Ankole needs identity, not a king

Jan 20, 2010

Ankole Kingdom was a colonial institution created by the British through the 1901 Ankole Agreement. It was abolished in 1967, but some people are trying to restore it.

Ankole Kingdom was a colonial institution created by the British through the 1901 Ankole Agreement. It was abolished in 1967, but some people are trying to restore it. While the kingdom was created around the traditional Nkore state, the two are different entities historically, geographically and politically. The colonial Ankole Kingdom is not worth restoring and the Obugabe enthusiasts should instead work to restore Nkore cultural identity through inter-clan diplomacy.

Nkore, by 1900, did not include Igara, Buhweju, Kajara or Ntungamo. These areas were forcefully incorporated by the British under the 1901 Ankole Agreement. The people of these areas were not and perhaps still are not Banyankore. They are Banyaigara, Banyabuhweju, Banyakajara, etc; except that the Constitution now (wrongly) regards them as Banyankore. It is no wonder that the stiffest opposition to the restoration of Obugabe comes from these areas.
The colonial Ankole Kingdom of 1901 — 1967 also excluded areas like Kabura and Bweera (now Lyantonde and Sembabule districts), that had been part of traditional Nkore.

It is also worth noting that the pre-colonial Mugabe was not a monarch or a king, but a spiritual-military leader who earned and maintained his position through clan diplomacy and war.

The confused concept of monarchy in Uganda was introduced by the British as a way of sidelining the traditional leadership to make room for a colonial administration.

All Ugandan societies, like all traditional African societies, were democratic-republican societies not monarchies, including Buganda, Bunyoro, Nkore, etc.

The fact that the leadership was dynastic does not make them monarchical because even republican politics is dynastic (for instance Gandhi, Bhutto, Bush, Clinton, Odinga families, etc).

The traditional titles of Kabaka or Mugabe, therefore, do not equate to “king”, and the concept of a “Buganda Kingdom” or “Ankole Kingdom” is highly deceptive and problematic.

Instead of seeking to crown a king, the Nkore Cultural Trust should, through cultural diplomacy, help the clans of Nkore to federate into a new Nkore cultural identity. The federation would preserve and advance Nkore culture. The writer is a member of Kitara
Charter, a public policy discussion group

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