Traditional and modern: Meet the Kabaka's sisters
Apr 27, 2006
<br>The Buganda monarchy spans over 500 years and it is still going strong. But it must always rely on a handful of women to keep its age-old rituals alive. These must be sisters of the reigning Kabaka.
By Titus Serunjogi
The Buganda monarchy spans over 500 years and it is still going strong. But it must always rely on a handful of women to keep its age-old rituals alive. These must be sisters of the reigning Kabaka.
Kabaka Ronald Mutebi’s five sisters are a curious lot indeed. All ultramodern career women, some working in plush offices in Kampala and abroad, they must also preside over the mystical rituals that take place in the royal tombs from time to time.
This latter role sometimes involves traveling out of town and into remote villages.
But, back to town, the princesses are well-to-do career women, residing in upscale urban houses. Who are these mysterious princesses?
Diana Teyeggala, 39
She is the most vibrant of them all. Afrigo Band revellers have seen her partying at Club Obbligato on weekend nights. And many of them vividly remember that fateful Friday night in 1989 when she danced so vigorously when she was pregnant.
At the height of the revelry, she began complaining of twinges in her belly. And when she was rushed to Nsambya Hospital in the wee hours, she gave birth to a baby boy.
Some have seen Teyeggala at Lubiri. But few could ever imagine that she is indeed the youngest sister of the Kabaka.
She often turns up in flowing robes. You could easily mistake her for an upscale Hima woman or a royal from Ankole. She is, somehow. Her mother, Katherine Karungu, is a niece to the former Omukama Gasyonga of Ankole. Her maternal grandfather came from Bunyoro.
However, Teyeggala never set eyes on her father Edward Mutesa. She was born in October 1966 after the Kabaka had been exiled in England, where he died.
She grew up rotating among the homes of her maternal uncles. And today, she often goes to stay with her Hima half brother and cousins at Bugolobi.
During conversation, she often switches from Runyankore to English to Runyoro and sometimes French, besides Luganda.
That is not to mean that she is ‘green’ about Kiganda cultural rites. Not at all; she is in charge of the tombs of Kagulu Tebuchwereke, an ancient Kabaka of Buganda.
Teyeggala often goes there to carry on the same rituals that date back 100 years.
Back to town, Teyeggala again assumes her inherent ‘this is me — take it or leave it’ kind of attitude. It is not so unusual for her to receive guests at home while dressed in shorts, a T-shirt and slippers.
She was once wife to Robert Kannuma, the Passports Control Officer in the Immigrations Department. But it seems they had an unhappy marriage for to this day, Teyeggala remains bitter that the Catholic Church refused to grant her a legal divorce.
All of the Kabaka’s sisters, except two, are single.
The eldest, 54-year-old Dorothy Nassolo, was recently seen cutting the red tape at Sofiz Diner, a restaurant next to Sabrina’s Pub. She has been widowed for 20 years and a mother of three.
Nassolo grew up with her father at the Lubiri in Mengo, but she later moved to the United Kingdom. “I cannot forget the day I heard that soldiers had attacked the palace and that my father had to run for his life. I was studying at Calne (UK). That event meant that I could no longer come back home for holidays and it spelt an end to the good life I always cherished.â€
Her most vivid memory of dad? “He bustled up and down in the palace when I got polio in 1955. He called for several doctors to come and heal me, in vain. A few days later, he ordered that I be flown to the UK for treatment.â€
Thank God, she was cured there and survived getting completely lame. Today, with the help of crutches, she walks and works just like any normal person.
Having graduated from Nairobi University with a BA in English and History, she went on to work at the Ugandan Embassy in the US and is now Undersecretary at the Health Service Commission, working in a plush office on Workers’ House. But that does not stop her from donning barkcloth and presiding over Kiganda rituals at the tombs of Ssekabaka Kyabaggu at Kyebando, off Nansana.
