Introduction
Although the Uganda Constitution converted Busoga’s Institution of Kyabazinga into a cultural institution, in the past it was not a cultural but political institution. The cultural institutions of Busoga existed long before the institution of Busoga.
When the Institution of Kyabazinga was innovated many centuries ago, it was from the time it was innovated supposed to perform political functions. Initially, as I will demonstrate, a Kyabazinga functioned as the speaker, directing discussions in the local parliament (Lukiiko), which was a political act.
However, during the Kyabazingaship of Sir William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope II, on his initiative, it transited into a ruling institution at a time when the British colonialists reconstructed Busoga to be a district of their evolving Protectorate of Uganda. It remained a district until the independence Uganda Constitution of 1962 converted it into the Territory of Busoga with semi-federal status. This was unlike Ankole, Buganda, Bunyoro and Toro, which retained their status as kingdoms with Omugabe, Kabaka, Omukama and Omukama respectively as their traditional rulers were titled with full political powers and authority to govern within their territorial boundaries in the new independent State of the Commonwealth Realm of Uganda.
When the Commonwealth Realm of Uganda is what became Uganda on the first anniversary of independence on October 9, 1962, with the kingdoms and the Territory of Busoga remained privileged in the Uganda Constitution 1962. They all suffered the same fate when Prime Minister Apollo Milton Obote erased their privileges by replacing the Uganda Constitution 1962 with the republican Uganda Constitution 1967.
When the new ruler of Uganda in 1986, then called Yoweri Museveni, then Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and now Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Museveni, captured the instruments of power after a five-year insurrection against the Obote and Tito Okello regimes, he looked as if he wanted to rule under the Uganda Constitution 1967. However, at the beginning of the 1990s, he initiated a new constitution-making process, under which 65 per cent of Ugandans wanted a federal system of government. But when his new constitution, Uganda Constitution 1995, emerged, it did not show that the choice of Ugandans as to how they wanted to be governed mattered in the new political dispensation he wanted.
To hoodwink Ugandans in the former kingdoms were valued by giving the impression that he was reintroducing kingdoms after saying he had not gone to the bush to bring kingdoms back, he inserted them and the Semi-federal Busoga in the Uganda Constitution 1995 as “Cultural Institutions without any political powers. His Constitution completely abolished the Ankole Kingdom, which he later explained by saying he was the Ssabagabe, which was meant to belittle the former kingdom that had the Omugabe.
So, the Institution of Kyabazinga was constitutionally reintroduced but without the political powers it had before to influence its subjects politically. Besides, it was to be a Kyabazinga that would depend entirely on the Central government for sustenance and maintenance.
One thing must be mentioned. Ever since Busoga’s presidency was converted to Kyabazingaship in the colonial times, Kyabazinga succession conflicts (e.g. Mugabi, 2024) are more or less integral to the institution. This has meant Basoga spend more time and energy on forging disunity than unity. Development, transformation and progress of Busoga has been undermined by Kyabazingaship-related conflicts. At a time like this when Busoga needs to be more united than ever before in light of its vast wealth in gold and rare earth minerals (The Daily Monitor, 2013; The East African, 2022) to ensure they are exploited in the interest of Busoga and Basoga, it cannot be said Busoga can make the necessary decisions to make this happen. One can even ask: Of what ultimate use today is the institution of Kyabazinga if it cannot be central to ensuring that Busoga’s resources benefit Busoga first, Uganda next? Clearly, this is the time when Busoga would need to have a politically empowered Kyabazinga, but alas! As if the rulers knew how naturally endowed Busoga and how powerful it would be with underground resources, the designers of the Uganda Constitution 1995 invested all political decision-making powers in the President of Uganda. He is the one to decide what Busoga gets or does not get.
Kyabazinga today
Today the Kyabazinga of Busoga is cast as a cultural ruler and sometimes as a king of a kingdom called Busoga Kingdom. Ever since the Kyabazinga was converted into an elected office, it has been a hotly politically contested post, but in practice it remains what it was meant to be: a political post. Or else politicians at the centre have used it and misused it to achieve their political designs on and in Busoga. For example, when President Tibuhaburwa Museveni wanted to destroy Bujagali Falls for electricity, he used Kyabazinga Henry Muloki to say that building a dam at the falls would have no serious impact on the ecology, culture and spirituality of Busoga. Also, when he wanted to degrade the institution and depict it as subordinate to the centre, he appointed the Kyabazinga as an ambassador in 2017 as I will re-emphasise later in this treatise.
The Kyabazinga is also called Isebantu, which means “father of the people”. This name was a symbol of unity derived from the expression and recognition by the people of Busoga that their leader was the “father of all people who brings all of them together”, and who also serves as their cultural leader. The wife of a Kyabazinga is called Inyhebantu or the mother of all Basoga. Kyabazinga, Isebantu and Inyhebantu were lifted from the Igaga Dynasty at Nnenda Hill, Busambira, Kigulu, which was established by the Nyoro Prince Byaruhanga Ndahura around 1233. The Kyabazinga was the equivalent of Katukiiro of Busoga and Katikiiro of Buganda today. So Kyabazinga was the Katukiiro of the ruler at Nnenda Hill, who was the one referred to as Isebantu while his wife was referred to as Inyhebantu.
By the time the British colonialists came to Nnenda Hill and signed, in 1879, the first colonial agreement in their evolving entity they later called the British Protectorate of Uganda, with the Kisambira the Kyabazinga witnessed the occasion.
Kyabazinga in the past
There was a time when ascension to the post of Kyabazinga was not a political contest but the result of an appointment by the ruler at Nnenda Hill in Busambira – the Kisambira – ruler at Nnenda Hill. When the colonialists undermined the power and authority at Nnenda by removing the Lukiiko (Parliament) and transferring it to Butaleja in Bunyhole, which was not in Busoga then and converting Kyabazinga to president and making Semei Kakungulu, the foreigner from Koki, it became, or it was clear that the colonialists did not want a king-like institution to continue existing and manifesting itself in the east.
The desecration of a dynasty and conversion of Kyabazinga to president
Eventually the colonialists deprived the ruler at Nnenda of all power and authority at Nnenda Hill by transferring the seat of power to Bugembe Hill near Jinja. involving elections in the same fashion of orthodox politics. That was the time when a Kyabazinga was more or less like the Katikiiro of Buganda doing everything for the king of Busoga the same way the Katikiiro of Buganda has done for centuries. Cohen, D.W (1968), wrote about the Chwezi cult at Nnenda Hill. Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura who established the Igaga dynasty at Nnenda Hill belonged to the Igaga clan of Bunyoro. The clan was of Chwezi cult. It is clear the Chwezi, at one time captured the instruments of power in Bunyoro-Kitara when they arrived from Ethiopia. Apart from traditionally being nomadic pastoralists putting cow first and people next, they loved power and authority.
