IDENTITY MANIPULATION AND ISSN: 2531-9744 SPONTANEOUS MOBILIZATION: THE PERSISTENCE OF LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICT IN THE RWENZORI REGION indicated on the map below). Violence was mainly directed against personnel and governmental Stefano Ruzza structures, but civilians and the king palace of another cultural institution, the "Bwamba Among the violent events that have aected – and Kingdom" (Obudhinghiya bwa Bwamba), were unfortunately still aect – Uganda, a prominent also attacked. The level of coordination behind the place is undoubtedly occupied by the insurgency in attacks, which aected a very wide area within a the northern regions, the key gure of which is the short period of time, led analysts to believe that infamous Joseph Kony. Less well known, also due to some unruly Islamists based in Congo (particularly lower levels of violence, are the vicissitudes coming from or linked to the Alliance of aecting the western portion of the country, in Democratic Forces – ADF) organized them, even if particular the region called Rwenzori: an area on the this remains a groundless hypothesis. The attacks border with Congo, which has a long tradition of of July 2014 and the reprisals that followed caused rebellion against the Ugandan government. It has the deaths of about a hundred people, but the also become infamous for a series of episodes that existence of several mass graves with unidentied have caused several hundred deaths altogether. bodies has led to an estimation that doubles the number of initial estimates. In the second The rst episode, and also the bloodiest, dates back half of 2014, the government rushed to start to July 2014, when some hundreds of young people a rehabilitation program that ended with an aliated to one of the cultural institutions of the amnesty being granted to about 500 of those who area, the "Rwenzururu Kingdom" (Obusinga bwa participated in the attacks. Rwenzururu), launched a series of coordinated attacks in the Bundibugyo, Kasese and Ntoroko Tension rose again between February and March districts (the latter created in 2010 in the northern 2016 after the presidential elections, which ended portion of the Bundibugyo district and not yet in yet another conrmation of the president in Map of Uganda. The Rwenzururu Kingdom comprises the Western districts of Bundibugyo, Kasese and Ntoroko, the latter of which was created in 2010 in the northern portion of the Bundibugyo district and is not yet indicated on the map. charge Yoweri Museveni. There were clashes Yoweri Museveni and for his national opponents. It between the numerically dominant ethnic group in was not by accident that in the electoral campaign the region, the Bakonzo, and other ethnic groups before the 2006 general elections (the rst multipar- (primarily Bamba and Basongora), and new attacks ty elections), the opposition to Museveni – organi- on government installations. Violence aected the zed in the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) lead Bundibugyo and Kasese districts and caused a few by Kizza Besigye – promised the foundation of a dozen deaths. In the end, in November 2016, some "Rwenzururu Kingdom" and won the election in the guards loyal to the Rwenzururu Kingdom attacked Kasese district, although it was defeated at national policemen and soldiers in Kasese, generating a level. After the elections, Museveni granted the violent reprisal that saw government forces raid the foundation of the Obusinga bwa Rwenzururu and kingdom’s palace, arrest or kill militiamen loyal to recognized Charles Wesley Mumbere as king. This the king and indict the king himself, Charles Wesley generated two eects that have formed the basis of Mumbere. the violent events that have occurred from 2014 to the present. So how do we understand what is going on in the Rwenzori region? Extensive research on the issue First, this caused a "spontaneous mobilization" of suggests that two factors are particularly crucial: some Bakonzo extremists, who still identify themsel- rst, history, and second, the form that "identity ves with the struggle for independence led by Isaya politics" has taken in recent years, intersecting with Mukirania and want not only to secede from political issues at the national level. With regards to Uganda, but also to unify Bakonzo and Banande in history, the focus is on the Rwenzururu Movement Yira State. This explains why most of the attacks (1962–1982), an insurrectionary and secessionist carried out by aliates or people close to the movement mainly (although not exclusively) Obusinga were aimed at the government. Second, composed of Bakonzo. The quantitive predominance the foundation of the Obusinga itself triggered of the Bakonzo in the region helps to explain a defensive reaction from Bamba and other minori- the dominant role of this ties in the region who do ethnic group in the move- The grave of Kawamara. Photos by Stefano Ruzza not share the agenda of ment, but it is important the Rwenzururu Kingdom to remember that other and do not feel subordi- ethnic groups (rstly the nated to it, despite the Bamba) were also inclu- years of shared struggle. ded in the movement and For this reason, even the shared its agenda. It was Bamba claimed an auto- not accidental that, nomous cultural institu- besides the Bakonzo tion of their own. In May Isaya Mukirania, there 2014, the son of Yeremiya were two Bamba Kawamara, Martin Kamya co-founders: Yeremiya Ayongi, was thus crow- Kawamara and Petero ned king of the Bwamba Mupalya. The presence of Kingdom (Obudhingiya common enemies initially Bwa Bwamba), which overshadowed ethnic dif- generated resentment in ferences; but over time, some Bakonzo. This the weakening of the progressive stiening of perceived “shared threat” not only broke up the identities thus explains the increase in clashes unity of the movement but also increased tensions among ethnic communities. among the groups that composed it. In 1982, the activities of the movement stopped with a ceasere Musuveni has been in power for thirty years now. agreement between the government of Uganda This, combined with the ambitions of self-styled (again ruled by Milton Obote, who succeeded Idi local traditional leaders, implies that the scenario Amin) and Charles Wesley Mumbere, son of Mukirania. observed in the Rwenzori region is replicating in other parts of the country (there were several appli- How is this history linked to the latest cycles of cations for recognition of cultural institutions during violence, then? In 1995, the Constitution of Uganda, the last election campaign). It also leads to imagine a which was still in force, reintroduced the kingdoms probable repetition of these dynamics in the near that had been abolished by mid-1960s leader of future, to the detriment of the unity of the Ugandan Uganda, Milton Obote, although it did not recognize common identity and of the stability of central them as having any power. It also oered the institutions. Unfortunately, it is a scenario that is very opportunity to establish cultural institutions for the conducive to the proliferation of violence. preservation of local customs. An issue though is that a cultural institution can be called a "kingdom" Stefano Ruzza is head of the Violence & Security program at T.wai, and an Assistant Professor at even if there is no historical basis for such a the University of Turin. designation. In the Rwenzori region, the eects of this rule became negative when they intersected with the electoral dynamics: the 2005 constitutional An o-shoot of the Human Security quarterly, amendments introduced multipartyism in Uganda, published in Italian by T.wai, the T.note HS and this made the ethnic card an interesting Series focuses on non-traditional security and "weapon" from the electoral point of view, both for conict transformation. T.note n. 33 June 2017 (HS series #4).