Western Uganda

The Batooro

The Batooro are an ethnic group in western Uganda inhabiting the districts of Kabarole, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Kamwenge and others in Kasese. The Batooro are believed to have originated from the bachwezi and babiito line by some people and others say they are from the Batembuzi and Bagabu. 

However the Batooro consist of two societies including the Bahuma who are cattle keepers and the Bairu who are farmers or agriculturalists. The Bahuma provide milk, meat,ghee, hides and skins to the Bairu while the Bairu give Bahuma some food crops and beer.

According to the Batooro culture, marriage was so essential in a way that a man was not considered a man unless he got married. Marriage was organized by the parents of the girl and the parents of the boy without the consent of the children but late the consent of the girl was sought, then the parents of the boy involved the middle man known as “Kibonabuko”to do research on the characters of the girl and her family. After the research was completed, the middle man on behalf of the boy would go ahead and meet the parents of the girl asking him to be allowed to marry his daughter. Upon the father’s consent, the boy would bring the bride price in the form of cows and all the ceremonies done and finally they get married officially. 

The kingdom’s palace

Tooro kingdom was formed in 1830 after Omukama Kaboyo Olimi l the eldest son of Omukama of Bunyoro Nyakamaturu Kyebambe lll broke off from Bunyoro kingdom and created his kingdom which is Tooro kingdom. 

Tooro palace on the hills of Kabarole overlooking Fort Portal town with panoramic views is a home where the king of Tooro Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru resides. The king of Tooro came on the throne in 1995 when he was only three years after the death of his father George Rukudi ll whose death was not certain up to now. The Tooro kingdom was destroyed during the reign of Idi Amin Dada as he ordered the abolition of royal kingdoms but was restored in 2001 by the funding from the late Libyan president Col. Mwuama Gadaffi and was built in FortPortal town.

The king’s palace of Tooro kingdom is an important historical site because it preserves the culture of the batooro tribe and the past of the last kings of Tooro where they were taught the values and cultures of the kingdom. Around the royal palace you will also find the Karambi royal tomb where the kings of Tooro are buried.

The Batooro also have the “Empaako ” ceremony which is a big ceremony in Tooro land. Empaako is a naming ceremony usually done when there is a new born baby born in the family and normally done 3 days for a girl and 4 days for aboy after birth, when someone crosses from another tribe to Tooro tribe or when a mutooro marries from another tribe. Here after the naming the names, the family of the baby together with invited guests share a meal of millet with smoked beef known as “Omukalo ” accompanied with songs, sharing gifts to the baby and a tree is planted in remembrance.

In the ceremony pet names are given out depending on the decision of the parents of the baby, names like Abwooli, Adyeeri, Amooti, Akiiki, Ateenyi, Alaali, Abooki among others. The Batooro and Bunyoro greet each other by their pet name which shows respect especially to the elder ones.

While on your Uganda culture tour, Tooro land should not be missed because you get to learn more about the Batooro and their culture.

The Banyoro.

The Banyoro is an ethnic group in western Uganda that inhabits the districts of Masindi, Hoima, Kibale, Buliisa, Kiryandongo among others. It is also a Bantu tribe speaking the bantu language referred to as Runyoro.

Just like the Batooro, the Banyoro also have a naming ceremony also known as Empaako where children after birth are given names and pet names including Akiiki, Abwooli, Adyeeri, Apuuli, Acaali, Ateenyi, Amooti among others. To be different from the batooro, the banyoro names the baby after 3 months if it’s a girl and 4 months if it is a boy child. These names are given to them by their parents, grandparents and other relatives.

The Banyoro were polygamous in nature and it was so because bride price was not so much where by it was affordable and more so paid later when the marriages were stable. 

Bunyoro palace

A visit to the Omukama’s palace Karuzika is a delightful moment which helps you to learn more about the culture and people of Bunyoro. Inside the palace there is Nyamayaro museum where the past history of Bunyoro kingdom starts from, the museum consists of the spears, swords, drums, ancient arrows and musical instruments which are used by the Omukama.