Therefore, the first evidence of this was in Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom. It is, therefore, not surprising, that today, there is talk of the Hima and Tutsi, the descendants of the Chwezi, are being accused of arming themselves to the teeth and sowing seeds of violence in East and Africa, with Uganda as the human and natural resource base, to create a Hima-Tutsi empire, probably bigger than the ancient Bunyoro-Kitara Empire.
Chwezi were a people associated with immigrants from Ethiopia who, when they arrived, in Bunyoro were called Bahuma because when they sang, they hummed like bees. They moved further down to Rwanda and Burundi where they emerged as Batutsi (Tutsi). They found Bantu people and established Kingdoms over them. While there was a back migration of Tutsi into Kigezi, the Tutsi moved farther down up to present day Namibia, where there are people who are very much nomadic pastoralists like the Hima of Uganda and their visitors, the Tutsi. Writers say Namibian nomadic pastoralists came from East Africa. Researchers need to establish if they were an offshoot of the Tutsi, Kalenjin, Kipsigis, Borana – the major nomadic pastoralists of East Africa – or the semi-nomadic pastoralists called Maasai, who live in Kenya and Tanzania.
One thing is true. When the Tutsi arrived in East Africa, they were linguistically assimilated by the Banyoro, the Bantu groups in Ankole and the Hutu of Rwanda and Burundi. When they experienced a back migration to Kigezi, they were linguistically assimilated by the Bakiga. This is why many uninformed writers have characterised them as Bantu. Recently, they have been very active casting themselves as Bantu, but Bantu are basically settled peoples who cultivate the land for a living. It is today when the people of nomadic pastoralist energy system are grabbing land everywhere that the Bantu are becoming secondarily nomadic but without cows.
In his well-researched unpublished treatise, “The Truth about Busoga Traditions, History and Culture” Taliyuwula, John W. (2013) writes:
“Prince Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura established the counties of Bugabula, Luuka, Bugweri, Bukooli, Busiki and Kigulu in 1230. Byaruhanga Ndahura installed his soldiers Gabula, Tabingwa, Menyha and Wakooli – all of Ngobi clan – as chiefs for Bugabula, Luuka, Bugweri and Bukooli respectively. However, for Busiki he installed his brother-in-law, Kisiki, whose clan I have not been able to establish. Later, as he was going back to Hoima, the seat of power of the powerful Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom, he established the county of Buzaaya and gave it to another soldier to rule, whose name was Muzaaya.” Later it transpired that he had developed the idea of establishing a kingdom of Busoga, with headquarters at Nnenda Hill, Busambira, Kigulu County, which he did in 1233 when he installed his infant son, he had begot with a beautiful girl the indigenous Basoga gave him as a gift for visiting their area, as King of Busoga, Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura I. For this reason, he did not install a county chief for Kigulu county because that would mean having two bulls in the same kraal”.
When Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura established the counties there could have been other chiefdoms in the area he called Busoga. By the time the British colonialists arrived at Nnenda, Luuka had two small chiefdoms which had stood the test of time: Bugonza of Gonza (Afunaduula-Ovuma, pers. comm) and Bunafu of Womunafu (Cohen, 1977). The Tabingwa of Luuka waged wars against Gonza and Womunafu using soldiers of the Mulawa clan, subdued them and integrated them into his expansive chiefdom. I never established the Tabingwa who integrated the subdued small chiefdoms in Luuka Chiefdom.
There was also the small chiefdom, Bunyha, whose ruler was called the Luba. That had stood the test of time. In fact, the Luba whose name I have not been able to establish for this article is recorded as having ordered the killing of an early British Christian Missionary, Dr Livingston, following a lingual misunderstanding between him and the Kabaka of Buganda. History records that when Livingston arrived in Bunyha, the Luba sought counsel from the Kabaka of Buganda as to what he should do with the foreigner. Some history recorders say the Kabaka told the Luba that Livingstone should be released (mute) but the Luba thought the Kabaka said kill him (mutte). As we shall see later the small chiefdom survived and the British colonialists raised it to the list of their 11 hereditary counties.
Back to Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura. Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura decided to stay on until his son was two years old. He then summoned all the chiefs he had erected to come to Nnenda. When the chiefs arrived, he told them that he had invited them to tell them that he had decided that the area over which they were ruling would now be called Busoga. He decided on the name because there was a lot of castor oil plant, which is called mukakale in Lusoga and kisogasoga in Lunyoro. Wamara Byaruhanga Ndaura 1 of Bunyoro added:
“From now on this area will be a kingdom and its seat of power will be at Nnenda in Busambira. My son Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura I will be the first king and he will be called Isebantu of Busoga and when he gets married, his wife will be called Inyhebantu of Busoga. Your chiefdoms will henceforth be hereditary, and you the chiefs will be regents to the young king until the king is old enough to take full charge. Kigulu County is the host to the king. It will neither be hereditary nor have a chief. There will be a Prime Minister (Kyabazinga) to the throne who will be Ssaza chief of Kigulu while he is Prime Minister. From now on, as I said, your counties will be hereditary and you will, therefore, be royals in your counties. However, the royals of Busoga will come from the Igaga clan”.
Early colonial writers were not interested in researching on the early Busoga history, yet being at the confluence of waters from all corners of the Great Lakes Region meant that some ancient civilisation, perhaps more ancient than the Egyptian civilisation, must have existed in the area existed. In fact, one writer, Harry Johnston (1902), who wrote a lot about Buganda, did not distinguish Basoga from Baganda. He thought that what he wrote about Baganda automatically applied to Basoga because he saw them very similar in build and complexion. Many colonial writers simply did casual research on the Basoga.
