28 •
The Lion King
• October - December 2016
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Country Focus
Bunyonyi lake in Uganda
Photo by Pichugin Dmitry / Shutterstock.com
The Buganda monarchy presents one
of the best documentations of kingship
in Africa. The head of the kingdom is
the King locally known as Kabaka. The
current king of Buganda, His Highness
Ronald Mutebi II was crowned the
36th Kabaka of Buganda in 1993.
The eastern region is another diverse
area comprised of a number of dif-
ferent tribal groups including; Bagisu,
Basamia/Bagwe, Basoga, Bagwere,
Iteso, Japadhola, and the Sebei
among others. Apart from other
groups, the Basoga present a distinc-
tive kingship in eastern Uganda with
their King locally known as Kyabazinga.
As in many African countries, dance is
an important part of ceremonies and
special occasions. Uganda’s different
peoples have their own special danc-
es. For example, in the eastern region,
the Basoga practice a dance known
as Tamenhaibunga which expresses
the importance of love and friend-
ship. Its name literally means ‘good
friends drink together and don’t fight
in case they break the gourd holding
the drink’.
Probably the most widely recog-
nised Ugandan dance is the Kiganda
dance, where the performers move
their lower body to a drum-beat. It’s
a tricky dance, requiring great skill to
keep the upper torso controlled and
rotate to the music from the waist
down. The dance has many variations
for different occasions, but the version
often seen is the one performed in
honour of the Baganda king.
Ugandan cuisine consists of tradition-
al and modern cooking styles, prac-
tices, foods and dishes in Uganda,
with English, Arab, and Asian (espe-
cially Indian) influences. Most tribes
in Uganda have their own specialty
dish or delicacy. Many dishes include
various vegetables, potatoes, yams,
bananas and other tropical fruits.
Chicken, fish (usually fresh, but there
is also a dried variety, reconstituted for
stewing).
Religion plays an important part
of daily life in Uganda. Over 80%
of Ugandans are Christian, either
Protestant or Catholic and close to
10% are Muslims, a strong legacy of
the Arab traders who came to the
country in the 19th century.
W
inston Churchill famously
labelled Uganda as the ‘Pearl
of Africa’. The country offers
some of the most breath-taking wild-
life terrain in the world. Uganda is also
home to some of the Africa’s most
revered landmarks like UNESCO world
heritage site, the Kasubi Tombs. Built
in the 1880s, the tombs are a sacred
burial ground of four former kings of
