While commenting on my article titled “How Rujumbura’s Bairu got impoverished” in The Weekly Observer, December 4 – 10, 2008, Dr. Ephraim R. Kamuhangire brought up the issue of intermarriage in a manner that requires clarification in a larger context – the Great Lakes Region – which offers useful lessons. More information is available in chapter 8 of my new book “Uganda’s Development Agenda in the 21st Century and Related Regional Issues” (2008) available at www.jonesharvest.com.
The Great Lakes Region covers Uganda south of the Nile, North West Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Eastern DRC. The area is peopled by two major groups who entered the region from different directions. Bantu speaking people originated from the Cameroon/Nigeria border and entered Uganda some 3000 years ago through South West corner with short-horn cattle, goats and sheep (R. O. Collins, 2006). The Luo-speaking Nilotic pastoral people entered Uganda about 1400 with long-horn cattle from Southern Sudan (R. O. Collins and J. M. Burns, 2007, R. Y. Pelton, 2003 and B. A. Ogot, 1999).
In Bunyoro, Toro, Buganda and North West Tanzania, Bantu and Luo-speaking people intermarried extensively and the dichotomy between the two disappeared. How did this happen? In Bunyoro “Intermarriage was a policy [King] Kabalega used to unite his country. He himself took wives from all localities, and encouraged his chiefs also to marry girls from different groups” (Michael Tidy, 1980). In Buganda, Kintu and Kimera clans worked out plans whereby each clan would present wives to the king (Kabaka) giving each clan the opportunity to provide a successor (T. Falola, 2000 and R. O. Collins and J. M. Burns, 2007).
In North West Tanzania (Karagwe, Sukuma and Nyamwezi), Bahima abandoned a pastoral way of life. “Through intermarriage the Bahima aristocracy soon lost its racial exclusiveness and became like Bantu subjects. It [aristocracy] also lost its primacy concern for cattle. The small states came to depend upon agriculture and later trade as the primary means of support” (H. A. Gailey 1970).
In the balance of the Great Lakes Region – Ankole, Rukungiri, Burundi, Rwanda and Eastern DRC, intermarriage between Bahima, Batutsi, Bahororo and Banyamulenge (these are the same people who use different names in different places), and Bahutu and Bairu (these are the same people with different names) has been fraught with challenges. The little inter-marriage that has occurred is mostly Bahutu and Bairu men marrying Batusi and Bahima women to be explained below with reference to Ankole and Rwanda.
According to K. Ingham (1965) “The agriculturalists [in Ankole and Rukungiri] who already occupied the land were treated as a subordinate race whose duty it was to produce food for their overloads. There appears to have been relatively little inter-mixture of the two peoples…” To maintain the dominant position, Bahima constructed two conditions – intermarriage between Bahima and Bairu was to be effectively prohibited; and only men of pastoral decent were to own cattle (Lucy Mair, 1974). Thus, no Mwiru was allowed to own productive cattle or marry a Muhima woman. However, an outstanding Mwiru might be admitted to marry a Muhima woman and adopt a pastoral lifestyle (R. Hallet, 1970, Macquet, 1972, Murkerjee, 1985 and Steinhart, 1977).
Thus, until recently, there was a distinct pastoral and agricultural dichotomy. The few inter-marriages that have taken place are largely by educated Bairu men marrying Bahima women.
The history of Rwanda was dominated by economic and social divisions. The feudal system which was abolished in the late 1950s, divided the people into Tutsi lords and Hutu vassals (dependent). A Muhutu was allowed to retain one cow as a marriage dowry for each of his sons (R. H. Carr, 1999). Thus, a Muhutu rarely married a Mutusi woman in large part because one cow was not enough for dowry purposes and the daughter of a chief often married the son of another chief, reminiscent of medieval Europe. On the other hand a Tutsi who lost his cattle and took to tilling was shunned by Tutsi girls and often ended up marrying a Hutu woman (SAPEM July, 1994, J. Merriman, 1996, R. O. Collins and J. M. Burns, 2007).
According to N. J. Kressel (2002) “Unmarried Tutsi boys would be given Hutu girls, temporarily, for sex purposes. Intermarriage occurred, but usually with successful Hutu men marrying Tutsi women. Tutsi men would take Hutu women as concubines, rather than marrying them.” In Ntarama area 33 percent of Tutsi girls were married to Hutu men while only one percent of Hutu girls were married to Tutsi men (Transition, Issue 87. V10N3).