Mpumudde hill where the mighty Kabalega died
When he died about 86 years ago, Busoga Kingdom was awestricken; and hundreds of residents carried stones to mark the hill where he died. But I had to spend more than two hours, meandering through the dusty roads of Mpumudde in search for a person who kne
When he died about 86 years ago, Busoga Kingdom was awestricken; and hundreds of residents carried stones to mark the hill where he died. But I had to spend more than two hours, meandering through the dusty roads of Mpumudde in search for a person who knew where Kabalega died. The boda-boda cyclist, who convinced me he knew the place, instead rode to Bugembe, the Kyabazinga’s palace, conning me of sh4,000.
Culturalists view the place as a potential great tourist attraction that would earn Busoga much revenue every year; but there is no single signpost to direct any one to the site.
However, as we returned from the king’s palace, an old man seemed to be conversant with history. “Kabalega was a great king of Bunyoro. I know him. He died at this village. I can take you there,†Mzee Wycliffe Waiswa doused my anxiety. But no sooner had I settled, than he reminded me of a capitalism principle:“there is nothing for free.â€
Pleas that I was a journalist fell on a deaf ear as the old man emphasised he was not a ‘waragi drinker’ to offer free services. I dug a few notes out of my pocket. At a supersonic speed, he led me up to the peak of the gently sloping Mpumudde Hill from where the Omukama (king) of Bunyoro Chwa II Kabalega breathed his last in 1923. But to get there, we wade through bushes and cassava, maize and sweet potato plantations.
On the peak is a multi-coloured dilapidated monument, which was built with fired blocks and parts of it, plastered. Behind the monument is a heap of stones covered under lantana camara (kapanga) shrubs and a tall mutuba tree stands out.
Mpumudde is about 2km off Kamuli Road in Jinja Municipality. But like most parts of Busoga, frying chapatti is the main economic activity among the youth there; while a few others have graduated to setting up retail shops. Although the town is expanding and some bungalows have started coming up, several grass-thatched makeshift structures still dot the hill.
Kabalega and Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda fought colonial occupation in the late 19th Century. Kabalega had staged an eight-year guerilla war, but for their patriotic efforts, the British forces captured them on April 4, 1899 in Dokolo, northern Uganda, in a house owned by a Langi chief. Upon their capture, the two were exiled to the Seychelles Island in the Indian Ocean where Mwanga died in 1903.
Kabalega lived in captivity for a number of years until he was permitted to return. But on his way back to Bunyoro in 1923, he fell ill in Jinja due to malaria and fatigue. His servants, who used to carry him on the shoulders decided to climb what came to be known as Mpumudde hill, to allow the king to rest and resume his journey later.
Mzee John Kadooko, 79, the minister for Kyabazinga affairs in the Busoga government, explains that the hill was initially Embuga ya Ntembe (Ntembe’s seat). Ntembe was the leader of Butembe, one of Busoga’s 11 chiefdoms.
Unfortunately, Kabalega’s condition deteriorated while on top of the hill. According to Kadooko, Kabalega spent only two days on the hill and died. But a few seconds to breathing his last, Kabalega was heard saying “mpumwireâ€, a Lunyoro word for ‘I have rested’.
Kabalega’s bodyguards then carried his body to Namasagali landing site on Lake Kyoga, about 80km from Jinja. Here they transported Kabalega’s body by canoe to Masindi from where they again carried the body up to Mparo, Hoima where he was buried.
Since then, the hill where he died from was named Mpumwire (Mpumudde for Luganda) after his last words. And what began as a pen-name has since become a name of one of the divisions in Jinja Municipality.
Kadooko explains that after Kabalega’s burial, Butembe leaders resolved to erect a monument for the fallen king. Then, Ntembe ordered his subjects to collect stones and pile them on top of the hill, which only took about a month.
The place seemed to be forgotten, especially from the 1970s, but some elders and cultural leaders of Busoga still regarded it with much reverence. Mzee Waiswa, for instance, believes the spiritual powers’ of Busoga’s Kyabazinga originated from Mpumudde.
And when the Government restored monarchies in 1996, the Basoga royals turned the hill into the coronation site for the Kyabazinga Henry Wako Muloki (RIP). It is on this hill that the Baswezi (king’s witchdoctors) cleanse the Kyabazinga during coronation, according to Kadooko.
