a water scale, both the actions of care and those of disregard. Should this water scale tip to the harmful side, then all would dissolve and human life would end. Each year on the anniversary of this revelation, the Chief would retreat to the bush for several days of silent prayer in nature to ask for more guidance, sometimes bringing specific questions. During one retreat, after four days of prayer, Nature revealed that the greatest threat to life is not climate change, but genetic modification, stating that it is not the role of humanity to interfere with what the Creator has made in perfection and such experiments and actions would lead to disaster. Nature also revealed that in the future there would be an ecological evolution on the planet where new and refined values would be gifted to humanity so that life can continue and former ways of greed and hunger for power would diminish. He foresaw our current conflicts and division among humankind, and noted that these conflicts must be healed on the spiritual planes along with our human actions toward peace. It was the responsibility of the spiritual chiefs and religious leaders who were skilled in their spiritual ability to come together in circles to heal these through ceremony and forgiveness and if they did not do so they were neglecting the authentic duties entrusted to them.

Chief Tamale n Sekagya - ShinnyoEn Japan

Chief with Dr. Sekagya Yehaya in Tokyo at the Shinnyo-en Interfaith Conference, 2015

“I want to remind humankind that they were not created to praise the Creator only and to thank him for the gift of life and the beauty of His creation. But also, to fulfill the sacred duty and divine purpose of maintaining the wellbeing and harmonious function of life that He put into our hands. Humankind should abandon the culture of begging the Creator for the things He made provisions for in creation.”

--Chief Tamale Bwoya, Kingdom of Buganda

Meeting at Ol Ari Nyiru, Laikipia, Kenya, 2012

On Africa:

Chief Tamale held a deep love for Africa. In his book he writes of Africa as the “grander of continents because it had the capacity to revitalize other places on Earth whose ecological state and spiritual energies were weakened. He stressed the importance of safeguarding her ecosystems for they were vital to the survival and wellbeing of other continents. Africa holds a vast memory of the Earth in her spiritual traditions, and in its strong oral traditions whereby knowledge was passed down, unlike other continents dependent on written record keeping. Africa was not meant to copy what the other continents are producing, but instead to use its unique qualities in a way that is aligned with its natural potential. Africa can be a global leader as a food basket and a source of natural medicines.

With Africa’s loss of both human creativity, power and the wealth of natural resources that were taken, the African continent lost some of its life-giving values. The slave trade and colonialism brought about a great loss of energetic manpower and a great loss of the natural wealth of the land. The people were left vulnerable to being spiritually manipulated —losing also their natural and inherent core values that guided their lives. When this happens, cultures lose their identity and self-destiny and become the victims of foreign spiritual domination. The above factors have inflicted damage and hindered development on the continent.

Africa does not need to make cars or to compete in the nuclear arms race or to develop along European or Asian standards. Through media influence and a European education curriculum that is still taught in Africa, many Africans are taken with what they have been taught and then opt to live by the same standards. I believe this is a mistake because the people are not doing what they were created to do -- that which is aligned with their ecology. The question is then, who will do what Africa was created to do? These situations I have described have created a great ecological imbalance. Fewer ecological values are functioning while many are either suffocated or totally suppressed by foreign energies.

What can we do to rehabilitate Africa’s spiritual status that has a history of being so manipulated by slavery and colonialism? What will enable Africa to rise and for her imminent renaissance to flourish? “

From When Nature Speaks to Man: The Spiritual Wisdom of Africa