The colonialists’ tool of choice was ‘divide and rule’. Using Toro Kindgom as a platform, they ‘forced’ all other tribes and feudal states in the region to be under that kingdom.
They educated the Batooro and gave them clerical and later administrative jobs while the others did the menial jobs and ‘bupakasi’. Then came independence. With the colonialists gone, the other tribes, the underdogs in the mix (Bakonzo, Bamba and a few of the other groups – Banyabindi, Babwisi, and a few Basongora and Batuku) quickly walked out of the Toro Parliament and started a rebellion (the Rwenzururu Insurrection), with secessionist threats and the fake talk of Yiira Republic. Fed up with this nonsense, Obote abolished all kingdoms and acted decisively to diffuse the insurrection, decapitating their leadership in the 1960s. Strangely, in the early 80s, he made an about-turn to legitimize their identify and re-kindle their heritage by forming Bundibugyo and Kasese Districts. This had the unitended effect of resurrecting their tribalism. Then President Museveni cemented their identity by creating the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu, officially recognizing it in 2012. This outfit was initially in the 60s negotiated by their leader, who having recognized that they were different ethnic groups, avoided the use of any of the tribe’s names and instead chose the unifying name: ‘Rwenzururu’ – i.e. Communities that imbibe the glaciers of Rwenzori. The honey-moon was short-lived as these ‘bu-groups’ who were united in fighting the Batooro, discovered that it was impossible to work together anymore because they had more differences than commonalities. Particularly in the following areas:
- Culture: The Basongora/Batuku, culturally aligned to the Bahima, were pastoralists while the others were agriculturalists.
- Superiority/Inferiority complexes: Being the largest ethnic group and the leaders of the rebellion, the Bakonzo – who were the biggest underdogs under Toro (even seen as inferior by the minority Banyabindi), now felt superior to all other groups and attempted to forment their language, culture etc, in politics, schools etc. Plus the Bakonzo accused other groups of not having participated in the rebellion.
- Land ownership: Previously, the Bakonzo occupied the mountains. More migrations and occupation meant more land – so they had to descend downwards to the lower lands occupied by pastoralists. This was exercerbated by pastoralists being nomadic – when they moved, the other groups occupied their land. The Basongora are said to have been in these low lands for centuries, yet they are described as immigrants. Numbers also played a hand as the Bakonzo were the largest, and the Banyabindi numbered a score of thousands. In areas where pastoralists were near agriculturalists, conflict often brewed as animals cannot mix with crops. The dominant group increasingly laid claim to land, even lower lands.
- Population explosion: Of course you know how Uganda’s population has been growing. 3% pa growth rates led to immense pressure on land. And in these densely populated regions with limited horizontal land, economic participation became more constrained.
- Resource sharing: Education participation by some groups, especially the pastoralists was low. Resource sharing got skewed to the majority. Nepotism in appointments in some districts. Poverty was rampant is the region, yet the main resource, land, was getting scarce.
- Conservation: Gazetting large amounts of land for conservation (National parks) led to displacement of large sections of the population. The host populations often became hostile. The differential needs in land between crop farming and pastoralism also played in the mix
Finally, the politics of division found a platform ripe for disaster. By this time, a level of background conflict was normal in this area. Government thought that creation of these ‘small kingdoms’ would make the dominant ethnic group satisfied, hence calm the region. The minute they created the OBR, other small fiefdoms also started claiming their own – Obudingiya for instance. This brewed more distrust and friction. Within the OBR too, the new king became a divider. He unified decision making. He increased the rhetoric on the legitimacy of the Bakonzo as the de-facto dominant group. He resurrected the joke of separatism. He dissed the old traditional chiefs (who were based on clusters of mountain ridges and who fought in the rebellion) and instead appointed new educated chiefs. Similar to other parts of the interlucustrine kingdoms, cultural institutions became more interested in a political and economic agenda than promotion of culture per-se. The king made an militia, partly clothed as royal guards. Then politicians came in the mix – they exploited the divisions to their own benefit, inciting different groups against the others – telling this group this and the other group that; exploiting mainly the youth who are in this region pathologically poor, idle and excitable.
The government poured fuel into the mix by beginning to suggest ‘curving out another district constructed on ethnic lines’ – as they have done in many other regions. [Remember the people who ate a rat, protesting the dissection of their district]. The new district is to be curved from Kasese, and its anatomy appears to be along the Basongora lines. This in itself initially appears justified because the Basongora have been in this place for ages – from some accounts even longer than the Bakonzo, are a highly land stressed minority at threat of being swallowed by the rapidly increasing Bakonzo, and given the occupation of part of their land, depending on which account you listen to. Moreover, the Bakonzo got OBR – so ping-pong was justified. However, isn’t the creation of ethnic-line districts and small-bu-kingdoms in populations that were painfully beginning to assimilate a dangerous thing? What if the Batuku or the Banyabindi (numbering 15,000) or the Bamba also decide to want a new district each? Plus, as we told the people in Bududa: It is not the land that is getting smaller and smaller, it is the population that is getting bigger and bigger and these two phenomena are different. I think to erase ethnic thinking, we need bigger multi-ethnic districts. When shall we stop all this talk about Ba-this, Ba-that. Soon we shall have Ba-cat, Ba-goat, and ‘Obu-Hexagon-Bwa-Ba-Summer’ when we should instead be becoming blind to tribe.
[I have made these observations based of the report entitled: Managing inter-cultural conflict in the Rwenzori Region:Interventions and aspirations by CCFU – 2014]
Dr. Roy William Mayega (MB.ChB, MPH, PhD) is a lecturer Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Makerere University School of Public Health and can be reached @ Tel: 0756400431 or via email at wromay2000@yahoo.co.uk.