Africans who wrote about Busoga after the early colonial never critically questioned why a people at the confluence of waters and source of the Nile lacked ancient history. The earliest African writers on Busoga were Yekoniya Kaira Lubogo (1938; 2020) and Goomotoka (1926). Apparently, Yekoniya Kaira Lubogo, a soil scientist by training and profession, subsequently, in 1962, got an honour from Queen Elizabeth of England for excellent public service to the British Empire in East Africa to mark her birthday. This is recorded in Supplement to the London Gazette, June 2, 1962. Possibly one day the Kyabazinga of Busoga will honour him, or he has, posthumously for pioneering the writing of the history of the once powerful entity in Uganda, or, if not, for breaking the racial barrier to become Jinja’s first African mayor in 1961.until 1962.
In his “The History of Busoga”, which is a review of Professor David William Cohen’s (1977) book Womunafu’s Bunafu: A Study of Authority in a Nineteenth Century African Community published by Princeton University Press, Professor F.B. Nayenga decried the paucity of historical accounts on ancient Busoga, although Busoga attracted scholarly attention as early as the 1930s. In fact, Yekoniya Kaira Lubogo gave his own account of the history of Busoga in a book he wrote in Luganda from 1921 to 1938, but as I say elsewhere in this treatise, it contains distortions and leaves out a lot to be desired like many books and theses by Basoga writers that came after him.
Professor Batala-Nayenga records that it was not until the early 1970s that historians seriously became active in Busoga. This reflected the then reigning European attitude that Busoga did not exist, or as I state above, it was overshadowed by the more powerful kingdoms of Bunyoro-Kitara and Buganda. Professor Nayenga acknowledges that some colonialists gave attention to Busoga, but their impression of the area was guided by the erroneous view of the Basoga being similar to Baganda in physique, manners and customs. He criticised the perpetuated fiction of treating Busoga as an appendage of Buganda, which meant that all mental energy was concentrated on Buganda to the disadvantage of Busoga. This fiction gave room to immigrants with vested interests to write about Busoga in ways that reflected their own interests. Indeed, no foreigner helps you more than he or she helps himself or herself.
This account reaffirms the truism that by the time the white people came to Busoga there was a kingdom with its headquarters at Nnenda in Busambira, Kigulu constructed by the Chwezi Igaga clan. It was very influential and both Bunyoro and Buganda competed for favours and support from it. At other times the rulers at Nnenda would seek the king of Buganda to provide them with military help to solve their internal conflicts militarily. Fighting for power between princes was common.
The Baise Igaga are, thus, the true descendants of Prince Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura. At the time Prince Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura came to Busoga, the Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara extended up to Karagwe in northern Tanzania, and Waga in the Congo, and was being ruled by the Chwezi the ancestors of present-day Hima and Tutsi.
It was at Nnenda Hill that the first colonial agreement between the invasive Whites was signed with the traditional rulers in the area the colonialists were set to build as the British Protectorate of Uganda. It is acknowledged in many books on the history of Uganda that the first colonial agreement between the new occupiers and any local power was indeed executed between the ruler at Nnenda Hill in 1879 and the colonialists. Several of the colonial governors such as Andrew Cohen used to go to Nnenda Hill for advice from the ruler who was addressed as the Kisambira or Isebantu.
It is, therefore, of great historical and cultural significance to Busoga to restate the history around Nnenda Hill in the body politic of Busoga’s history.
The Basoga must collectively recognize the role of Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura in the history of Busoga and delegate a day for celebrating his unitary efforts in an otherwise disunited area. Apparently, although the headquarters of the Igaga dynasty at Nnenda Hill has been defiled and desecrated by today’s politicians who want everything to themselves, the throne of the Isebantu and the place that used to be the meeting ground for the Isebantu’s Parliament are still recogniseable in the palace on Nnenda Hill. Those who have worked over the years to obliterate the Nnenda Hill hereditary politics cannot explain how those structures came about. At best they will say no power and authority of that nature existed in Busoga. They will acknowledge the existence of the ancient counties but will not acknowledge that Byaruhanga Ndahura created them for his political designs on Busoga. They will not even ascribe the origin of the name Busoga to him although they will agree that a people called Soga existed.
The king who received the colonialists never suspected that his visitors from the east would eventually dismantle his power and authority. One thing is true. The Chwezi of Igaga clan were assimilated in the local communities traditionally and linguistically and intermarried with the locals.
Some of the kings on Nnenda Hill in Busambira, Kigulu were: Kisambira Busumwa, Kisambira Izizinga, Kisambira Lukakamwa and Kisambira Ntakambi Wabiwa Taliyuwula, who ruled up to 1936. Kisambira Kintu Bidiba, who was supposed to succeed Ntakambi, was poisoned and he died in May 1936 in Bugambo, Luuka, where he had sought refuge from the colonialists and he died. His grave is still there and unrecognised by the institution of Kyabazinga, which, in 1935, succeeded the institution of president created by the colonialists in the late 19th century to rival the authority at Nnenda Hill.
I have already told you that the colonialists created the institution and installed the militarist from Koki, Semei Kakungulu, not only to do what Isebantu’s Kyabazinga used to do for the ruler on Nnenda Hill – chairing the parliament (Lukiiko) – but also to constitute the local administration for colonial Busoga. 1935 is when Semei Kakungulu stepped down as President and the hereditary Chiefs recommended to the colonial authority that Eriakesi Zibondo Wako of Bulamogi succeeded him. And that was the end of the Chwezi dynasty in Busoga, never to rise again.
So, Zibondo Wako was the first person in Busoga to assume the presidency of the Lukiiko on the recommendation of the hereditary chiefs who saw the post as below their dignity. The story goes that Bulamogi and Bukono were not by then recognized by the hereditary chiefs as royal. And Zibondo as leader of Bulamogi, was not even a member of the Lukiiko, which only the hereditary rulers constituted. They sent an emissary to Kaliro to tell Zibondo to quickly go to Bugembe, the new colonial administration headquarters. He did on his British-made BSA motorcycle. On arrival there he was given the news that the council of hereditary rulers (plus some colonials) had decided that he takes over from Semei Kakungulu as the new president of the Lukiiko. Wako Zibondo thanked the chiefs and the colonial administration for the trust put in him and took the seat from Semei Kakungulu. But not before he made a speech.
Kakungulu thanked the hereditary chiefs for their cooperation with him and for participating in bringing Busoga under one administration. He thanked the colonial administration for the trust and support it had put in him and asked that his successor is given the same trust and support. He was happy that he had committed all his time and energy to making Busoga, not only united and conflict free, but also productive. He was referring to cotton, coffee and sugarcane. He also thanked the hereditary chiefs for accepting the poll tax, which he said would go a long way to support the self-sustenance of Busoga. He then left the seat for the new President.
