Born with a snake
NOT many people have a snake for a brother, but 54-year-old Ssekyoya Nalubega Bemba Musota of Buddo, Naggalabi.<br>
NOT many people have a snake for a brother, but 54-year-old Ssekyoya Nalubega Bemba Musota of Buddo, Naggalabi.
By Fred Nangoli
The brother named Bemba Musota is believed to be Sekabaka Bemba Musota, the last spiritual ruler of Buganda.
“My mother produced two of us on the same day, first she delivered me and later gave birth to my brother, the snake,†she reveals with a smile.
Nalubega says they were both carried home but because of the mystery surrounding their birth, her father Ssekyoya Kasulani Mukasa, a staunch Christian, was shocked by the news. He barred them from entering his house saying they were ‘satanic’.
And as a result, Nalubega's mother became homeless for years, with her mysterious children. Nalubega was too young to understand what was going on.
At the age of 11, she was repeatedly met by snakes. She had just started school at Mwezi Primary School, located 40km on the Kampala-Hoima road.
“I kept on meeting snakes in the company of my mother but she always told me not to harm them,†she says.
“Mother also never allowed me to move alone. She had been warned that I possessed the Kabaka's most wanted spirits and I could disappear into the Kabaka's palace for good.â€
When she was 15 years old, a traditional medium advised Nalubega’s mother to build her other child (the snake) a hut and welcome him home from the bush.
Bemba Musota had never been united with his sister since their birth. He had disappeared into the bush immediately after birth but had kept on monitoring and following Nalubega's movements.
A tiny shrine was erected by Nalubega’s mother and a giant green snake, several meters long, emerged. This was in the early 1960s. Nalubega’s life stabilised for a while.
In July 1964, Nalubega was given in marriage to an elderly polygamous Gombolola chief, Peter Kyagulanyi Kiwanuka. She was his third wife and she bore him two children.
“Unfortunately they are dead,†she says. She takes a prolonged moment of silence and says, “My older son Paulo Njunge (RIP) was baby-sat by my brother, the snake. It occasionally shared a bed with him.â€
In reflection of her married life Nalubega remembers an incident when she was newly married.
“I was pregnant with my first child and I went digging with my in-laws. A giant snake emerged from no-where and curled itself around my waist. My in-laws ran for their dear lives, but I remained motionless. Eventually the snake uncoiled itself and disappeared,†she reveals.
Her marriage turned sour shortly after the birth of her second child. Her husband was finding it increasingly hard living with a snake for a brother-in-law.
Kyagalanyi eventually painfully parted with Nalubega, at the end of 1966.
Like her mother, Nalubega too became a tramp moving with her snake brother.
Nalubega says she is now so used to her snake brother and she cannot live without it.
“Musota is my brother and I need his company wherever I go.†She says.
Her brother Omulangira Kimbugwe confirms his sister was born with a snake.
Today, Nalubega lives in a shack (tin house), in Lubiji swamp located along the Kampala-Hoima road. Her shrines, she will tell you, are Ssekabaka Bemba Musota's palace that is surrounded by thick papyrus plants.
Behind the shrines is a big water pond.
Her grandchild, Peter Kyagalanyi, 11, says the green giant snake often leaves its hut and takes canoe rides on the lake. He says her grandmother at times carries it like a baby and feeds it with omubisi (local brew) and raw eggs.
“I have never touched it because it is scary. It often returns home late and enters the house and rests on jaja's (grandma's) mat," he says.
Inside Nalubega's shack are several old-faded mats that serve as carpets. A clean mat preserved in the extreme corner serves as her bed.
Nalubega gave birth to seven children from all the relationships she had but only two children are alive. She is now left with the burden of raising her grandchildren.
She claims that Bemba spirits often speak to her through dreams and visions.
“I have got a message I urgently need to deliver to the President; it is from Bemba Musota and it's on the solutions of ending the war in Uganda,†she says.
According to some Ganda legends Bemba is believed to have been a sorcerer who used to have mystic powers. Bemba was tricked to believe that no leader sleeps with his head on and he had his head beheaded. This marked the end to his spiritual rule in Buganda and began the rule of men.
