Ugandan Proverbs and Sayings - Habari Web Directory and Community Portal

Ugandan Proverbs and Sayings from different communities/tribes around Uganda.

The people who steal your millet at night are often the same people who help you look for it the next morning.
Community/language of origin: Buganda
Country: Uganda
If a lizard decides to wear trousers, it should know where to put the tail.
Community/language of origin: Busoga
Country: Uganda
An eagle does not eat clouds, it still comes to the ground to feed.
Community/language of origin: Buganda
Country: Uganda
The who blows the pipe, controls the tune.
Community/language of origin: Buganda / Luganda
Country: Uganda
It takes more than a dye to change the color of an ocean.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
Don’t wait for the (baby) you’re to carry (on the back) to be stained with (mud) or (soil).
In original language: Koonoweka tokalinda kusaaba ttaka.
Community/language of origin: Buganda
Country: Uganda

The message in this proverb is that if it is likely that you’ll engage in a given situation, don’t wait for it to escalate to the point that it will “stain” (bring) you with “dirt” (predicaments); that always prepare for what you’re bound to handle, in other words. This, nevertheless, isn’t a conclusive decipher. Many more meanings are out there.
A good harvest does not grow with ease; the more diligent the farmer, the more bountiful the crop.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
Being a leader is a borrowed garment.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there.
In original language: Obusiru bw’omutwe bumenya bigere.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
If you don’t use your head well, you will always suffer with your feet.
Community/language of origin: Buganda/Luganda
Country: Uganda
A roaring lion kills no game.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Unknown
An axe can be sharp enough to cut down a tree but too blunt to cut off hair.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
The people who steal your millet at night, are often the same people who help you trace it the next morning.
Community/language of origin: Ankole
Country: Uganda
A wife is like an old cooking pot: you don’t let your friend keep it for you.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
A kraal that has produced one great bull will raise another.
In original language: Awakula ennume tewakula emu.
Community/language of origin: Buganda
Country: Uganda
Success is a ladder which cannot be climbed with your hands in your pockets.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
The one who pursues you shows you the way of escape.
In original language: Okugoba yeyakuwa ekubo.
Community/language of origin: Buganda
Country: Uganda
That which eats thorns knows how it chews them.
In original language: Akalya ammaggwa kekamanyi bwekagawuwutanya.
Community/language of origin: Buganda
Country: Uganda
A hunter who never shares his kill does not scream when a leopard attacks him.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
A dispute between an antelope and a wildebeest cannot be arbitrated by a hungry lion.
Community/language of origin: Bukedea / Teso
Country: Uganda
If the cooking stick gets broken, it does not spell the end of the cooking.
In original language: Kufunjika kwa muiko sio muishio wakupika.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
A bull that wants to die licks an axe.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
A stick is straightened while still young.
In original language: Akati kinikwa kakiri kabisa.
Community/language of origin: Rukiga
Country: Uganda
Unity is strength!
In original language: Abayita ababiri bajjukanya
Community/language of origin: Buganda
Country: Uganda
Do not hunt what you cannot kill.
In original language: Toyiiga kyotaate.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
Mountains never meet, but people do.
Community/language of origin: Manafa district/Lumasaba language
Country: Uganda
Flies and maggots have never respected the coffins of dead kings
In original language: Tsisame ni tsinyende sitsabiratsakakho kimilambo kyebayinga ta.
Community/language of origin: Bugisu/Lugisu
Country: Uganda
Whatever God keeps for the poor person does not rot.
In original language: Kyaterekera omunaku tekyivunda.
Community/language of origin: Buganda/Luganda
Country: Uganda
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
In original language: Munno mukabi, ye munno ddala
Community/language of origin: Buganda/Luganda
Country: Uganda
The one whose leg you treat uses it to kick you.
Community/language of origin: Buganda/Luganda
Country: Uganda
Action speaks louder than words, sometimes
Interpretations or English equivalent:
Appearances can be deceiving; one may not need to display publicly one’s emotions.
In original language: Nasirika yena akunga o maye.
Community/language of origin: Lugwere
Country: Uganda
Bountiful yields of maize (corn) accrue to those without teeth.
Paraphrased as “Bountiful yields accrue to those without teeth” or “Those without teeth get the biggest yields”.
Interpretations or English equivalent:
It is those who have no use for something who get it. Luck comes to those who don’t need it.
In original language:
Byerera abataina maino (paraphrased form). Ebicooli byerera abataina maino (longer version).
Community/language of origin: Runyoro, Rutooro
Country: Uganda
A man farts from his home.
Interpretations or English equivalent:
If you must behave badly, then do it from your home, not in public.
In original language: Nyin’eka anyampira omuka ye.
Community/language of origin: Runyoro, Rutooro
Country: Uganda
Those who walk together warn each other.
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
When a branch of a shrub hits you in the eye, it is alerting you to be more vigilant.
In original language: Akati kukakuteera omuriisho kati hweeza.
Community/language of origin: Ankore
Country: Uganda
Too many tongues spoil the broth.
In original language: Endimi nyingi itukuriza obushera.
Community/language of origin: Ankore
Country: Uganda
Appreciate the little you have before claiming for what you have not achieved.
In original language: Nyama ntono okayana eri mu nkwawa
Community/language of origin: Buganda
Country: Uganda
One by one makes a bundle.
In original language: Kamu kamu gwe muganda!
Community/language of origin: Buganda/Luganda
Country: Uganda
The hunter in pursuit of an elephant does not stop to throw stones at birds
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
The monkey also sweats only that the hair on it prevents one from seeing it
Community/language of origin: Unknown
Country: Uganda
You already have enough problems but you still get beaten.
In original language: Ekuba omunnaku tekya.
Community/language of origin: Buganda/Luganda
Country: Uganda

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