Her sister, Dr. Christine Nabaloga, who has a PhD in Linguistics, enjoys much the same ‘good life’. Nabaloga is co-heir to the Buganda throne, sharing roles with Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, (in Buganda a man inherits along with one of his sisters). But as soon as she had undergone the coronation rituals at Budo, Nabaloga rushed back to Europe to her Danish husband Peter Bjornsen.
The two now live in Washington, DC and have a couple of children. Thumbs up for Dr. Nabaloga who has worked for UNESCO and has once been assigned in the embattled Darfur!
Nabaloga’s mother, Sarah Nalule, was a favourite wife of Mutesa, residing in the Mengo Lubiri in the 1950s.
Nalule also gave birth to Sarah Kagere, 54, who graduated from Nairobi University with a BA in Political Science.
Kagere could have lasted in decent employment in the civil service, but “My husband could not find a decent place to have a haircut. He would drive to a tree shade in Katwe and find a long queue there. There was another barber at Wandegeya, but this one soon died. In the mid-1980s, there was nowhere my man could get a quick haircut. So I opened up Bayanja Men’s Salon on KPC building in 1989.†Today, Kagere owns a chain of men’s salons all over town. But wait a moment. Isn’t Kagere supposed to be residing at Ssekabaka Kintu’s tombs at Magonga?
“That’s right. But times have changed. I cannot give up work and my family to go and live at the tombs. I often go there for meetings and rituals, though. And I have the tombs refurbished from time to time using the money I make out of the salons,†she says.
Kagere has three children, one in Kampala, another in South Africa and another in the United Kingdom.
She recalls that once her father went to visit Toro and returned to Buganda with one of the Omukama Rukidi’s sisters.
Rukidi’s sister stayed at the Lubiri and soon enough gave birth to Dina Kigga, who was aptly named Mukarukidi.
Today Kigga works at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa.
She was once wife to one Robert Ikobo, a Permanent Secretary in Amin’s government.
However, today, Kigga is single and, like her sisters, often comes back home, dons barkcloth and presides over royal rituals at Ssekabaka Winyi’s tombs at Kibulala.
The Buganda monarchy spans over 500 years and it is still going strong. But it must always rely on a handful of women to keep its age-old rituals alive. These must be sisters of the reigning Kabaka.
Kabaka Ronald Mutebi’s five sisters are a curious lot indeed. All ultramodern career women, some working in plush offices in Kampala and abroad, they must also preside over the mystical rituals that take place in the royal tombs from time to time.
This latter role sometimes involves traveling out of town and into remote villages.
But, back to town, the princesses are well-to-do career women, residing in upscale urban houses. Who are these mysterious princesses?
Diana Teyeggala, 39
She is the most vibrant of them all. Afrigo Band revellers have seen her partying at Club Obbligato on weekend nights. And many of them vividly remember that fateful Friday night in 1989 when she danced so vigorously when she was pregnant.
At the height of the revelry, she began complaining of twinges in her belly. And when she was rushed to Nsambya Hospital in the wee hours, she gave birth to a baby boy.
Some have seen Teyeggala at Lubiri. But few could ever imagine that she is indeed the youngest sister of the Kabaka.
She often turns up in flowing robes. You could easily mistake her for an upscale Hima woman or a royal from Ankole. She is, somehow. Her mother, Katherine Karungu, is a niece to the former Omukama Gasyonga of Ankole. Her maternal grandfather came from Bunyoro.
However, Teyeggala never set eyes on her father Edward Mutesa. She was born in October 1966 after the Kabaka had been exiled in England, where he died.
She grew up rotating among the homes of her maternal uncles. And today, she often goes to stay with her Hima half brother and cousins at Bugolobi.
During conversation, she often switches from Runyankore to English to Runyoro and sometimes French, besides Luganda.
That is not to mean that she is ‘green’ about Kiganda cultural rites. Not at all; she is in charge of the tombs of Kagulu Tebuchwereke, an ancient Kabaka of Buganda.
