A History of Ethnicity in the Kingdom of Buganda Since 1884
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Peripheral Identities in an African State: A History of Ethnicity in the Kingdom of Buganda Since 1884 Aidan Stonehouse Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Ph.D The University of Leeds School of History September 2012 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to thank my supervisor Shane Doyle whose guidance and support have been integral to the completion of this project. I am extremely grateful for his invaluable insight and the hours spent reading and discussing the thesis. I am also indebted to Will Gould and many other members of the School of History who have ably assisted me throughout my time at the University of Leeds. Finally, I wish to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council for the funding which enabled this research. I have also benefitted from the knowledge and assistance of a number of scholars. At Leeds, Nick Grant, and particularly Vincent Hiribarren whose enthusiasm and abilities with a map have enriched the text. In the wider Africanist community Christopher Prior, Rhiannon Stephens, and especially Kristopher Cote and Jon Earle have supported and encouraged me throughout the project. Kris and Jon, as well as Kisaka Robinson, Sebastian Albus, and Jens Diedrich also made Kampala an exciting and enjoyable place to be. This research has drawn on the expertise of individuals at numerous institutions and I am indebted particularly to archivists at the Church Missionary Society Archives at the University of Birmingham, the Archives of the Mill Hill Fathers in Liverpool and the White Fathers in Rome, the National Archives in London and Entebbe, Cambridge African Studies Department and Makerere University Library. I would also like to thank Linda Roberts for her kindness in assisting with translations. In addition, the research could not have been carried out without the help of numerous people within Uganda. Godfrey Assimwe welcomed me to Kampala, provided practical assistance and intellectual encouragement, and made time in his busy schedule to show me the country on which he is so knowledgeable. I enjoyed our field trips immensely. The process of interviewing and translating documents was made possible through the work of several excellent research assistants including Phiona in Kampala, Freddy in Buvuma, and 10M. Majanja Zaalyembikke in Ssese. Most importantly of alii owe a huge and sincere thank you to Gerald Lubega, a brilliant researcher and friend, for his commitment, intelligence and companionship. Finally, I can't let this opportunity pass to thank friends, family and everyone else who has helped me in one way or another over the last four years. I am particularly indebted to my parents, Chris and Neil, sister, lona, and grandparents Les, Des and Doris for their patience, encouragement and inspiration, and to my gran, Connie, who is no longer with us. I am sincerely grateful also to the Warren family for their support, and especially Pat and Fran. Most of alii would like to thank Saskia Warren without whom the project would never have been completed. For her wisdom, tolerance and intellectual insight I am eternally grateful. She has been my confidant and my best friend and I dedicate this thesis to her. I should conclude by saying that if I have received invaluable assistance from many individuals throughout this project, all mistakes are entirely my own. Abstract This thesis examines how the expansion of the Ugandan Kingdom of Buganda in the late nineteenth century stimulated complex and contrasting processes of assimilation and ethnic attachment. Re-orienting Buganda's history away from its frequently studied political and cultural heartlands, it analyses how incorporation within the kingdom's extended colonial boundaries shaped the experiences and identities of communities on the kingdom's peripheries. This work engages with and builds upon new themes in Buganda's long historiographical tradition which have begun to critically address the importance of history from beyond the centre. Through extensive archival research as well as the use of oral histories, the thesis draws upon peripheral histories to provide fresh perspectives on the colonial Ganda state. By considering Buganda through its relationship to newly incorporated peoples, this thesis develops understandings of the relationship between the kingdom and British authorities, as well as of the often cited Ganda ability to incorporate strangers. This research further contributes to the significant literature surrounding identity in Africa arguing that the relatively autonomous position of Buganda within Uganda's colonial framework provides