The following year, the hereditary rulers proposed that the title president be changed to Kyabazinga, which was approved by the colonials. Wako Zibondo thus became the first Kyabazinga. However, soon Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope II, the hereditary chief of Bugabula, developed interest in becoming the Kyabazinga. He mobilised the other hereditary chiefs to elect him to the post. He was, but soon left for Burma to fight in World War II against the Japanese on the side of the British. That war began in 1939. Wako Zibondo, the first ever ruler of Bulamogi, was Kyabazinga from 1939-1949 (see the table below). He was elected by the hereditary chiefs who constituted the Lukiiko in which there were colonials as well. He was replaced by William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope in 1949.
It was Nadiope who created the post of Katukiiro and freed Kyabazinga from chairing the Lukiiko, thereby turning the institution into a political “ruling institution”. He also created the post of speaker to chair the Lukiiko, a role previously played by Kyabazinga. He borrowed the title Katikiiro from Buganda but changed it to Katukiiro”. The Katukiiro did most of the political and administrative work for the Kyabazinga. Therefore, although Busoga was only a district of the evolving British Protectorate of Uganda, there was adequate political power in the institution of Kyabazinga, in the Katukiiro and speaker to make alternative policies and decisions apart from the district commissioner in Jinja and provincial commissioner in Mbale who were still whites.
Nadiope tried to make Kyabazingaship hereditary instead of elective, but his efforts were equally opposed, especially by Bulamogi and Bukono. Therefore, one perennial feature of Kyabazinga was that it persisted as a politically elective post that was supposed to do political work for the colonial administration. There was no aura of royalty about it. Making the post of Kyabazinga elective made it vulnerable to political conflicts. Traditionally and historically the political conflicts have been perpetuated between Bulamogi and Bugabula – the two counties that continue to produce Kyabazingas. This is true even today.
When the National Resistance Movement (NRM/A) drafted the Uganda Constitution 1995,the institution of Kyabazinga was converted the post into a cultural institution. The constitution deprived the Kyabazinga of any political power and authority and transferred them to the president of Uganda office. It can no longer raise taxes, decide politically to undertake any development activities or use Busoga’s rich underground resources such as gold and the rare earth minerals to develop and transform the area and enhance the prosperity of the people of Busoga.
Kyabazinga-related conflicts
The worst political conflicts between contestants for the post of Kyabazinga were those involving Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope II and Wako Muloki in 1949 and 1955, between Wako Muloki and Gabula Nadiope II in 1962 when the institution of Kyabazinga was still adequately political; and between Gabula Nadiope IV, Prince Eriakesi Kategaya Ngobi and Muloki in 1995; and between Nadiope IV, Wambuzi Zibondo and Eriakesi Kategaya Ngobi between 2008 and 2014 when President Tibuhaburwa Museveni introduced in the Uganda Constitution 1995 what he called Cultural Institutions, thereby creating confusion between the actual traditional cultural institutions and the politically imposed culturalism of the institution of Kyabazinga. The Kyabazinga now has a minister of culture who manifests as if he is the head of all the traditional cultural institutions of the clans of Busoga. Traditionally, Busoga’s spiritual and cultural institutions manifested separately from the political institution of Kyabazinga.
The chiefdom of Bunhya made history in October 2008 when its hereditary Chief Luba Erifazi Namyosi Byansi Mukajjanga announced that his chiefdom had become independent (Mukyala, 2008). He said Bunyha would not participate in the electoral process to raise a new Kyabazinga and that his chiefdom would, therefore, not recognise the new Kyabazinga. He was annoyed when he was chased from the meeting of Busoga’s 11 hereditary chiefs from their council at Bugembe, but his rival, Counsel Juma Munuulo, was allowed to attend the meeting instead of him. Mukajjanga’s action caused the politics around the selection of a Kyabazinga to become murky when the rest of the chiefs accepted Juma Munulo as the right chief to represent Bunyha to the Council of Chiefs.
The response of the Bunyha Chiefdom royal council was unanimously to approve the Chiefdom’s secession from Busoga “Kingdom”. However, the Council of Busoga’s hereditary Chiefs went on to elect Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope IV as the post-Muloki Kyabazinga of Busoga in 2014 after wrangles in Court with the Chief of Bulamogi, Connelius Wambuzi Zibondo, a son of former Kyabazinga, Henry Wako Muloki. Nadiope started to reign on 23 August 2014 amidst protests from the Wambuzi camp.
All the same, it has not been smooth-sailing for Kyabazinga Gabula Nadiope IV. On January 12, 2022, six out of the 11 chiefs of Busoga convened in Iganga Municipality, Kigulu, and dethroned the Kyabazinga (Nakato and Kirunda, 2022). They gave the reasons for dethroning the Kyabazinga as failure to unite the chiefs; refusal to stay in the official palace at Igenge Hill; refusal to leave the throne after the mandatory five years; personalising kingdom properties; refusal to give the chiefdoms their royalties; increasingly becoming weaker in decision-making; and surrounding himself with people who steal official properties and advising him wrongly
The chiefs had earlier met on January 3, 2022 and resolved that Nadiope sets aside and is replaced by Wambuzi Wako Zibondo, the hereditary chief of Bulamogi with immediate effect. In the Iganga meeting the chiefs involved in the resolution to dethrone Nadiope were: Isiko Yokoniya Kawanguzi of Busiki, John Ntale of Bunyhole, Mukajjanga Luba of Bunyha, Okaali Musiitwa Muluya of Bukooli, Godfrey Mutyaba of Bukono and Banamwita Ayub of Butembe. The chiefs who distanced themselves from the political act to dethrone Nadiope were: Willington Nabwana Inyhensiko of Luuka, Nkuutu Samuel Zirabamuzaale of Bugweri, Patrick Izimba Gologolo of Kigulu, Gabula Nadiope of Bugabula and Wambuzi of Bulamogi. The Katikiiro of Busoga, Dr. Joseph Muvawala, who also manifests as the Executive Director of the National Planning Authorly (NPA) based in Kampala, reigned in the political conflict and pronounced the Chiefs who signed the petition to dethrone Nadiope illegal. He even threatened to resign if anyone provided evidence that said Chiefs were legally enthroned.