Teyeggala often goes there to carry on the same rituals that date back 100 years.
Back to town, Teyeggala again assumes her inherent ‘this is me — take it or leave it’ kind of attitude. It is not so unusual for her to receive guests at home while dressed in shorts, a T-shirt and slippers.
She was once wife to Robert Kannuma, the Passports Control Officer in the Immigrations Department. But it seems they had an unhappy marriage for to this day, Teyeggala remains bitter that the Catholic Church refused to grant her a legal divorce.
All of the Kabaka’s sisters, except two, are single.
The eldest, 54-year-old Dorothy Nassolo, was recently seen cutting the red tape at Sofiz Diner, a restaurant next to Sabrina’s Pub. She has been widowed for 20 years and a mother of three.
Nassolo grew up with her father at the Lubiri in Mengo, but she later moved to the United Kingdom. “I cannot forget the day I heard that soldiers had attacked the palace and that my father had to run for his life. I was studying at Calne (UK). That event meant that I could no longer come back home for holidays and it spelt an end to the good life I always cherished.â€
Her most vivid memory of dad? “He bustled up and down in the palace when I got polio in 1955. He called for several doctors to come and heal me, in vain. A few days later, he ordered that I be flown to the UK for treatment.â€
Thank God, she was cured there and survived getting completely lame. Today, with the help of crutches, she walks and works just like any normal person.
Having graduated from Nairobi University with a BA in English and History, she went on to work at the Ugandan Embassy in the US and is now Undersecretary at the Health Service Commission, working in a plush office on Workers’ House. But that does not stop her from donning barkcloth and presiding over Kiganda rituals at the tombs of Ssekabaka Kyabaggu at Kyebando, off Nansana.
Her sister, Dr. Christine Nabaloga, who has a PhD in Linguistics, enjoys much the same ‘good life’. Nabaloga is co-heir to the Buganda throne, sharing roles with Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, (in Buganda a man inherits along with one of his sisters). But as soon as she had undergone the coronation rituals at Budo, Nabaloga rushed back to Europe to her Danish husband Peter Bjornsen.
The two now live in Washington, DC and have a couple of children. Thumbs up for Dr. Nabaloga who has worked for UNESCO and has once been assigned in the embattled Darfur!
Nabaloga’s mother, Sarah Nalule, was a favourite wife of Mutesa, residing in the Mengo Lubiri in the 1950s.
Nalule also gave birth to Sarah Kagere, 54, who graduated from Nairobi University with a BA in Political Science.
Kagere could have lasted in decent employment in the civil service, but “My husband could not find a decent place to have a haircut. He would drive to a tree shade in Katwe and find a long queue there. There was another barber at Wandegeya, but this one soon died. In the mid-1980s, there was nowhere my man could get a quick haircut. So I opened up Bayanja Men’s Salon on KPC building in 1989.†Today, Kagere owns a chain of men’s salons all over town. But wait a moment. Isn’t Kagere supposed to be residing at Ssekabaka Kintu’s tombs at Magonga?
“That’s right. But times have changed. I cannot give up work and my family to go and live at the tombs. I often go there for meetings and rituals, though. And I have the tombs refurbished from time to time using the money I make out of the salons,†she says.
Kagere has three children, one in Kampala, another in South Africa and another in the United Kingdom.
She recalls that once her father went to visit Toro and returned to Buganda with one of the Omukama Rukidi’s sisters.
Rukidi’s sister stayed at the Lubiri and soon enough gave birth to Dina Kigga, who was aptly named Mukarukidi.
Today Kigga works at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa.
She was once wife to one Robert Ikobo, a Permanent Secretary in Amin’s government.
However, today, Kigga is single and, like her sisters, often comes back home, dons barkcloth and presides over royal rituals at Ssekabaka Winyi’s tombs at Kibulala.