OMUGGA (RIVER)
Silabanga mulungi ngagwe
Ompeweza nga empewo yo kumakya mumawugwe
Gwe atonyesa enkuba gwe ajimusa ebitoke
Gwe bajaja gwebanyumyangako nga osoba oyita mu Kyagwe paka Karagwe
And I like the way your edges sway
How your rhythm rises on the air
Making this East African landscape your dance floor
As a young boy kukyalo with both feet I fell in love with your depth
Like a light I followed you through the forest canopies where you crept to sleep
With butterflies and fireflies
I had to take a sip of your beauty
A queen from the land of kalo
You emerge from the high and bless the low
Rise and my people know it’s time to sow
Under the silver light you glow
Nasoka kukulaba Kasokoso nga ekubo limbuze
nkozesa kasso ndi mu ttosi ntya ebinoso
Omusana olwakukubako ho Nalinganga alabye malaika ali obwerere nga anabira
Wankuba eliso nenfa ekimyanso
Olwawenjula mukonzikonzi ne mpulira edobozzi lyo mukazi
Namugga
Intro poem translation
I have never seen anything as beautiful as you
You replenish me like a cold fresh morning breath when you fill my lungs
You are the reason it rains
You are the reason my plantains germinate and multiply into new buds
You are the one that my grandmothers used to whisper about
They told tales of how you moved gracefully through Kyagwe to Karagwe
And I like the way your edges sway
How your rhythm rises on the air
Making this East African landscape your dance floor
As a young boy in the village I fell in love with your depth
Like a light I followed you through the forest canopies where you crept to sleep
With butterflies and fireflies
I had to take a sip of your beauty
A queen from the land of millet
You emerge form the high and bless the low
Rise and my people know it’s time to sow
Under the silver light you glow
I was inspired the first time I saw you was in Kasokoso
I had lost my tracks in the muddy waters
I was scared I didn’t know my directions
And I was mortified of the slugs but kept on moving
That is when I saw a reflection coming off of you
It felt like I was seeing an angel bathing naked in the rain
You looked at me with a smile and I saw a reflection of the divine
All worth it when I waved away the blades of the tall grass
Just to see you and to hear your ethereal voice
Spirit of the River
Hey hey ah
Bamuyita Namugga simwana wa mugaga
Mukwateko kube olugga nkulope ewo muganga
Atambula akaga atambula nga mugga
Nalimbukibira nga njiga nankona kukibegabega
Nakyuka ne magamaga nndaba Namugga
Verse 1 translation
They call her Namugga she doesn’t come from wealth but
Don’t you dare try to harm her I will fight you to protect her
She walks with a gait and flow
She walks like a river
One day I was on a hunt in the forest
When I felt a touch on my shoulder and when I turned around
There she was in all her beauty
Namugga (Spirit of the river)
She came up from Jinja floating on a breeze
Free like a river flowing to the sea
Let me drink from you river
Aseyeya nga kiyira akulukuta nga Sezibwa asoba nga Katonga bwemba Nyanja ono ye mugga Namugga
Chant translation
She moves calmly like the Nile, flows like the tributaries of Sezibwa, creeps like the streams of Katonga, like a lake she replenishes me Spirit of the river/Namuga
Let me drink from you river
Aseyeya nga kiyira akulukuta nga ssezibwa asoba nga katonga bwemba Nyanja ono ye mugga Namugga
She came up from Jinja floating on a breeze
Free like a river flowing to the sea
Let me drink from you river
Namugga muvanvu Namugga muteffu namuga musilifu muyonjo akwata no luffu
(Namuga is long, Namugga is calm, Namugga is peaceful so clean like morning dew)
Let me drink from you river
Namugga muvanvu Namugga muteffu namuga musilifu muyonjo akwata no luffu
(Namuga is long, Namugga is calm, Namugga is peaceful so clean like morning dew)
In the moonlight side to side we sway
Together your current overtaking me
Your beauty a waterfall of peace
Wash over me river
She came up from Jinja floating on a breeze
Free like a river flowing to the sea
Let me drink from you river
Let me drink from you river
Let me drink from you river
Let me drink from you river