Fourth Heritage Initiative launched to foster mindset change in Africa

The State Minister for Gender and Culture Peace Mutuuzo Monday evening at the Uganda National Culture Centre (National Theater) launched the ambitious Fourth Heritage Initiative, an organization that seeks to change the mindset of Africans.

The minister in her speech said mindset change has far-reaching effects on people’s lives and society including building self-esteem and spurring development. She explained that mindset change helps people’s well-being by changing their attitudes, norms, practices and behaviours.

“Mindset change helps build community capacities, assess their needs, identify options, and provide solutions,” the minister said, adding that the greatest day in a man’s life is when you discover your purpose in life.

“It is critically important that we begin nurturing ourselves and socializing for everybody to discover who they are in life and the purpose for existence. It is only then that you will be satisfied and even when you are called by the creator when you have fulfilled the purpose of your existence, you will have accomplished your work on earth,” the minister elaborated.

She said the world greatly needs such initiatives and called on young people to embrace the Initiative and fix the habitual six killer self-defeat mindsets which are Victimhood, Inferiority complex, Self-hatred, Herd mentality or group thinking, Copy-cat mentality and Elite dilemma.

She further encouraged the young people to learn from the mistakes their forefathers made and endeavour never to repeat them, and perhaps cherish what they did right. They did not destroy everything, there is a lot to look back at and start a life that is so fulfilling, she said.

The Fourth Heritage Initiative is the brainchild of Emmanuel Sunlight Kirunda, a Ugandan engineer and author living in the UK. It is inspired by books titled The Fourth Heritage and Beyond the Fourth Heritage that he authored.

In his speech, Kirunda who is the chairman of the Fourth Heritage Initiative said Africans can reawaken their minds and come out of the six killer mindsets and live to their full potential by being critical of their culture, religion and colonial past without feeling inferior to Europeans, Americans and Asians.

Kirunda explained that as an Initiative, they are going to engage young people in schools through critical writing competitions, music and dance, sports, reading and writing and entrepreneurship. Membership is open to the members of the public who are serious about a mindset change.

The engaging event that took place at National Theater had presentations from renowned actor Abbey Mukiibi, educationist Fagil Mandy and Dr Grace Baguma, a director at the National Curriculum Development Center.

In her lengthy presentation about the new curriculum and mindset change, Dr Baguma noted that there is a need to be cognizant of the three heritages that keep disorienting the African child.

These are foreign religions, western-based education and African tradition. These are areas of discussion that cripple the mindset, Dr Baguma said in her address.