There are also burial places or tombs of the kings of Bunyoro where they are put to rest. For example the Omukama chwa Kabalega ll that resisted colonial rule was laid at mparo tombs. There is also the escape cave for Omukama Kabalega in Katasiiha.

The Banyoro celebrate the new moon celebrations where the royal men get to dance and drum for the king at his palace, appreciating the king for having lived to see the new moon.

The Banyoro also celebrate the Empango ceremony which usually takes place at the king’s palace at Karuziika. Thousands and thousands of people come and gather at Karuziika for celebrations upon the king’s coronation. The locals bring harvests of food as gifts to the Omukama in honor of his leadership.

The current king of Bunyoro is Omukama Solomon Iguru Gafabusa.

The Bambuti

The Bambuti is an indigenous pygmy group that inhabits the Ituri forest of eastern Congo (Kinshasa) and in Bundibugyo, Kasese districts in Uganda and around Semuliki National park on the border with Democratic Republic of Congo. The Bambuti are a minority group with a population of 30000 to 40000 people and known to be the shortest people in Africa.

The Bambuti are described to be the most backward people because they stay in the forests like animals with no food and clothes that live by hunting and gathering. The Bambuti do not have a permanent settlement since they are hunters, they build temporary huts depending on where they find food. 

The Bambuti are believed to be pygmies that have been the first inhabitants of the Rwenzori mountain areas before any other people came, they stayed in the Congo forest which was their original base and speak the kumbuti language.

The Bambuti are relatively close relatives to the Batwa people which make them similar in so many ways. Just like the Batwa that you can meet on your safari to south western Uganda, the Bambuti can also be met on your safari to Semuliki National park and learn about their lifestyle while living in the forests as their preferred home. 

They hunters and gatherers just like the Batwa which make them nomadic moving from place to place looking for food, they hunt all kinds of animals like bush pigs, elephants, antelopes, birds and where they kill an animal is where they camp until the meat is finished then they will move to another place. 

The Bambuti also stay put up huts where they stay, roofed with leaves and normally they are have small entrances which requires the Bambuti to enter while crawling with their knees 

The Bambuti naturally are aggressive and very tough people in a way that they cannot be threatened by their enemies. They even go to the neighbor’s shambas and pick food without asking permission. Due to their aggressiveness the owners of the gardens will not penalize them.

The Bambuti feed on meat from the wild animals they hunt but sometimes supplement it with sweet potatoes that they exchange with the farmers for meat. The hunting and gathering is done by men while women are supposed to look after the house and lift luggage when time for migrating comes. 

However the Bambuti also do not have an addressing code because almost all of them stay naked and sometimes cover up with a piece of back cloth since they do not put on real clothes.

The Bambuti are an amazing group of people also referred to as the pygmies residing in the Ituri forest of eastern Congo and in Bundibugyo and Kasese districts that are worth a visit while on your Uganda cultural tour.

The Batwa.

The Batwa commonly known as the pygmies are an indigenous group of people residing in south western Uganda and Rwanda in Mgahinga, Bwindi impenetrable forests and Echuya forest in Kisoro district. The batwa are also believed to have migrated from Ituri forest in eastern Congo as they moved from one place to another, hunting and gathering wild animals so they came up to the southern part of Uganda for hunting and this is where the name Kisoro is deprived since it was occupied by wild animals.

The Batwa originally lived in the tropical rainforests of Bwindi and they were referred to as the forest keepers who co-existed with the gorillas. They are believed to have stayed in the forests for over 60000 years and more before it was gazetted into a National park. They did not destroy the forest at all by cutting down trees, burning charcoal, cultivating the land to grow crops since they loved the jungle like they loved themselves.

The population of pygmies is about 6000 people in Uganda in the districts of Kanungu, Kabale, Bundibugyo, Kisoro that survive on hunting of wild animals and gathering plants, fruits among others for survival.

After the batwa were evicted from the forests, they felt so bad and started the hunting of wild animals which were being protected in the National parks of Bwindi and Mgahinga, the government decided to consider them and the batwa trails were introduced to be visited by the tourists who come for gorilla trekking.

