Kabalega's life began the same way it ended, in exile. He was born while his mother was a refugee in a ‘foreign territory', and he died while returning from exile. It is this contradiction that worked to turn him into a man of steel – a man whose name is synonymous with resistance against colonial rule in Uganda. And it is because of these exploits that Ugandans honour Kabalega as a hero.

Born about 1850 to Omukama Kyebambe lV Kamurasi and Kanyange Nyamutahingurwa, a Muhuma from the Abayonza clan of Mwenge, Kabalega spent his early days in Bulega, where he and his mother had taken refuge from some rebellious Babiito princes who had temporarily dethroned Kamurasi.

“When he returned, he was named Akana Kabalega, which translates into the child of the Balega,” writes Dr Kihumuro Apuuli, in his book A Thousand Years of the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom.

Being born in exile had a huge impact on Kabalega’s life. It gave him a reason to grow up tough, enabling him to defeat his enemies. He settled in the palace and adapted to life as a prince.

From an early age, he wanted to be a ruler and he knew that he could not be a good ruler without a good army. According to Apuuli, while Kabigumire, Kabalega’s brother, harboured intentions of killing all their father's ‘lousy' servants and replacing them with those of his own, Kabalega felt he could put them to better use. He wanted to turn them into well-trained soldiers.

Following tradition, Kabalega and his brother were placed under the care of the Omukama's brother, Kamihanda Omudaya. He was tasked to observe them and identify who was fit to be king of Bunyoro.

Omudaya was quickly impressed by Kabigumire because he embodied the characteristics of the kingdom then. He (Kabigumire) was, according to Apuuli, very royal and refined, compared to Kabalega, who was tough, rough, proud, opinionated and short-tempered.

However, in him (Kabalega), lay the kind of kingdom that Omudaya dreamed of – one that would respond to attacks by neighbours and never shy away from challenges.

Kabaleg, the Omukama of Bunyoro (1870-1899)

Apuuli describes Kabalega as being slim and about 5'10” tall, with big round eyes and a very light complexion. He spoke three languages – Runyoro, Swahili and Arabic, and had the curious manner of being very serious when he was in good humour, and smiling when very angry. He was domineering where necessary, but reserved at times. He liked the common people, and for this, he was hated by the majority of the royal family because he was eroding the mystery of the kingdom by mixing with commoners. They seemed to agree that he should never be the king of Bunyoro. But surprisingly, Kamurasi named him the successor.

Kabalega's love for all people in Bunyoro was later evident in the 150 wives he married. Among them was a Mwiru — a woman from a lowly community. He married her to show the people of Bunyoro that all people were equal.

In 1869, Kamurasi died. By then Kabalega was only 19 years old and the British were yet to have a stronghold in present-day Uganda. According to the Bunyoro custom, the prince who buried his father's body (omuguta) became the king. Kabigumire had this advantage because he stole the body with the help of some royals. And because of his liberal views about the kingdom, all the other royals apart from Kabagonza and Nyaika supported Kabigumire.

Omukama Kabalega

The war over the throne between the two brothers lasted six months, but eventually, Kabalega won and ascended the throne. Kabigumire fled to Ankole and would lead several botched invasions. He was, however, eventually killed.

Fighting the British

In his book Crisis and Decline, history professor Shane Doyle argued that Kabalega might not have had so much hatred for the Europeans, but the Europeans were deceived by Sir Samuel Baker about him. This was proved when he met Emin Pasha because he called for co-existence with the whites and not domination. However, the Europeans thought of him negatively.

Professor Edward I. Steinhart, in his book Conflict and Collaboration: The Kingdoms of Western Uganda, extensively describes the battles between Kabalega and the British, and eventually his defeat and exile to Seychelles. It was to be the longest and most determined resistance to colonialism in Uganda's history.

It all really started when Kabalega, taking advantage of the religious conflicts in Buganda, proceeded to chase Toro's Omukama Kasagama from his throne, and declared Toro part of Bunyoro kingdom again. His first fight against the Europeans was with Sir Samuel Baker. In the beginning, Kabalega and Baker lived in harmony. However, Samuel Baker in 1872 annexed Bunyoro as part of the British Protectorate. Kabalega fought him off.

