Recently, I was attending an all-African gathering where it was quite easy to identify the countries of origin of a few of the participants from their attire.

A few times, I was mistaken for a Kenyan for a number of reasons, notably hanging around my Kenyan sisters working in the civil society like myself. But most strikingly was the great disparity between what member states perceived as key priority areas to accelerate development, and what citizen-led organizations considered areas to address.

One of the reasons for the disparity advanced by one of the senior policymakers was that citizens and their organizations lack patriotism, and are agents of foreign interests. I am not going to delve into the accuracy of this statement. Nonetheless, it got me thinking seriously as to whether we, as parents, have a role to play in seeking to instill patriotism in our children.

One would argue that group loyalty is a natural human inclination, and that we should not be obsessed with trying to ‘instill’ patriotism in us. Uganda’s lawmakers at some point questioned why the government was spending much money on teaching patriotism to the youths. Of course, we need to distinguish between patriotism, whitewashing our history and propaganda.

In the USA, for example, some states have enacted laws requiring recitation of the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ at least once every day in public schools. In doing so, there is a belief that government must take affirmative steps to condition citizens, via a steady flow of patriotic exercises, into the mental state of national allegiance.

From early childhood, Americans are inundated with messages of national greatness beyond ‘God Bless America’ – much more than citizens of other countries.

Patriotism has a role to play in making good citizens, building a sense of oneness and obligation to perform certain duties and responsibilities. It is love for a country that inspires, enlarges one’s sympathies and gives a sense of support and solidarity.

Some research shows that building a sense of patriotism in children will increase the odds that they will care enough about their country as adults. As parents, there are simple ways we can adopt as starting points towards instilling a sense of patriotism into our children.

Foremost is to deepen our children’s knowledge and understanding of national events like the Independence day beyond just knowing the date. An exploration of our unbiased history is equally critical towards building patriotism. Similarly, we can help our children unpack the significance of national emblems such as our national flag. 

As Ugandans, questions of our national dress code, language and values remain unresolved, yet they are fundamental. Our role as parents remains central in instilling a sense of patriotism that will lead to a deep love for Uganda, and a sense of belonging and a system that defines us.