I’m pretty disappointed with the quality of the media reports concerning the riots in Uganda. Articles from America’s most reputable news sources confuse facts, give insufficient background, and muddle the narrative—and that’s the case in numerous accounts in mainstream outlets. No story explains why “one of the kings” is behind the riots, and why there are multiple kings.
Regular ComingAnarchy readers shouldn’t be so confused—I explained the five constituent kingdoms of Uganda
earlier this year, and you’ll forgive me if I say that post is probably the best concise explanation on the internet of these restored cultural institutions. In a nutshell, landlocked Uganda remained independent from European colonialism longer than most other parts of Africa, and several of its kingdoms survived through colonialism, only to be abolished upon national independence. Uganda restored the five kingdoms in 1993, but only as cultural entities and the kings are not allowed to participate in politics, which practically means they cannot tax and they must raise money through their own business.
The problem gets down to this—the borders of these kingdoms were never finalized, and basically reflect the kingdoms as their borders were at independence. Buganda is the largest kingdom due to its cooperation with the British authorities, who granted the Buganda large land concessions, whereas historically Bunyoro was the largest kingdom, and from which most modern kingdoms received independence.
Bugerere County is one of many places that is part of Buganda but wants to seced. Situated on the map above within Buganda territory south of the lake in the north, it is looking to join the neighboring Buyoro kingdom, and in the wake of its effective secession, the king of Buganda planned to visit there. The government blocked his visit and violent riots erupted in protest.
Bunyoro was the largest kingdom in Uganda from the 16th to 19th centuries, and most other kingdoms won independence from Bunyoro at some time in history. But Bunyoro is also the site of the recent oil discoveries in Uganda, and stands to profit enormously from the extraction—which is even more important for Uganda’s kings since they must finance their own cultural regimes. Bunyoro is respected among the citizenry and perceived by Buganda to receive favoritism from the government (the powerful President Yoweri Museveni has held the position for two decades and is himself a member of the Ankole kingdom).
That is the origin of the crisis, distilled down to a few paragraphs. Uganda has long seemed a peaceful nation when compared to the violence in neighboring Rwanda, DRC, Somalia, and Kenya—but the disputes between and inside the kingdoms of Uganda. Said one member of parliament representing a district inside Bunyoro: “Who says Bunyoro has ever been stable? This situation has been hibernating and now that it is out in the open, it is potentially explosive unless resolved. Of course, oil production will be affected.”
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