Interestingly Prince Wambuzi, the hereditary Chief of Bulamogi had in 2020 broken all political barrier to visit his nemesis, Gabula Nadiope, at his Chiefly home in Budhuba, Kamuli, Bugabula, It gave a ray of hope that the now traditional political differences between Bugabula and Bulamogi and the hostilities thereof would be no more. The hostility had been made worse when the Busoga Lukiiko amended the Constitution of Busoga for Gabula to rule for life. However, the Kyabazinga’s wedding on November 18th 2023, raised eyebrows when Prince Wambuzi Zibondo failed to turn up at Bugembe Cathedral at the after-wedding reception at the Kyabazinga’s Palace on Iganga Hill, Bugembe. The ray of hope that hostilities were no more diminished. However, as Mugabi (2024) the institution of Kyabazinga is internally prone with conflicts, and as I have opined elsewhere in this article the conflicts are due to the elective nature of the institution.
Table 1 below is a list of the people who have so far occupied the seat of Kyabazinga since colonial times. Ezekiel Tenywa Wako Zibondo was the First Chief of Bulamogi and when he died, he was replaced by his son, Henry Wako Muloki, as the Chief of Bulamogi. One cultural funeral practice about Balamogi is that when their chief dies, so many people come from Bugwere to attend the burial, and when the body is buried, it is made to face Bugwere, indicating the close historical and cultural link between Bulamogi and Bugwere. Zibondo of Bulamogi and Nkono of Bukono had their origins in Gogonya in Bugwere and, therefore, had great historical, cultural and biological connections with Bugwere than the rest of Busoga. There is strong evidence that the clans of Igaga and Ngobi, are not found in Bugwere.
Therefore, Zibondo and Nkono adopted them for convenience only. In fact, it is possible for a man in Bulamogi or Bukono to have two wives one belonging to Ngobi clan and another belonging to Igaga clan while he himself belongs either to Ngobi or Igaga clan. This explains why it is said that members of Ngobi and Igaga clans traditionally practice intra-clan incest. Like Busoga, Bugwere has many clans originating from different cultural groups. Besides many Basoga men marry women from Bugwere. Of the more than 80 clans of Bugwere, Igaga and Ngobi do not exist, which means when the members of Ngobi and Igaga clans came from Bunyoro, they never ventured into Bugwere. The royals of Bukono and Bulamogi say they belong simultaneously to Ngobi and Igaga clans.
My interest in researching into the clans of Bugwere to establish if there is any connection between the royals of Busoga and the clans of enabled me to learn which clans in Bugwere nurtured some of my good acquaintances (see Table 2). However, although the royals of Bulamogi and Bukono belong to the Musoko clans in Busoga, I did not see it among the many clans of Bugwere. If their ancestors came from Bugwere, then it must have been from different clan. The Bugwere would definitely know which clan produced our royals in Bukono and Bulamogi. Or else serious research is needed to establish which clan in Bugwere has similar traditions with the Musoko clan in Busoga.
Gulere Wambi’s (2011) brief “Clans of Busoga” excludes Musoko clan and many other clans of Busoga and includes very many I have never heard of. Some of the excluded Clans are given in Table 3. If you examine Table 3 you will quickly see which Clans are ignored by Gulere yet they all pay allegiance to the Kyabazinga.
Table 1: List of the Kyabazingas of Busoga since 1939
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RANK Name of Kyabazinga Period of Reign
1 Ezekiel Tenywa Wako Zibondo 1939-1949
2. William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope II 1949–1955
3. Henry Wako Muloki 1955–1962
4. William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope II 1962–1967
5. Henry Wako Muloki 1995–2008
6. William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope IV 2014 – present
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Therefore, the greatest impact of the rulers of Uganda between 1986 and the present has been the political penetration of the cultural and spiritual spaces of Busoga.
Table 2. Some Clans of Bugwere and representative Names Common in Busoga
Clan Some Common Gwere Names in Busoga.
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Bengoma Mubbala
Badeuke Maiso
Balude Mutono
Babulanga Kirya
Bakabweri Mwereza
Bagobya Kaali
Budaka Gwaku
Wasugirya Baikomba
Baloki Kiryapawo
Bukabolya Bulolo
Balumba Muwandiki
Banghole Mwanika
Bagema Mbulambago
Mbulakyalo Balabya
Bagemberi Muluga
Bafefe Guloba
Bawunga Talyankona
Bafukanyi Nabwali
Balala Wabwire
Bansaka Kisense
Banyolo Mugoda
Bakoolia Mugoya
Bagoye Nakibbe
Bakone Wakamba
Basuswa-Abampiti Kamiza
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Table 3. Clans of Busoga Excluded from the List published by Dr. Gulere Wambi.
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Ibaale Ibira Idhuba
Idhuba Idibya Iboki
Ighemba Ighemba Igulu
Ikaaba Ikandya Ikoba
Ikula Ikungula Iwemula
Irombe Iruba Irumba
Isanga Itamba Itamba
Itego Iwotwe Iwumbwe
Kabambe Kabira Kabuuza
Kibande Kibigu Kidhugu
Kadubuli Kagolo Kagongwe
Kaibale Kaima Kalenzi
Kaligyoko Kaikoko Kalimo
Kaluba Kantu Kaliro
Katandwe Katuba Kavule
Kayuza Kawunyhe Kayaga
Kinyhama Kinyhugu Kidoido
Kiranda Kirayi Kiruyi
Kirube Kiruli Kisendo
Kisige Kisikwe Kisita
Kisuyi Kitamwa Kitandwe
Kaziba Kazibwe Mpina
Kitodha Kiyuka Kizibu
Kyema Kyewe Lubanga
Lugonda Lwendo Mabiro
Madudu Madhi Madiba
Maganda Magaya Magobwe
Magumba Makere Makiika
Makole Maliga Matende
Mayandha Mayende Mayingo
Mbeya Mboira Mpupi
Menhya Mulungu Muluta
Mulwa Mulwa Mulwasira
Mulyaba Mulyanda Mumbya
Musambadha Munyha Munyhana
Musabi Musembya Musobya
Musoga MUSOOKO Musu
Musubo Mususwa Mutamba
Mutibwa Muvvu Muwamba
Muwanga Muwaya Muwemba
Muwoya Muyaga Muyagu
Muyakala Muyangu Muyimbo
Muyobo Mwandho Mwase
Mwebya Mwese Nawamwena
Naminyha Nanswale Nanyhumba
Ndase Ndhobya Ndholera
Mpumbi Mubaiti Mubandha
Mubiru Muboyo Mudoola
Mudope Muduki Mudwana
Mudyadyadya Mugaya Mufumba
Mugabo Mugabwe Muduuli
Mugalo Muganza Mugaya
Mugeere Mugogo Mugwano
Mugwere Muingwa Muizzi
Mukasa Mukaya Mukembo
Mukenge Mukoma Mukonzi
Mukose Mukoyo Mukubembe
Mukuve Mulabya Mulalaka
Mulamba Mulawa Mulemeri
Mukenga Mulinda Mulondo
Mululwe Mulumba Ndhego
Ngobi Nkambo Nkembwe
Nkumba Nkwalu Nkwanga
Nangwe Nsaano Nsereko
Ndhoka Nsuna Nsumba
Ntambi Nyhanzi Nyhikojjo
Toori Waguma Wakooli
Wanzu Ibeere Ibinga
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The spiritual space of Busoga was politically penetrated when President Tibuhaburwa Museveni bulldozed the construction of Bujagali Dam for hydropower. At Bujagali Falls, which used to be the point of convergence of all the traditional spiritual leaders under their leadership of their traditional spiritual archbishop called Bujagali Nabamba. Not only was the Bujagali Falls erased from the face of the earth, but also the spiritual value it represented. As I pointed out elsewhere in the article, the central government used the Kyabazinga of Busoga, Henry Wako Muloki, to give funders of the dam, especially the World Bank, the impression that it would not grossly negatively affect the spiritual value of the area.