During such rituals, each of the 11 chiefdoms builds a grass-thatched hut on the hill. Then they slaughter goats, sheep, chicken and other animals and sprinkle the blood around. Sources in the kingdom also reveal that even the next Kyabazinga will be crowned at this very hill.
Kabalega’s spirits perform miracles
Besides fighting the British, it is also evident that in Busoga Kabalega is viewed as a man of fortunes; as locals say ‘his hill’ does miracles. “Never joke with that hill,†Jimmy Isabirye, the LCI chairman for the youth warned me, revealing that there lived a leopard. “Those are Kabalega’s spirits,†he stresses, but adds they are harmless.
Muhammad Ssamanya, the director in charge of culture in Busoga Kingdom, says the spirits on the hill would enable barren women bear children; heal impotent men, help the poor get money and heal several other illnesses.
“Several women used to trek from very far to come to the hill for cleansing. After their prayers were answered, they would come back and slaughter chicken and goats for the residents,†explains Ssamanya. Among those who have been visiting the hill for cleansing are groups of people from Bunyoro.
However, what distresses Waiswa, like most others, is that although the hill is well remembered for Kabalega, the monument that was built on it talks nothing about the hero. Instead, the words inscribed on the monument are a tribute to F. Spire. Spire was the colonial government’s provincial commissioner in Busoga between 1909 and 1918 and is believed to have been a great administrator.
“When shall we stop despising our own? Why can’t we put here a monument with the name of the Kabalega?†he wondered.
The monument also bears other names which, according to Waiswa, are for the former heads of chiefdoms in Busoga. They are: Daudi Gabula (of Bugabula chiefdom), Gidion Ngobi (Kigulu), Kezekieri Zibondo (Bulamogi), Aroni Tabingwa (Luuka), W’akoli (Koli), Ludigo Nanyumba (Bunya), Yusufu Luba (also Bunya), Nuwamenya (Bugweri), Obara and Ngango Tgaga.
Mpumudde is thus a great cultural site in Busoga, which is seeing its last days if the kingdom does not put in enough efforts to protect and develop it. Today, only the bushy peak, which is about 10ft, remains as strangers continue clearing the slopes for cultivation and settlement.
The dilapidated monument and the stones are surrounded by a solid path, apparently created by the Balokole (born-again Christians) who use the place for overnight prayers. This has already created a row between the Balokole and the traditionalists who wish to preserve the ‘Kabalega’s spirits’ on the hill. “The Balokole want to chase away our leopard and other spirits from the hill. Where shall barren women go for cleansing? Where shall we get the chicken and goats to eat?†asks Isabirye, who says Kabalega’s spirits have done ‘many miracles’ for him.
But even the Balokole had a point in holding overnight prayers from the hill since it had turned into a hideout for drug abusers and thugs who terrorised the residents. “Thieves were hiding there. In 2007 I wrote to the Kyabazinga’s government asking them to develop the site, but nothing was done,†says Warren Tugume, the LCI chairman for Kamuli Road Village, where the hill is located.
Besides, there are allegations that some fraudulent people in the kingdom grabbed the land on which the site sits, something feared to hamper future plans to develop it. The hill initially belonged to the Kyabazinga, but Kadooko explains that some leaders who stayed after Obote banned monarchies, sold the land.
Today, the Kyabazinga is said to have remained with only the top of the hill where the monument is. The slopes have been cleared for cultivation and housing by several persons each claiming ownership of a portion on the hill. The significance of Mpumudde in Uganda’s history is thus indisputable, especially now that Kabalega has been named hero. But elders and other local leaders are sad that the two kingdoms have not developed the site to attract tourists. Isabirye believes that if the hill was modernised, many of the jobless youth in Mpumudde would earn some money from the tourists.
Unfortunately, even Jinja Municipality Council has no plan to develop the hill yet. “It would be good if we extended power to the hill and a hotel is constructed there. But as the local government, we can do very little to improve the site since it belongs to the Kyabazinga. There is no such plan in council to develop it,†says councillor Willy Musambi Kaddu.
