What started as a series of low-key meetings at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kampala to plan King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru’s visit to Kigezi ended up as a historic two-day tour celebrating the deep historical ties between Tooro and Kigezi.
In 2018, a group of Bakiga, or Banyakigezi, who had migrated to Tooro several decades earlier in search of land, visited King Oyo’s Palace with gifts to express their appreciation to the Kingdom for giving their ancestors land.
They also made a request: that the King visit Kigezi to see the place where they originated.
King Oyo accepted, and preparations began.
Under their umbrella, the Banyakigezi-Rwenzori Association, led by chairman Richard Twinamasiko, they approached another sister organisation, the International Community of the Banyakigezi-Uganda Chapter, to jointly organise the visit.
The preparatory meetings, chaired by former Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, brought together several prominent people from the former greater Kigezi region, including then Bank of Uganda Governor Prof Tumusiime Mutebile, ministers, MPs and other leaders.
After weeks of planning, King Oyo, accompanied by a delegation of his ministers, dancers and royal guards, arrived in Kigezi for a historic visit from August 22 to 24, 2019.
The tour took him to the home of legendary Kigezi statesman Paul Ngorogoza in Bukinda, Rukiga District, Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale and, eventually, a dialogue around a campfire with elders and young people in a culturally rich event known as “Ekigaaniiro”, a Rukiga word for a gathering to share stories and ideas.
Although the Bakiga do not have a traditional kingdom, with many traditionally considering the head of each household a king in his own right, the excitement and respect shown to King Oyo by the multitudes that turned up at Satellite Hotel at Rwahi, on the border between Kigezi and Ankole, was remarkable.
He had lunch there and toured a museum at the site.
Hundreds of people lined the roads, chanting and singing, with occasional outbreaks of the earth-shaking Kizino dance.
When the delegation arrived at Ngorogoza’s home in Ahabufureeka, Bukinda, it was received by an even larger crowd.
The King and his delegation were led into the home by a band from Brainstorm High School, which performed songs celebrating the friendship between King Oyo’s grandfather, Rukidi, and Ngorogoza, a relationship that paved the way for thousands of Bakiga to migrate to Tooro.
How the migration happened
The migration dates back to the 1950s, when Ngorogoza, a colonial administrator, became concerned about the pressure on the limited and increasingly depleted land in Kigezi.
After learning that there were large expanses of unoccupied land in Tooro, he travelled there and went to the Palace of King Rukidi.
The two became friends, and Ngorogoza requested the King to allow some Bakiga to migrate to Tooro and be given land.
King Rukidi accepted.
In 1954, the first group of Bakiga made the long journey to Tooro. Ngorogoza even persuaded the colonial government to provide large trucks to transport the migrants, who came to be known in Tooro as “bafuruki”.
By the time Uganda gained independence in 1962, thousands of people from Kigezi had settled in Tooro.
They tilled the land with the characteristic energy and zeal for which Bakiga are known, growing maize, beans, peas, cassava, bananas, coffee and sweet potatoes and producing substantial harvests.
Over the years, they established businesses, worked alongside their hosts and contributed to the growth of the region’s economy.
From being referred to as bafuruki, they gradually intermarried with the Batooro and forged strong social and cultural bonds.
At the last coronation anniversary of King Oyo, the Banyakigezi community in Tooro was part and parcel of the celebrations.
But settling in the new lands was not easy.
The forests were home to wild animals, including lions, leopards and hyenas. Stories have been passed down of men fighting leopards with their bare hands, with some emerging victorious while others were killed in the encounters.
At Ngorogoza’s home, speaker after speaker praised King Rukidi, King Oyo’s grandfather, for his generosity and friendship towards the Banyakigezi.
Perhaps the most memorable speech that Thursday evening came from the then Rukiga District chairman, Dr Alex Kampikaho.
After exchanging warm pleasantries, Dr Kampikaho lowered his voice and told King Oyo: “Your Majesty, we thank you and your grandfather for the kind heart that opened Tooro to our brothers and sisters. But the pressure on land that existed then still exists now — waaba okyayineyo akataka (if you still have some land…)”
He did not complete the sentence before the audience erupted into prolonged laughter.
“Turakushaba ngu okatuhe — we beg that you give us some more land,” he added.
Everyone, including King Oyo, joined in the laughter.
It is said that kings generally do not show their teeth in public, but this appeared to be a special occasion.
Before the audience could recover, Dr Kampikaho had another request.
“Your Majesty, we have many beautiful girls in Kigezi…” he said.
Again, before he could finish, King Oyo began smiling and the audience broke into laughter.
When the laughter subsided, Dr Kampikaho completed his statement.
“If there are any Batooro young men looking for girls to marry, they should not look any further.”
Many thought he was indirectly suggesting that, should King Oyo ever choose to marry, he should consider a Mukiga lady.