The cultural space of Busoga was simultaneously politically penetrated by the construction of Bujagali Dam particularly because Busoga lost many indigenous plants of traditional-cultural- medicinal value when the ecological islands were submerged, along with the plants. Besides, the cultural value of the area as a global tourist cite was also submerged. Thus, there was no more cultural tourism since Bujagali Falls were no more by virtue of a presidential decision to have a dam instead of a people culturally and spiritually united via nature.
The centrality of President Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s government in the political contests between those who sought to occupy the seats of Kyabazinga were noticeable right from the time the government okayed, in 1994, the process of reinstating the institution. This more or less meant the start of fierce contest. I stated in this article that the contest was between Nadiope IV, Henry Wako Muloki and Eriakesi Kategaya Ngobi. Nadiope IV was the infant chief of Bugabula; Henry Wako Muloki was the perennial Chief of Bulamogi and Kiregeya was the prince of the colonially instituted Chiefdom of Kigulu. Two high-ranking members of the ruling party – the National Resistance Movement (NRM) – and members of its government in Kampala, were at the centre of the intense manoeuvring to ensure that the election of Kyabazinga did not fail.
Those politicians were Rebecca Kataga and Kirunda Kivejinja. A settlement was reached, with decision that Henry Wako Muloki became the first Kyabazinga since 1966 when Apollo Milton Obote abolished the post, along with the Kings of Ankole, Buganda, Bunyoro and Toro politically. However, Kiregeya insisted he was the rightful Kyabazinga. An agreement was ostensibly reached between Henry Wako Muloki and Kiregeya that if anything happened to Muloki and he was no more, Kiregeya would ascend to the throne.
I came to learn that in the process of the contestation, the regalia and the long list of the 38 Chwezi rulers at Nnenda was grabbed from the caretaker, Mzee Kisambira, who died some time back. According to the story, the regalia in a huge box were desecrated, with the then powerful NRM politician in Busoga, Bageya Nsolonkambwe, grabbing the white whisker for himself, the remaining regalia being taken to Busiki for hiding at a house of a one Kafuko, while the list of the rulers reportedly remained with Rebecca Kadaga. It is likely Wako Muloki started to rule without regalia because they did not belong to the institution of Kyabazinga but the collapsed power at Nnenda Hill, which is said to have received them from Bunyoro Kingdom when Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura started his reign at Nnenda in 1233.
When Henry Wako Muloki died in 2008 at the residence of Professor Waswa Balunywa, who briefly served as his Katikiiro, in Entebbe, a new conflict involving Nadiope IV, Wambuzi Zibondo and Kiregeya ensued. Kiregeya claimed in the agreement reached between him and Wako Muloki in the presence of Rebecca Kadaga and Kirunda Kivejinja, he was to ascend to the throne without much ado about nothing. However, it was not to be because he was soon thrown into Luzira Prison.
Meanwhile Wambuzi Zibondo for while actually sat on the throne because he and his people thought he was the rightful person to ascend to throne, ostensibly to succeed his father. Wambuzi Zibondo was constrained, and a process of installing Gabula Nadiope IV started. This time round even the then Vice President Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, was at the centre of the process together with Rebecca Kadaga and Kirunda Kivejinja. Wambuzi Zibondo rushed to court. Nadiope could not be installed until Wambui’s case was properly heard and a judicial decision made. When that came it was six years later it was in favour of infant Gabula Nadiope IV. He was installed in 2014 as the Kyabazinga of Busoga. Since he was too young to reign, most of the Kyabazinga duties were carried out by his Katikiiro. President Tibuhaburwa Museveni and the Kabaka of Buganda were among the regents for the new Kyabazinga.
The period between 2014 and 2023 was generally peaceful in Busoga under the reign of Gabula Nadiope IV. The Kyabazinga has indeed been a uniting factor and is respected by both young and old. !996 -1921 was a dark period due to electoral politics. Reportedly 28 people were killed by soldiers of President Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s Special Forces Unit in Kiyunga, Luuka Chiefdom, on November 18, 2020.
The aim was to prevent presidential candidate Ssentamu Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine, the leader of National Unity Party (NUP), from campaigning in what was considered a political stronghold for the president. The commander of the SFU was the president’s son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Because the Kyabazinga is constitutionally not allowed to participate in politics, he did not issue any statement condemning the killing of his subjects.
Between the period when Wako Muloki ascended to the throne and 2023 Busoga has been greatly politically bantustanised into numerous meaningless districts and constituencies, not so much to improve administrative efficiency and effectiveness as well as distribution of public services, as to enhance the electoral and political fortunes of the president and his ruling party. The creation of so many entities out of what during the colonial times used to be one district, has tended to usher in conflicts and disunity, making the influence of a politically deprived Kyabazinga institution sometimes ineffective.
