Reuben Stephen Anywar: An Acholi Intellectual and the Production of Knowledge in Colonial Acholiland

Abstract In a posthumous publication in 1954, seven years after his death, Reuben Anywar became the second Acholi to publish a book. Acoli ki Ker Megi was released one year after Lacito Okech’s Tekwaro ki Ker Lobo Acholi. Unlike Okech, who received little education, Anywar was among the first northern Ugandan graduates of Makerere College. He became one of the first Black teachers at the prestigious Gulu High School and was the founder and original editor of Acholi Magazine. By the mid-1940s, Anywar was arguably the most towering intellectual in northern Uganda. Yet, existing works overlook his significance in knowledge production. This article seeks to rectify this oversight.