a distinctive setting in which to reassess notions of "invention" and agency in the development of twentieth-century African ethnicities. Focusing on several regions brought into the kingdom at the outset of British imperial intervention, this thesis argues that variations in Buganda's responses to the populations of these territories encouraged disparities in the readiness of individuals and communities to accept participation in the Ganda ethnic sphere. Where assimilative processes were imposed in a coherent or oppressive manner they actively challenged continuity in "tradition" and identity and were less effective in facilitating ethnic adaptation. Contents Abbreviations Glossary ii Chapter 1: Introduction 1-29 1.1 Fire at Kasubi 1.2 The argument 1.3 Ethnicity in African history 1.4 Reorienting Ganda history 1.5 Sources 1.6 Thesis structure Chapter 2: Cultural, political and geographical frontiers; 30-85 borders and boundaries in pre-colonial Buganda 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Kkooki, Kabula and Mawogola: Buganda's new south-west 2.3 Buruli and Bugerere: the eastern "Lost-Counties" 2.4 The Buvuma Isles: an autonomous archipelago 2.5 The Ssese Islands: a case apart 2.6 Conclusion Chapter 3: An identity imposed? 86-151 Assimilative processes in the colonial Ganda state 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The "Lost Counties": attempting absolute assimilation 3.3 Forces for assimilation in Buganda's non-Nyoro peripheries 3.4 Assimilation in the "Acquired Counties": an incoherent application 3.5 Conclusion Chapter 4: Understanding variables in ethnic change: 152-183 adaptation and resistance in the peripheries 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Rethinking the "limits to ethnic change" 4.3 Acculturation and peripheral momentum in the "Acquired Counties" 4.4 Conclusion Chapter 5: Peripheral momentum towards "being Ganda": 184-222 "modernity", ethnic participation and identity layering 5.1 Introduction 5.2 'Civilisation started in Buganda': "modernity" and ethnicity in the "Acquired Counties" 5.3 Understanding ethnic attachment 5.4 Conclusion Chapter 6: Conclusion 223-234 6.1 Concluding remarks 6.2 Buganda today: the peripheries in modern politics References 235-256 Figures 257-259 Fig.I. Photograph handed to author with the apparent depiction of Governor Sir Andrew Cohen and Kabaka Mutesa II signing the 1955 Buganda Agreement. Unknown, 1955. Fig. 2: Map of Buganda prior to 1964 with the regions of study highlighted. Author: Vincent Hiribarren. Reproduced with permission. Fig. 3: Map of Buganda after the 1964 referendum which returned Buyaga and Bugangaizi to Bunyoro. Author: Vincent Hiribarren. Reproduced with permission. Fig. 4: Map of Bunyoro's "Lost Counties". Reproduced with permission from Elliott Green. Fig.5. Map of Buganda population density. Author: Vincent Hiribarren, 2012. Reproduced with permission. Fig. 6: Kabaka Yekka membership card obtained by author during field research in Kkooki. The card was filled out with my details by a former KY organiser. Author: Aidan Stonehouse, July 2010. Abbreviations Archive of the White Fathers WFA Rome Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies RHO Rhodes House, University of Oxford British National Archives BNA Kew Gardens, London Papers of E.M.K. Mulira CCAS Cambridge Centre for African Studies Church Missionary Society Archive CMS University of Birmingham Church Missionary Society Intelligencer MULCMS Makerere University African Library Evidence Given Before the Privy Council Commission ECPC Copies in Personal Possession Indigenous and English Language Newspapers MUL NEWS Makerere University African Library Uganda Protectorate Unmarked Papers MUL PRO Makerere University Africana Library St Joseph of the Mill Hill Mission Archive MHA Freshfield Uganda National Archive UNA Entebbe Uganda National Archive, Secretariat Minute Papers UNASMP Entebbe Wellcome Centre Archive WCA London Glossary Biito princely clan of Bunyoro, Kkooki, Bugerere and Buruuli Ebitongole Buganda chiefships created in the late 1700's Ggombololo Buganda sub-county Lukiiko Buganda parliament Kabaka King of Buganda Kamuswaga King of Kkooki, pre-1896; County chief of Kkooki, post- 1896 Katikiiro prime minister Lubaale deity, hero-god Mailo approximately one square mile, implemented after 1900 Miruka Buganda parish Omukama King of Bunyoro Ssaza Buganda county ii Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1: Fire at Kasubi On the evening of the 16th March 2010 an intense fire swept through the royal enclosure at Kasubi Hill. As the flames spread across straw thatching and engulfed the immense grass hut structures housing the tombs of four of the Kingdom of Buganda's recent kings and