The Kyabazinga finds himself ineffective when it comes to socioeconomic activities in his area of jurisdiction. Virtually all economic activities, which used to be the concern of the politically empowered Kyabazinga, are now initiated by the president of Uganda himself. Schemes such as Bonna Bagaggawale, Myooga, Parish Development Model and Operation Wealth Creation are all presidential initiatives in which the Kyabazinga has no role. It is as if they are political schemes disguised as economic as economic scheme. They target individuals, often members of NRM, instead of whole communities. So, while the Kyabazinga wants his people to be united and prosperous in their communities, the economic-political initiatives of President Tibuhaburwa Museveni are dividing his people using money bonanzas to individuals while miring the communities in dire poverty through official neglect and subversion to individuals. This is even eroding the culture of the Basoga, which the Uganda Constitution 1995 makes the only constituency for the Kyabazinga. As if this is not enough the Institution of Kyabazinga is entirely dependent on the central government for its survival.
It is under these imposed conditions from the centre that Busoga has been established to be the richest in gold and rare earth minerals in East and central Africa, and globally it is only challenged in this wealth by China and Canada. With the Kyabazinga being too politically disempowered and so socioeconomically dependent on the central government, it is difficult to see how Busoga can raise its voice and influence to demand a fair share of its mineral wealth. Yet it must. The time for Busoga just serving as a mine for votes for President Museveni and his party is gone. It is a new rich Busoga, which can use its wealth to develop and transform itself for the 21st century and beyond.
I have attempted to bring forth history, which is unknown to most Basoga and the world because those who wrote books about Busoga – the colonialists and the locals who had got educated in colonial knowledge – had their own interests to perpetuate by distorting or obliterating the area’s history. Some of what I have written here was told to me by my father, Charles Afunaduula-Ovuma, who was a councillor at Bugembe in the late 1950s and early 1960s representing Ikumbya Subcounty, and was elected the first post-independence speaker of the Lukiiko during the reign of Sir William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope II.
The colonialists wanted to establish their own hegemony over Busoga. They wanted the history of Busoga to start with themselves. The increasingly dominant people of Bukono and Bulamogi who were empowered by the white man’s education wanted to be central to Busoga’s history too. All of them wrote as if Busoga began to exist about 300 years ago; around the time Zibondo, Nkono and Nagwere migrated to the chiefdom of Busiki from Gogonya, in Bugwere, to seek refuge.
The one who did a lot to distort the history of Busoga was Y.K. Lubogo. He wrote his 446-page book The History of Busoga in Luganda between 1921 and 1938, but gave lip service the Igaga dynasty and its rule at Nnenda Hill. Born unofficially in 1869, Yekoniya Kaira Lubogo Esq, as he was called, was one of the first Africans to be educated by the colonialists, went to school at Kings College Budo became a soil scientist and finally the first African mayor of Jinja. A lot of the history of Busoga is recorded in his book, but the book ignored the history made by Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura in Busoga.
In deconstructing and reconstructing Busoga, the colonialists completely erased Buzaaya from the list of hereditary chiefdoms, amalgamating it with their own creation – Butembe of Ntembe. Parts of Buzaaya were transferred to Bugabula Chiefdom of Nadiope as the rest were made Butembe chiefdom. The Batembe are known to have migrated to Busoga from Buganda. I have not found out why they migrated to Busoga. Interestingly, the colonialists recognised Bukono and Bulamogi as counties of Busoga and characterised them as hereditary chiefdoms. They also created Bunyhole chiefdom after incorporating Bunyhole in Busoga and characterised it as a hereditary chiefdom. Likewise, the colonialists raised Bunyha, previously a small ancient chiefdom, just like Bugonza of Gonza and Bunafu of Womunafu in Luuka, to a hereditary chiefdoms of Busoga. They did not name Busoga a kingdom because they had earlier shown they did not want anything like a kingdom in the east but could tolerate chiefdoms under a political head called president, later changed to Kyabazinga.
This way the colonialists almost completely erased the history made by Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura by erecting new hereditary chiefdoms. So then, the repeatedly cited hereditary Chiefdoms of Busoga, according to colonial design, are Bugabula, Bugweri, Bukooli, Busiki, Kigulu and Luuka (established by Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura), Kigulu (which Byaruhanga Ndahura did not assign a hereditary chief because he did not want two bulls in the same Kraal – a hereditary chief and a king – in the same county) and Bukono, Bulamogi, Bunyha, Bunyhole and Butembe (established by the colonialists). Wamara Byaruhanga Ndahura’s Buzaaya hereditary chiefdom was completely erased from the face of the earth and parts of it were included in Bugabula and Butembe. Therefore, Busoga’s political history was shaped by precolonial Byaruhanga Ndahura and the colonial British occupiers.
In the 21st century, President Tibuhaburwa Museveni – the post-colonial ruler of Uganda for the last 38 years – has extended the political practice of Byaruhanga Ndahura and the British colonialists of creating small political entities in their multiplicity by creating new villages, parishes, sub-counties, counties, constituencies and districts.
According to the Uganda Electoral Commission created by President Tibuhaburwa Museveni, in 2023, Uganda as a whole had 146 districts, 312 counties, 2184 sub-counties, towns and municipalities, 10,595 parishes,70,626 villages, 353 constituencies and 34,344 polling stations. One could say that Uganda has become one of the most fragmented or bantustanised countries in the world, mainly for achievement of political aims and purposes of power retention. There is evidence that the fragmentation or bantustanisation of Uganda is not about to stop.
According to Busoga Heath Forum, there are 11 districts of Iganga, Jinja, Buyende, Luuka, Kamuli, Kaliro, Namutumba, Mayuge, Bugiri, Namilyango, and Bugweri in Busoga are composed of 73 Sub-Counties, 571 parishes, and 5659 villages – largely poverty stricken and disease burdened. The president, Tibuhaburwa Museveni, explained the fragmentation (bantustanisation) of Busoga by a simple political statement that the reason was to improve public services, administration and representation of the people at different levels of government. Busoga today is represented in parliament by 41 legislators (Mbago, 2023).
Table 2 below shows the more recent hereditary chiefs of except that of Buzaaya chiefdom, which was abolished by the colonialists in favour of Butembe that used to be integral to Buzaaya.
