The Constituent Kingdoms of Uganda

Uganda, as a landlocked African nation, experienced colonialism only in the late 19th century, well after European interests had taken control in most other regions of Africa. In the late 19th century it became a protectorate under the British, and unlike many other colonies, the kingdoms and nations within the protectorate retained a wide degree of self-determination. For example, many of the Bantu kings that ruled in the south continued to rule despite the British interests controlling many economic and inter-kingdom affairs. (Like most of Africa’s nations, Uganda’s political boundaries are nonsensical when looking at the peoples that make up its border—see a visualization of this phenomenon here.) Because of this, many aspects of late-nineteenth century African society and the ancient political system survived the colonial experience in Uganda, despite being wiped out in most other parts of the continent.

Perhaps ironically, the Bantu kingdoms that survived the British did not survive their departure. When Uganda became independent in 1963 and abolished commonwealth monarchy, it then proceeded in 1967 to abolish the remaining monarchies. In 1993, the government of President Museveni permitted the Bantu kingdoms to reincorporate, to the extent they were “cultural institutions,” not political insitutions. Of course, politics is inevitable in everything—but the real meaning of the restoration of the kingdoms was that the kings have no powers to tax, and recieve little funding from the government, requiring them to survive on their own business acumen and their connections.

The regions of the five restored kingdoms today look something like this:

There is very little information on the constitutent kingdoms of Uganda available on the Internet, so I’ve compiled this post from a variety of sources. You can read more on the pdf files here, here, and here. I’ve briefly explained the recent history of each kingdom below, referencing the (often very brief) wikipedia page on each kingdom.

Bunyoro
The kingdom of Bunyoro (also known as Bunyoro-Kitara) was created when the quasi-mythical Kitara Empire broke apart in the 16th century. Bunyoro then remained one the most powerful kingdoms of East Africa until the 19th century, when its territory and wealth was slowly taken by Buganda. In July 1890, the entire region north of Lake Victoria was given to Great Britain, which declared the region its protectorate, which Bunyoro resisted. When the king was captured and exiled, yet more territory of Bunyoro was granted to Buganda and Toro, and later put under the administration of Buganda.

Buganda
Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms, the largest Ugandan ethnic group, yet still only consisting of about 17 percent of the population. The name Uganda, the Swahili term for Buganda, was adopted by British officials in 1894 when they established the Uganda Protectorate, centered in Buganda. Kampala, the nation’s capital, is located in Buganda.

Ankole
Ankole, also referred to as Nkore, was ruled by a monarch known as the Mugabe or Omugabe of Ankole. Ankole was incorporated into the Ugandan protectorate in 1901, but remained independent and the Mugabe kept his crown, although he had little influence over the newly bureaucratic governance that controlled his kingdom. The kingdom was abolished in 1967 and restored in 1993, but an updisputed king is still not officially restored because of disagreements between the ruling clans.

Toro
Toro was founded in 1830 when a Prince of Bunyoro rebelled and established his own independent kingdom. It was incorporated back into Bunyoro in 1876, but later it reasserted its independence in 1891. Like Buganda, Bunyoro, Ankole and Busoga, Toro’s monarchy was abolished in 1967 by the government of Uganda, but was reinstated in 1993, at which time its borders receded from its historical boundaries that went to the borders of Uganda, possibly to avoid any conflict that could occur with a region even partially autonomous having control over the national borders.

Busoga
Busoga, while technically one of the restored kingdoms, is not a formal monarchy. It is more closely established as a cultural institution that promotes popular participation ‎and unity among the people of area, and is run as a Royal Council, with 11 members, five of whom are princes. This is believed to be more in-line with how the kingdom was actually governed, the position of king being created by the British during the period of the protectorate.