Kamuswaga held special position in Buganda

May 14, 2004

THE Kamuswaga held a very special position in the then Buganda kingdom. We have to wind the clock several centuries to understand reason.

THE Kamuswaga held a very special position in the then Buganda kingdom. We have to wind the clock several centuries to understand reason. In Buganda, it was believed that Kintu, the founder of the great Buganda kingdom, was an omni-present demi-god, who watched over the affairs of the kingdom. He blessed the elected Kings, who would become heir to the throne. He was also regarded as present at deaths, burials and last funeral rites – a sort of ensurance continuity of life, writes Vision Reporter.
The Kabaka on the other, hand was a king in human flesh. He presided over the day-to-day administration of government through the national parliament (the great lukiiko), and was head of government business. The Kabaka was responsible for national defence, international trade as well as justice and fairness for all people.
But there was yet a third important king, the Kamuswaga, who was the spiritual king of Buganda. The spiritual king was responsible for public, spiritual and moral affairs. In addition, he was responsible for agricultural and cultural heritage, among other fields. Such was the case in the late 19th Century, when the Kamuswaga sentenced Semei Kakungulu to death by roasting. However, although Kamuswaga passed the sentence, it was to be enforced by Kabaka Mwanga, who was the titular head of state and who could sign the death warrant. Kakukngulu wriggled his way out of the death trap through his fighting prowess and tactfully switching sides during the troubled rule of King Mwanga. Mwanga was busy fighting to retain his throne and had no time to enforce the sentence. It is thus not surprising that Semei Kakungulu led the expeditions that fought fierce battles against Kabaka Mwanga and Omukama Kabalega, finally defeating them in the Lake Kyoga area. It should also be noted that in the turbulent times when the colonial forces buttressed by men like Kakungulu and others who wanted an end to the old order, the Kamuswaga was never attacked. They all looked to him as spiritual or holy King, who intervened on behalf of human being to God to spare their souls. Those who visited him at his palace greatly respected the Kamuswaga.
Haji Abdallah Kitayimbwa, the sababiito (head prince) of Kooki, says they trace their ancestry from the great Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom. There are six lineages in the Babiiito clan. These are Ndwawula Lwabulanga, Kyomya, Abaccwa, Abakonga, Abalabooni and Abakafunende.
“The Ndawula Lwabulanga is the main lineage of the clan from which the Kamuswaga traces his origin. But he is the Kamuswaga of the Bakooki,” said Kitayimbwa. Babiito princes, As the Babiito princes travelled eastwards from Bunyoro Kitara, they set their authority over the swathe of area to the Tanzanian kingdoms, Ukerewe and Unyamwezi. It is they who gave the area they occupied the name Kooki.
“The warriors who came with the first kings kept referring themselves as men who came from Kooki. This was a place in Bunyoro from where many of them migrated from. At drinking places or when engaged in arguments and conflicts they would swear by the name of the place they came from something like...I a son of Kooki will fight to the end. They came top be known as the Bakooki,” said George Musisi, the istrict information officer, Rakai.
The same people gave the area the name Rakai. According to elders in the district, there was a tendency for people to use mats made out of banana fibres. A small mat was referred to as ‘akakeeka kange akebyayi’ to mean ‘my small banana fibre mat.’ Somehow there was adulteration of the ‘akebyayi’ probably because of the difficulty of the Banyoro speaking rulers and it ended up being called Arakai. That is how legend explains the coming into formation of the word Rakai. That is where all roads and paths lead to today.

Ends

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});