It is this Bemba Musota that is believed to be incarnated as Nalubega's twin brother.
Editors note: New Vision could not get a comment from Mengo concerning the issue of women giving birth to snake children.
By Fred Nangoli
The brother named Bemba Musota is believed to be Sekabaka Bemba Musota, the last spiritual ruler of Buganda.
“My mother produced two of us on the same day, first she delivered me and later gave birth to my brother, the snake,†she reveals with a smile.
Nalubega says they were both carried home but because of the mystery surrounding their birth, her father Ssekyoya Kasulani Mukasa, a staunch Christian, was shocked by the news. He barred them from entering his house saying they were ‘satanic’.
And as a result, Nalubega's mother became homeless for years, with her mysterious children. Nalubega was too young to understand what was going on.
At the age of 11, she was repeatedly met by snakes. She had just started school at Mwezi Primary School, located 40km on the Kampala-Hoima road.
“I kept on meeting snakes in the company of my mother but she always told me not to harm them,†she says.
“Mother also never allowed me to move alone. She had been warned that I possessed the Kabaka's most wanted spirits and I could disappear into the Kabaka's palace for good.â€
When she was 15 years old, a traditional medium advised Nalubega’s mother to build her other child (the snake) a hut and welcome him home from the bush.
Bemba Musota had never been united with his sister since their birth. He had disappeared into the bush immediately after birth but had kept on monitoring and following Nalubega's movements.
A tiny shrine was erected by Nalubega’s mother and a giant green snake, several meters long, emerged. This was in the early 1960s. Nalubega’s life stabilised for a while.
In July 1964, Nalubega was given in marriage to an elderly polygamous Gombolola chief, Peter Kyagulanyi Kiwanuka. She was his third wife and she bore him two children.
“Unfortunately they are dead,†she says. She takes a prolonged moment of silence and says, “My older son Paulo Njunge (RIP) was baby-sat by my brother, the snake. It occasionally shared a bed with him.â€
In reflection of her married life Nalubega remembers an incident when she was newly married.
“I was pregnant with my first child and I went digging with my in-laws. A giant snake emerged from no-where and curled itself around my waist. My in-laws ran for their dear lives, but I remained motionless. Eventually the snake uncoiled itself and disappeared,†she reveals.
Her marriage turned sour shortly after the birth of her second child. Her husband was finding it increasingly hard living with a snake for a brother-in-law.
Kyagalanyi eventually painfully parted with Nalubega, at the end of 1966.
Like her mother, Nalubega too became a tramp moving with her snake brother.
Nalubega says she is now so used to her snake brother and she cannot live without it.
“Musota is my brother and I need his company wherever I go.†She says.
Her brother Omulangira Kimbugwe confirms his sister was born with a snake.
Today, Nalubega lives in a shack (tin house), in Lubiji swamp located along the Kampala-Hoima road. Her shrines, she will tell you, are Ssekabaka Bemba Musota's palace that is surrounded by thick papyrus plants.
Behind the shrines is a big water pond.
Her grandchild, Peter Kyagalanyi, 11, says the green giant snake often leaves its hut and takes canoe rides on the lake. He says her grandmother at times carries it like a baby and feeds it with omubisi (local brew) and raw eggs.
“I have never touched it because it is scary. It often returns home late and enters the house and rests on jaja's (grandma's) mat," he says.
Inside Nalubega's shack are several old-faded mats that serve as carpets. A clean mat preserved in the extreme corner serves as her bed.
Nalubega gave birth to seven children from all the relationships she had but only two children are alive. She is now left with the burden of raising her grandchildren.
She claims that Bemba spirits often speak to her through dreams and visions.
“I have got a message I urgently need to deliver to the President; it is from Bemba Musota and it's on the solutions of ending the war in Uganda,†she says.
According to some Ganda legends Bemba is believed to have been a sorcerer who used to have mystic powers. Bemba was tricked to believe that no leader sleeps with his head on and he had his head beheaded. This marked the end to his spiritual rule in Buganda and began the rule of men.
It is this Bemba Musota that is believed to be incarnated as Nalubega's twin brother.
Editors note: New Vision could not get a comment from Mengo concerning the issue of women giving birth to snake children.