Incorrect Spellings

I remember from some of my teachers (God Bless them) who took me through the early days of formal education that it was important to spell names and places of people correctly when writing. Whether it was English or Luganda (which were taught simultaneously at the time), the teachers always placed a lot of emphasis on ensuring that the spelling of what we were writing was correct. It is through these lessons that I got to learn the basic rules of spelling Luganda words. I remember that I learnt when to use a double consonant or double vowel in Luganda as early as 8years old and we always strived to write words depending on their pronunciation. That is why it was very confusing to me to read a word that sounds like ‘Entebe’ in the official name of our one and only international airport written as ‘Entebbe’. I have since learnt that this was a mistake made very early on by the colonialists in the official documents and no effort was ever made to correct it. I know that we as a country are not very good at keeping records but I am sure that by misspelling the name of a location, we lose any history and culture that may be associated with that name. It is for this reason that I abhor any continued incorrect spellings in official documents and print media. It is not unusual to see Lubaga spelt as Rubaga, Nateete spelt as Natete or Buddo spelt as Budo. I think that the print media has a duty to inform as much as educate and keep a proper record of our story. I am sure that 100 years down the line, those living will be unable to explain the origins of the word Budo, yet there is a very meaningful story and cultural attachment to the word ‘Buddo'.

Finally, in some cultures it is considered a sign of disrespect to continually misspell someone’s name. In one of the articles in a local newspaper, the name Musaazi is consistently spelt as Musazi just like I have seen Mukiibi spelt as Mukibi. I feel offended when I correctly fill official forms like I did a few years back for a utility service, only for the bill to be sent to me with a wrong spelling of my name.

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