Sir Samuel and Lady Baker met Kabalega here in 1872

On December 4, 1893, Colonel Henry Colville declared war on Bunyoro, and although Kabalega was warned by Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda, he was caught off guard by the subsequent invasion, largely because a big part of his army was away on raids in Toro and Busoga. When Kabalega was attacked at his palace at Mparo two miles on the present-day Hoima-Masindi road, he withdrew to Kataisa and set up a battlefront. He mobilised his soldiers to dig protective circles in form of trenches eight feet deep. Kabalega also selected Kataisa because it had a deep cave too.

“The cave had many tunnels that helped him and his soldiers move from one command post to another,” explains Georgina Beatrice Kakembo, the caretaker of the historical site. It was not only the caves that showed Kabalega as an astute military strategist.

The fighting here was ferocious, but the Bunyoro army was finally overwhelmed in 1894 and destroyed. Kabalega was forced to withdraw into Budongo forest from where he launched a guerrilla campaign, which proved even tougher for the mixed Baganda and white army. The attacks against the British were carried out by small, but organised units and mainly against caravans on the move. “By raiding garrisons, foragers and supply columns, eventually the scale of action increased in the classic pattern of rural guerrilla warfare,” Steinhart observes.

The foundation stone at Fatiko now known as Fort Patiko constructed by Sir samuel Baker

In many of these attacks, supply lines for the British were interrupted and life became difficult for them. Steinhart says the situation became so bad that it became difficult for the British to move even a few metres away from their garrisons. But there were also attacks against fixed garrisons. In 1895, for example, Kabalega attacked the British at Kijunjubwa in Masindi.

The attacks against the British continued through the years, as the British made endless attempts to capture him. When he was finally dislodged from Budongo, he crossed to Buruli and set up defensive positions on Kayimbera Island in Lake Kyoga. “The Banyoro had well-guarded and prepared trenches on the island. They had several firing positions that provided more than three layers of firing cover,” Steinhart observes.

The British, with over 2,000 men and supported by Maxim guns, attacked Kayimbera on March 2, 1895, but the first attack was repulsed and a British commander, H.G. Dunning, was killed.

A few weeks later, however, the British organised one of the largest forces to attack Kabalega. The force had 20,000 Baganda fighters under the command of the Katikkiro (Prime Minister) Apollo Kaggwa, and another commanded by the Buganda general, Semei Kakungulu, which crossed from Busoga with 123 canoes of fighters. There were also over 200 Sudanese and British fighters, all armed with Hotchkiss rifles and supported by the ferocious Maxim machine gun. The fighting was ferocious and on April 27, Kabalega was defeated. He withdrew to Lango.

The attacking forces pursued him, forcing him to lose over 1,000 of his cattle on May 3. On May 6, his family members, including his mother, son and daughter, were captured.

But that did not deter him. He attacked several caravans, mainly of Baganda fighters carrying supplies in different locations, and in 1898 he returned to northern Bunyoro and attacked the heavily guarded Hoima garrison. In the same year, Kabalega crossed River Nile from Lango where he was based and attacked a long British/Baganda column near Lwampanga. He had by then received support from the former Kabaka of Buganda, Mwanga.

In 1899, a large British force led by Lt. Colonel Evatts entered Kabalega's sanctuary in Lango. On April 9, in a surprise dawn attack led by Kakungulu, the Bunyoro army was finally defeated and Kabalega captured. He was shot in the leg and arm, which forced him to drop his gun. Steinhart writes that it was Kakungulu who finally recognised the fallen king, but refused to kill him. Kabalega and Mwanga were subsequently exiled, first to Kenya, then to Kismayo in Somalia and finally to the Seychelles Islands. Kabalega died 24 years later in 1923.

“The impact on Bunyoro's population will never be known accurately,” wrote Steinhart, “but war, famine and disease took an enormous toll on the Kabalega's people during the decade of conquests and afterwards.”