According to Kadooko, when the Omukama of Bunyoro Solomon Gafabusa Iguru visited the site some years back, the two kingdoms resolved to set up a joint committee that would work on improving the site, but this is yet to materialise. “As Busoga, we respect Kabalega so much. Through him Busoga and Bunyoro enjoyed good relations and it is good the Government has remembered him,†says Kadooko. “But it disheartens to hear that many people are not aware of the importance of his hill. We should do something to publicise it.â€
Culturalists view the place as a potential great tourist attraction that would earn Busoga much revenue every year; but there is no single signpost to direct any one to the site.
However, as we returned from the king’s palace, an old man seemed to be conversant with history. “Kabalega was a great king of Bunyoro. I know him. He died at this village. I can take you there,†Mzee Wycliffe Waiswa doused my anxiety. But no sooner had I settled, than he reminded me of a capitalism principle:“there is nothing for free.â€
Pleas that I was a journalist fell on a deaf ear as the old man emphasised he was not a ‘waragi drinker’ to offer free services. I dug a few notes out of my pocket. At a supersonic speed, he led me up to the peak of the gently sloping Mpumudde Hill from where the Omukama (king) of Bunyoro Chwa II Kabalega breathed his last in 1923. But to get there, we wade through bushes and cassava, maize and sweet potato plantations.
On the peak is a multi-coloured dilapidated monument, which was built with fired blocks and parts of it, plastered. Behind the monument is a heap of stones covered under lantana camara (kapanga) shrubs and a tall mutuba tree stands out.
Mpumudde is about 2km off Kamuli Road in Jinja Municipality. But like most parts of Busoga, frying chapatti is the main economic activity among the youth there; while a few others have graduated to setting up retail shops. Although the town is expanding and some bungalows have started coming up, several grass-thatched makeshift structures still dot the hill.
Kabalega and Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda fought colonial occupation in the late 19th Century. Kabalega had staged an eight-year guerilla war, but for their patriotic efforts, the British forces captured them on April 4, 1899 in Dokolo, northern Uganda, in a house owned by a Langi chief. Upon their capture, the two were exiled to the Seychelles Island in the Indian Ocean where Mwanga died in 1903.
Kabalega lived in captivity for a number of years until he was permitted to return. But on his way back to Bunyoro in 1923, he fell ill in Jinja due to malaria and fatigue. His servants, who used to carry him on the shoulders decided to climb what came to be known as Mpumudde hill, to allow the king to rest and resume his journey later.
Mzee John Kadooko, 79, the minister for Kyabazinga affairs in the Busoga government, explains that the hill was initially Embuga ya Ntembe (Ntembe’s seat). Ntembe was the leader of Butembe, one of Busoga’s 11 chiefdoms.
Unfortunately, Kabalega’s condition deteriorated while on top of the hill. According to Kadooko, Kabalega spent only two days on the hill and died. But a few seconds to breathing his last, Kabalega was heard saying “mpumwireâ€, a Lunyoro word for ‘I have rested’.
Kabalega’s bodyguards then carried his body to Namasagali landing site on Lake Kyoga, about 80km from Jinja. Here they transported Kabalega’s body by canoe to Masindi from where they again carried the body up to Mparo, Hoima where he was buried.
Since then, the hill where he died from was named Mpumwire (Mpumudde for Luganda) after his last words. And what began as a pen-name has since become a name of one of the divisions in Jinja Municipality.
Kadooko explains that after Kabalega’s burial, Butembe leaders resolved to erect a monument for the fallen king. Then, Ntembe ordered his subjects to collect stones and pile them on top of the hill, which only took about a month.
The place seemed to be forgotten, especially from the 1970s, but some elders and cultural leaders of Busoga still regarded it with much reverence. Mzee Waiswa, for instance, believes the spiritual powers’ of Busoga’s Kyabazinga originated from Mpumudde.
And when the Government restored monarchies in 1996, the Basoga royals turned the hill into the coronation site for the Kyabazinga Henry Wako Muloki (RIP). It is on this hill that the Baswezi (king’s witchdoctors) cleanse the Kyabazinga during coronation, according to Kadooko.
During such rituals, each of the 11 chiefdoms builds a grass-thatched hut on the hill. Then they slaughter goats, sheep, chicken and other animals and sprinkle the blood around. Sources in the kingdom also reveal that even the next Kyabazinga will be crowned at this very hill.
