Box Turtle Bulletin

Uganda Burning

Virtually all of our reporting over Uganda has been mostly limited to the international furor over the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill that has been introduced before Uganda’s Parliament. Last week, I discussed some of the possible reasons for Parliament’s slow movement on the bill, which had been presented as being so urgent and a high priority. Now other events in Uganda which threaten to overwhelm the government are likely to take center stage for quite a while. While it is possible that these events may prove to be enough of a distraction to allow the anti-gay bill to quietly slip through, it is more likely that the government may have more important things to worry about for the time being.

The Ugandan government has its hands full on several fronts all of the sudden. Earlier this month, there was the tragic landslide in Bududa district, which has resulted in at least 300 deaths. President Yoweri Museveni’s government has come under harsh criticism for its slow response to the tragedy. Then on Monday night of this week, two Makerere University students were shot and killed by security guards at a university dormitory. Local police quickly moved to arrest the shooter and disarm the rest of the guards, but that hasn’t gone very far to quell massive demonstrations which have engulfed the campus of Uganda’s largest university. Both students were Kenyans, which adds an international element to the shootings. Kenya has formally protested the killings.

Map of Uganda, with the Buganda kingdom shown in green (Click to enlarge).

As bad as all of that is, it may prove to be a minor distraction compared to the dangerous developments that are now unfolding in the traditional kingdom of Buganda. Uganda is divided into several such traditional kingdoms, with the kingdom of Buganda being nominally headed by a traditional king (known as a Kabaka) and his cabinet. Their positions have cultural significance, but under Uganda’s constitution they hold no political power. Nevertheless, the Kabaka, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, is widely revered and respected among the Baganda. Tensions between the Kabaka and Museveni have been building ever since the Ugandan government blocked the Kabaka from visiting the disputed Kayunga district just outside of Kampala last September. Several days of intense rioting broke out, and the government shut down several radio stations operated by or sympathetic to the Kabaka. Dozens were reportedly killed, and more than 400 arrested and detained by police.

The Kasubi Tombs

Those tensions are about to flare again.

The Kasubi Tombs are the royal tombs for four previous Kabakas. The royal enclosure at Kasubi hill was first built in 1881, and was built in the traditional Baganda style with wood frame and thatched roof. The tombs were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, and they remain an important spiritual and political site for the Baganda people.

Last night, the historic Tombs went up in flames, in what is widely believed to be an arson fire. According to Uganda’s Daily Monitor:

Kasubi Tombs burning (Joseph Kiggundu / Daily Monitor)

Hundreds of Kingdom subjects, some prostrating, crying and screaming, gathered in front of the embers. The grass-thatched hut was completely destroyed within minutes, leaving the skeletal brick wall. The burial grounds, revered by the Baganda, are 128 years old.

Witnesses said the blaze started around 8:30pm. One woman, Lydia Nabambulide, said she heard “a loud explosion” behind the tombs, just before the fire began. She said: “I saw a white box wrapped in something like bark cloth and it looked strange.”

A white numberless pickup truck reportedly emerged from the tombs shortly after the fire broke out, Mr Andrew Jjuko said, quoting Boda Boda [motorcycle taxi] men who were at the scene.

The Kabaka has already made a visit to the ruined tombs, as has President Museveni, but not before soldiers fired live rounds into a crowd of hundreds who had gathered at the tombs to grieve and block the President’s visit. Two are dead, with the more five injured being treated at Kampala’s main hospital. [Update: Uganda’s The Independent puts the death toll at five.]

Anne Mugisha puts this tragedy into context:

The mind of a Muganda might grasp the idea of an exiled king, even a king denied the right of passage through his own kingdom — they were well prepared for such incidents by the history of tension between their kingdom and central government.  Nothing has prepared the Baganda for an attack on this significant symbol of their culture.  African cultures show great respect for the dead and all burial grounds are sacred.  Kasubi tombs was that much more sacred because it is a burial ground for the kings.  This attack will be understood by many as an attempt to destroy their culture.

…And so if someone torched Kasubi tombs last night, who will stop them from torching the palace at Bulange?  Have they not already torched the King’s own school in Buddo?  How many arsonists have been brought to trial since this wave of arson hit the country.  Who is answerable for these fiery crimes?  If someone torched Kasubi last night they also torched the spirit of Buganda and an invisible line has been crossed by Uganda as a nation.  We have entered a dark, fiery, and smoky place that feels my heart with fear for the Kingdom and the country as a whole.

Meanwhile, this morning’s Daily Monitor reports that rioting at Makerere University continues unabated.