Tag Archives: banyarukungiri

A message to voters in Rujumbura constituency

Next month (February 2011) you will exercise your right and elect a president, a member of parliament and district councilors for the next five years. The purpose of elections is to choose people that will represent the interests of all the people in their respective constituencies through for example building schools (and providing school lunches), hospitals and clinics, constructing roads, providing affordable energy, improving agriculture, storage and processing facilities. Representatives should implement development promises they make during campaigning time. When a representative does not deliver as promised he/she should not be re-elected.

Like other constituencies in Uganda, Rujumbura has had elections since 1961. For most of the time (some 95 percent) Rujumbura has been represented in parliament by Bashambo clan of Bahororo people.

By way of background information, Bahororo are Batutsi from Rwanda (not Bahima as previously thought. There are no Bahima in Rujumbura) who came to Rujumbura around 1800 as refugees when Bahima overran their short-lived Mpororo kingdom (after it had disintegrated) in present-day Ntungamo district. In collaboration with Arab slave traders who came with superior European weapons, Bahororo managed to defeat and enslave, exploit and marginalize Bantu people they found in the area. Bantu people who were dubbed Bairu (which means slaves) lost their short horn cattle and industrial enterprises. They were reduced to cultivators growing food for and providing free labor to the new masters in a master/serf relationship as existed in pre-colonial Rwanda and medieval Europe. Punishments were severe to prevent rebellions or when they occurred.

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Rujumbura was never part of short-lived Mpororo kingdom

In the beginning

Bantu people are believed to have left Nigeria/Cameroon border on massive and gradual migration about the time of Christ (R. W. July 1998). They entered the great lakes region about 2-3000 years ago. They entered Uganda through south west and/ or western corner. So they are the indigenous occupants of Rujumbura County (remnants of Bambuti are believed by some researchers to be Bantu people who adapted to a forest environment).

Bantu people brought with them short horn cattle, goats, sheep, poultry, crops and knowledge of iron technology (R. O. Collins 2006 & R. Oliver and G. Mathew vol. I 1963). They settled in good areas endowed with fertile and grazing land and iron ore. With iron technology (axes, machetes and hoes), they cleared land and grew a wide range of crops including bananas, grazed animals and manufactured a wide range of products based on resource endowment. They supplemented cultivated foodstuffs with plentiful wild game and fish, fruits and vegetables.

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Similarities in suffering between Rujumbura’s Bairu and Indigenous peoples

The indigenous peoples from all over the world are meeting (April 2010) at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. For the last six years I have attended their meetings. I have listened carefully to their stories and read their publications. Their common theme has been land that has economic and spiritual value. They are therefore trying to hang on to what is left and to utilize it according to their priorities. But they are facing daunting challenges from global demands. Their stories about the negative impact of losing their land are similar to what Rujumbura’s Bairu are experiencing as they lose more land to newcomers. I will compare the experiences of the two groups, draw conclusions and propose corrective actions.

The story of Indigenous people in the Great Lakes Region

Before Bantu-speaking people arrived in the area some 3000 years ago, the Great Lakes Region was occupied by indigenous people (the term ‘indigenous’ has not been accepted by governments in the region because it is considered divisive and the term ‘Pygmy’ has been rejected by indigenous people because it has derogatory meaning). For the purpose of this article, I will use indigenous people for lack of a better term.

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Clearing the fog around Bahororo story in Rujumbura

Many readers have contacted and thanked me for the commendable work I am doing on Bahororo story. They think, however, that I have not done enough to explain who lived in Rujumbura and what they did before 1800 when Bahororo led by Bashambo clan under the leadership of Rwebiraro arrived in search of a new home 60-90 years after the disintegration of Mpororo kingdom which covered parts of southwest Uganda and northern Rwanda.

In Uganda Bahima, under the leadership of Bahinda clan, replaced Bahororo and renamed Bairu (slaves) or commoners the people they took over from Bahororo who had been called Bahororo – the people of Mpororo. Bahororo who founded Mpororo kingdom were Batutsi from Rwanda. So when they founded Mpororo all the people who had been living in the area and known by their clan names became Bahororo.

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