Kabalega’s spirits perform miracles
Besides fighting the British, it is also evident that in Busoga Kabalega is viewed as a man of fortunes; as locals say ‘his hill’ does miracles. “Never joke with that hill,†Jimmy Isabirye, the LCI chairman for the youth warned me, revealing that there lived a leopard. “Those are Kabalega’s spirits,†he stresses, but adds they are harmless.
Muhammad Ssamanya, the director in charge of culture in Busoga Kingdom, says the spirits on the hill would enable barren women bear children; heal impotent men, help the poor get money and heal several other illnesses.
“Several women used to trek from very far to come to the hill for cleansing. After their prayers were answered, they would come back and slaughter chicken and goats for the residents,†explains Ssamanya. Among those who have been visiting the hill for cleansing are groups of people from Bunyoro.
However, what distresses Waiswa, like most others, is that although the hill is well remembered for Kabalega, the monument that was built on it talks nothing about the hero. Instead, the words inscribed on the monument are a tribute to F. Spire. Spire was the colonial government’s provincial commissioner in Busoga between 1909 and 1918 and is believed to have been a great administrator.
“When shall we stop despising our own? Why can’t we put here a monument with the name of the Kabalega?†he wondered.
The monument also bears other names which, according to Waiswa, are for the former heads of chiefdoms in Busoga. They are: Daudi Gabula (of Bugabula chiefdom), Gidion Ngobi (Kigulu), Kezekieri Zibondo (Bulamogi), Aroni Tabingwa (Luuka), W’akoli (Koli), Ludigo Nanyumba (Bunya), Yusufu Luba (also Bunya), Nuwamenya (Bugweri), Obara and Ngango Tgaga.
Mpumudde is thus a great cultural site in Busoga, which is seeing its last days if the kingdom does not put in enough efforts to protect and develop it. Today, only the bushy peak, which is about 10ft, remains as strangers continue clearing the slopes for cultivation and settlement.
The dilapidated monument and the stones are surrounded by a solid path, apparently created by the Balokole (born-again Christians) who use the place for overnight prayers. This has already created a row between the Balokole and the traditionalists who wish to preserve the ‘Kabalega’s spirits’ on the hill. “The Balokole want to chase away our leopard and other spirits from the hill. Where shall barren women go for cleansing? Where shall we get the chicken and goats to eat?†asks Isabirye, who says Kabalega’s spirits have done ‘many miracles’ for him.
But even the Balokole had a point in holding overnight prayers from the hill since it had turned into a hideout for drug abusers and thugs who terrorised the residents. “Thieves were hiding there. In 2007 I wrote to the Kyabazinga’s government asking them to develop the site, but nothing was done,†says Warren Tugume, the LCI chairman for Kamuli Road Village, where the hill is located.
Besides, there are allegations that some fraudulent people in the kingdom grabbed the land on which the site sits, something feared to hamper future plans to develop it. The hill initially belonged to the Kyabazinga, but Kadooko explains that some leaders who stayed after Obote banned monarchies, sold the land.
Today, the Kyabazinga is said to have remained with only the top of the hill where the monument is. The slopes have been cleared for cultivation and housing by several persons each claiming ownership of a portion on the hill. The significance of Mpumudde in Uganda’s history is thus indisputable, especially now that Kabalega has been named hero. But elders and other local leaders are sad that the two kingdoms have not developed the site to attract tourists. Isabirye believes that if the hill was modernised, many of the jobless youth in Mpumudde would earn some money from the tourists.
Unfortunately, even Jinja Municipality Council has no plan to develop the hill yet. “It would be good if we extended power to the hill and a hotel is constructed there. But as the local government, we can do very little to improve the site since it belongs to the Kyabazinga. There is no such plan in council to develop it,†says councillor Willy Musambi Kaddu.
According to Kadooko, when the Omukama of Bunyoro Solomon Gafabusa Iguru visited the site some years back, the two kingdoms resolved to set up a joint committee that would work on improving the site, but this is yet to materialise. “As Busoga, we respect Kabalega so much. Through him Busoga and Bunyoro enjoyed good relations and it is good the Government has remembered him,†says Kadooko. “But it disheartens to hear that many people are not aware of the importance of his hill. We should do something to publicise it.â€