Kings of Buganda

Buganda is the largest kingdom in Uganda and covers much of the south of the country.  The king of Buganda is called the kabaka and is the cultural and spiritual leader of the Baganda people - it's a hereditary role.

The kabaka's spiritual leadership is symbolized by a number of royal drums, which are beaten to mark various occasions such as the arrival of different members of the royal family, births and deaths.  The drums are housed in a special hut and played by a kawuula who remainds celibate, so it is taboo for women to enter the drum house.  I was given a kitenge to wear like an apron over my trousers while I visited the palace and grounds.

The current kabaka, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, exiled in the UK from 1966 to 1988, was reinstated by President Musuveni in 1993 and lives quietly in Kampala.  He doesn't have public duties like the Queen of England but he does sometimes appear at grand occasions. His robe is made of barkcloth.

The last four former kings or Ssekabakas are buried at Kasubi, the palace of Mutesa I (1837 - 1888).

Sadly the original palace, which had stood for over 120 years, was burned to the ground in 2010 in an arson attack.  Unesco is restoring the site.  The palace was 30 metres wide, supported by tall wooden columns and topped by a roof made of elephant grass reed thatch. In 1938 it was updated with a metal frame to support the roof, some concrete columns and a brick entry with sliding glass doors.  The four Ssekabakas are still buried there; originally their graves were marked by a forest of spears planted upright in the ground.  Now you have to imagine it from photographs.

Here you can see how the roof is constructed in one of the huts that has been restored by Unesco.  The rings are also made from elephant grass reeds, tied together in a bundle and covered with palm fibres for decoration.  The original palace roof had 52 such rings, representing the 52 clans of the Baganda.

Mutesa I dutifully took at least one wife from each clan so that all clans had a chance of producing the next kabaka.  In all, Mutesa I had 85 wives and 124 children.  Each wife had her own house in the palace grounds and the king would visit them on rotation.  The descendants of the wives still live in the cottages in the grounds of Kasubi and their needs - food, healthcare - are taken care of by the current kabaka.

Mutesa I was a good king; he was troubled by the Arab slavers and established good relations with British explorers like Stanley (of 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' fame) to keep the slavers at bay.

Twins are celebrated as very special in Baganda culture, and there is a hut in the palace grounds where their umbilical cords are preserved.  The parents of twins receive special honorific titles.

According to Baganda tradition, the first born son does not inherit the throne since he has responsibilities to care for the family.  Often the third born son is selected as the next kabaka.

Kabaka Mwanga was the third son of Kabaka Mutesa I and reigned Buganda from 1884 to 1888, when he was exiled by the British to the Seychelles, where he died in 1903.  Mwanga's body was exhumed and buried alongside his father in 1910.

Mwanga was pretty evil!  He encouraged the Arabs and traded slaves and ivory for guns, which he used in wars to expand the kingdom of Buganda.  Mwanga never became a muslim, since as king he was not permitted to shed blood and this prevented him from being circumcised.  Mwanga had 74 wives and saw Christianity as a threat since he interpreted Jesus' prophecy that the King would return as a personal threat.  Mwanga ordered the murder of Bishop Hannington in 1885 and was also responsible for the murders of the Uganda Martys at Namugongo in 1886 (see post on Religion).  He opposed the British and was exiled in 1888. In 1897 proclaimed his youngest son, Daudi Chwa, who was only 18 months old, as his successor.  Mwanga finally converted to Christianity on his death bed - very convenient.  When his body was re-interred at Kasubi in 1910, the corpse was unwrapped so that Daudi Chwa could see his father's face for the first (and last) time.

Due to Kabaka Chwa's tender years, during his early reign the kingdom was controlled by regents.  Chwa was the first Kabaka to convert to Christianity and had only one (official) wife but a number of concubines;  he died of diabetes in 1943.  Chwa's third son, Edward Mutesa II, succeeded him to the throne.

 

Mutesa II was a progressive king; he was educated at Magdalene College Cambridge and at Sandhurst, and he introduced education for girls. Before the 1950's Ugandan girls were valued for the dowry they would earn and so were not educated. Today 70% of Ugandan university graduates are women. Mutesa pushed for and won independence for Buganda in 1955, but due to his massive popularity among the Baganda majority, was perceived as a huge political  threat to President Milton Obote, who led the whole country to independence in 1962.  Obote abolished the monarchy and Mutesa II was exiled to England, where he died in 1969.