To conclude his remarks, Dr Kampikaho added: “And while returning from accompanying their sisters for marriage, kindly allow our boys to come back with some Batooro ladies.”
At Ngorogoza’s home
At Ngorogoza’s home, we were received by his only surviving son, Pakoma, who was accompanied by several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The home was being renovated and transformed into a museum by the Kigezi Development Forum, whose patron was the late businessman James Garuga.
Before leaving the home, King Oyo launched a book project by historian Dr Kaban Kabananukye to document the historical relationship between Kigezi and Tooro.
Engaging the youth
The second day of the visit, August 23, began with a conversation with more than 1,000 young people at Agaba Hall in Kigongi, on the outskirts of Kabale town.
King Oyo was joined by former Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, former Bank of Uganda Governor Tumusiime Mutebile, then UNAIDS country director Karusa Kiragu, former State Minister for Finance David Bahati, former State Minister for Gender Peace Mutuzo, former Rukiga District Woman MP Caroline Kamusiime Muhwezi and other dignitaries.
The discussion focused on how to combat the spread of HIV among young people.
It was an appropriate subject, given that King Oyo was then a UN ambassador for HIV prevention and the growing realisation that the country needed renewed emphasis on prevention through the ABC approach — abstinence, being faithful and condom use.
Children from several schools in Kabale town turned up in large numbers to see a young King.
They were particularly fascinated by members of his entourage prostrating themselves when greeting him.
In Kigezi, people generally do not prostrate or even kneel in greeting.
An attempt to establish the position of Rutakirwa, the equivalent of a king of Kigezi, in the 1950s and 1960s was met with indifference and disdain and was quickly abandoned.
After interacting with the youth, King Oyo and his delegation visited two significant hills in Kabale.
At Rugarama, the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Kigezi, he was received by Bishop George Bagamuhunda and taken on a tour of a church project involving the multiplication of potato seedlings to improve yields, incomes and livelihoods.
He later visited Rushoroza, where Bishop Callist Rubaramira of the Kabale Catholic Diocese showed him a large tea plantation, also aimed at improving household incomes.
King Oyo was then taken to Arcadia Cottages on top of Kakomo Hill, where he had a chance to take in the breathtaking scenery overlooking Lake Bunyonyi before having lunch at BirdNest Resort by the shores of the lake.
This brought back fond memories for me because I had travelled this route many times as a student at Lake Bunyonyi Secondary School on Bwama Island in the early 1990s.
Ekigaaniiro
The climax of the second day was a dialogue around a campfire in the lush gardens of the historic White Horse Inn Hotel on Makanga Hill in Kabale.
Dubbed “Ekigaaniiro”, the conversation brought back memories of years gone by when families would sit around fires in their compounds and listen to stories, riddles and parables told by elders.
Retired Bishop Rwobusisi, a mufuruki who migrated from Kabale to Tooro and became fully established there, spoke about his personal journey to Tooro in the 1950s.
Mzee Yosamu Baguma, a former Kabale District chairman, also narrated how he witnessed the migration, including people being loaded onto trucks bound for Tooro.
Former Prime Minister Rugunda spoke glowingly about the significance of King Oyo’s visit to Kigezi, describing it as groundbreaking and a step in the right direction towards consolidating the already strong ties between Tooro and Kigezi.
Grace Mutebile, president of the Banyakigezi Community Uganda Chapter, said the visit had strengthened relations between the two communities and called for initiatives to further deepen the ties.
King Oyo expressed appreciation for the warm welcome he received in Kigezi and said the visit should mark the beginning of efforts to further strengthen the friendship between the two peoples.
The evening then turned into a celebration, with traditional folk songs, dancing and different local brews, including enturire, muramba and bushera.
A final stop
On his way out of Kabale, King Oyo paid a courtesy visit to Grace Villa, a sanctuary for vulnerable girls that provides shelter, education, medical care and other forms of support.
He was welcomed by young girls wearing T-shirts bearing the home’s motto: “We rise by lifting others.”
The founder of the sanctuary, Ruth Ndyabahika, accompanied by her mother, Rev Canon Grace Ndyabahika, explained how she got the vision to establish the home and left her job and the comfort of Boston, Massachusetts, where she was a permanent resident, to settle in Kabale and care for vulnerable girls.
King Oyo’s visit to Kigezi remains etched in the minds and memories of those who witnessed it.
For me, it was a particularly memorable experience. I was delighted to be among the organisers and to have the opportunity to interact with the King at close range.
The visit was more than a royal tour. It was a reminder of a shared history, the movement of people in search of land and opportunity, and the bonds that have grown between the people of Kigezi and Tooro over generations.
It was also a celebration of the generosity of King Rukidi and the efforts of Ngorogoza, whose friendship helped shape a chapter of migration that continues to influence the relationship between the two communities today.
The writer, Julius Mucunguzi, is the Head of Public Relations and Spokesperson of the Electoral Commission of Uganda.