Table 2: List of Busoga’s Reconstituted Hereditary Chiefdoms and the Office Bearers
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Rank Chiefdom Title of Chief Name of Current Title Holder
1. Bugabula Gabula of Bugabula Gabula Nadiope IV – Current Kyabazinga
2. Bugweri Menyha of Bugweri Menyha Kakaire ZIrabamuzaale**
3. Bukooli Wakholi of Bukooli Kaunhe Wakholi***
4. Bukono Nkono of Bukono Kamaga Nkono
5 Bulamogi Zibondo of Bulamogi Wambuzi Zibondo
6. Bunyhole Nanhumba of Bunyhole Nkwocha Bukumunhye
7. Bunyha Luba of Bunyha Luba Munuulo
8. Busiki Kisiki of Busiki Isiko Kisiki
9. Butembe Ntembe of Butembe Waguma Ntembe
10. Kigulu Ngobi of Kigulu Isimba Gologolo Ngobi*
11. Luuka Tabingwa of Luuka Nabwana Tabingwa __
*The Chief of Kigulu indicated in this Table died of skin cancer on August 26, 2022 and was replaced by Chris Mudoola (some Kigulians protested saying he was not of the Ngobi Clan
**The Chief of Bugweri indicated in this Table died on August 16, 2016. The one who replaced him, Nkutu ZIrabamuzaale was dethroned April 27, 2021, ostensibly for occupying the throne illegally. Menyha ZIrabamuzaale, his elder brother was crowned instead.
*** The Chef of Bukooli indicated in the Table died in September 2016. Wakholi briefly assumed office as Kyabazinga in May 2014 until kingdom chiefs elected Nadiope IV. At the time, the Kyabazingaship was being contested between Nadiope and Columbus Wambuzi, a son and heir to former Kyabazinga Henry Wako Muloki who passed on in 2008.
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In one recent book “An Introduction to Lusoga Orthography” published by the Mpolyabigere RC –RICED Center Ltd, Wambi Gulere (2007) confuses the history of Busoga further. He gives He writes that Kisiki was a mwise Igaga who conquered Busiki. He includes Bukono of Nkono, Bulamogi of Zibondo, Bunhya of Luba/Nanhumba and Butembe of Ntembe among the ancient Chiefdoms of Busoga. Oweyegha-Afunaduula believes Wambi Gulere’s book is a continuation in the confusion of Busoga history and governance that Y.K. Lubogo started and perpetuated in his book to give the impression that Bulamogi and Bukono had always been separate entities. Yet Zibondo and Nkono who requested Nantamu Kisiki to give them separate lands for their expanding families to govern themselves, had come to Busiki as refugees from Gogonya, Bugwere, where their Chief is called Zibondo.
I should not end this treatise without highlighting the continuing tendency of the centre (central government) to penetrate the institution of Kyabazinga politically since the first post-colonial administration of Uganda.
Apollo Milton Obote accepted Sir Wiliam Wilberforce Kadhumbula Nadiope II to be the vice president of his political party, the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC). He also used his party to elect Nadiope II as vice-president of Uganda. Both positions were clearly political positions, while the 1962 Uganda Constitution gave Busoga the status of a semi-federal state. Perhaps this gave a reigning Kyabazinga a leeway to offer himself to serve in any political capacity in Uganda.
Concluding remarks
President Idi Amin Dada ruled Uganda without kingdoms. Even President Tibuhaburwa Museveni very early in his rule pronounced that he did not go to the bush to reintroduce kingdoms. Indeed, when President Tibuhaburwa Museveni engineered a new constitution of Uganda 1995, he did not reintroduce kings and kingdoms, which President Apollo Milton Obote’s Uganda Constitution 1967 had abolished. Instead, Uganda Constitution 1995 introduced cultural confusion in the former kingdoms of Buganda, Bunyoro and Toro (he completely refused to revive Ankole as anything by characterising himself as the Ssabagabe of Uganda) and the semi-federal territory of Busoga. He reduced all of them to cultural institutions, thereby depriving them of any political connotations. Despite this, President Tibuhaburwa Museveni has allowed the former kingdoms to continue to unconstitutionally refer to themselves as kings. Even the Kyabazinga of Busoga is referred to as king by his subjects.
Interestingly, true to the historical tendency for the centre to politically use and misuse the Kyabazinga of Busoga for political gain of the rulers at the centre, particularly the powers that be, in 2017 President Tibuhaburwa Museveni appointed William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope IV as one of his ambassadors (Kiggundu, 2017). Ambassador is a political-public post whose occupier represents the choices and interests of the head of government in power at the centre. Therefore, just like in the colonial and immediate postcolonial times, the Kyabazinga is a political institution and only constitutionally deceptively a cultural institution. However, the Kyabazinga of today is, by presidential design, manifestly a “politician” without “political power” to influence anything “politically”. For example, he cannot influence the use of Busoga’s natural resources for the benefit of the Basoga. Such influence requires genuine political power, which was taken away from the Kyabazinga by the designers of the Uganda Constitution 1995 and invested in the President of Uganda only. For the past 38 years the perennial President of Uganda has been Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Museveni.
The financial inducements of a Kyabazinga from the centre can potentially cause conflicts between a reigning Kyabazinga and those seeking to occupy the seat of Kyabazinga because they also wish to enjoy the largesse. They may demand that the Kyabazinga gives to maintain and sustain their chiefdoms yet he does not have the financial muscle to do so.
A lot of the past history of Busoga and the history of Busoga in the making that I have given in this treatise is traditionally perturbing because (1) most written accounts of the history of Busoga lacks it; (2) not many writers have been following the history of Busoga in the making.
However, the worst disease of humanity is ignorance. This treatise tries to reduce the ignorance regarding Busoga in the past and present in order to be able to say something about the politically conflict-rich, politically disempowered institution of Kyabazinga of Busoga greatly politically penetrated by the centre, not for the interest of Busoga and Basoga but for the political actors at the centre to enhance their political power, glory, wealth and domination of Busoga. We should remember the political actors emphasise interests instead of identity.
Therefore, they cannot be partners of the Basoga in building and sustaining their belonging and identity. They see belonging and identity of Busoga and Basoga as roadblocks to their pursuit of their interests in Busoga. These include underground natural resources, power, wealth and land.
There is serious need to rethink our thinking about the history of Busoga and indeed the entire history of Busoga to include the prehistory of the area. There is no history of any place in Uganda that has been distorted as much as that of Busoga. As I said the colonial and local writers had their interests to satisfy by writing Busoga history the way they did. Whereas the Kingdom of Busoga started many centuries ago as a Chwezi Igaga empire, with headquarters at Nnenda Hill Black writers, starting with Y.K Lubogo, write that a Busoga Kingdom started in 1915. There is also need to rethink our thinking about the relevancy of the institution of Kyabazinga whose occupant serves as a public servant in the government of a president of Uganda.
For God and My Country
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