The batwa were referred to as the gorilla poachers and killers but in reality they lived well with them and protected them. The time when the Bantu started inhabiting the jungle they started poaching, cutting down trees, grazing their animals in the forests.

Non batwa do not want to marry batwa women but end up raping them claiming having intercourse with them heals HIV/AIDS

 A visit to the batwa community in the forest helps to promote the culture and the traditions of the batwa. Visitors and tourists tour the batwa trails with the batwa guides and get to learn more about the batwa people, their traditional dances and hand crafts among others for entertainment.

The Bafumbira

The bafumbira is an ethnic group in Uganda inhabiting the southern part of Uganda in Kisoro district on the foothills of Muhabura ranges. They are bordered by the Rwandese in the south, the Congolese in the west and the Bakiga.

On the Mufumbiro hills is where the Bafumbira resides a tribe which was first known as the Rwandese and the government of Uganda considered them Rwandan – Bafumbira since they speak the language that is similar to the Kinyarwanda of Rwanda. The confusion was brought by the mixture of Banyarwanda and bakiga that inhabit the mufumbiro mountains.

However the 1995 Uganda constitution recognized the Bafumbira as an independent tribe that came after intermarriages between the Rwandese of Rwanda and Bakiga of Uganda and the offsprings were called bafumbira.

Like the Banyarwanda and bakiga the bafumbira did not name their children according to their clans but rather the clans were divided along different totems like plants, animals, birds and so on. But the names of the children were given according to circumstances.

The Mufumbiro Mountains of Rwanda and Uganda being rich in volcanic soils, the bafumbira became cultivators and planted sorghum because it was their staple food up to now. They also grew potatoes, beans and animals like cows, goats, and sheep but on rare occasions.

The batwa are said to have been the first inhabit of bufumbira then the bahutu followed and later then came the batutsi before 1500 AD

The Bafumbira have been scattered in so many regions like the bakiga regions, banyankole regions due to the shortage of land as a result of increasing population which forced the bafumbira to move from one place to another looking for enough land.

The Bafumbira culture is so much like the Banyarwanda culture and almost the same right from the cultural dress code, marriages, cultural norms, physical appearances and so on. But in another way they are different because Rwandese are cattle keepers while Bafumbira are not due to their nature of land in Kisoro district.

The Bafumbira are hospital people which makes it easy for the tourists to visit them, they are so welcoming with their traditional dances which cannot live in your Uganda cultural safari the same.

The Bakiga

The Bakiga are an ethnic group found in north eastern Rwanda and south western Uganda in the districts of Byumba in Rwanda and Kabale in Uganda. The Bakiga who are also known as the Kiga and people of the mountains their language is called Rukiga.

The Bakiga are believed to have originated from Rwanda as one of their songs says “Abakiga twena tukaruga Rwanda Omu Ruhengere” meaning all of us bakiga came from Ruhengeri in Rwanda.

They are said to be descendants of Kashyiga also referred to as Kakiga the son of Mbogo from the Mumbogo a small kingdom in Rwanda. They migrated towards the west and settled in the forests of Kagarama, the mountains of the border of Rwanda and Uganda where they formed a bakiga community in Kigezi district. Kakiga found out that the new place that they had migrated to was very fertile and was good for cattle rearing, farming among others and made a deal with his colleagues to stay and became a new group and named it Abakiga.

The Bakiga due to over population, have inhabited the areas of Rukungiri, kinkizi, Rubanda, Ndorwa, Kasese, Kabarole, Ibanda among others in Uganda.

They were also organized into clans and the biggest being Basiga clan, each clan consisted of a lineage and every lineage had a head called Omukuru w’omulyango.

The Bakiga generally are agriculturalists that grow sorghum, millet, sweet potatoes, irish potatoes which are bought by almost everyone in Uganda, peas, beans and so on. They also rear animals like cattle, goats, sheep, they are also great potters who make pottery, hand crafts and weaving like mats, baskets among others.

The Bakiga are well known for the locally made beer known as “omuramba or enturire” which has an important social role among the bakiga. The omuramba was significant during the community gatherings and used with long tubes as they discussed strong issues concerning the country or settling disputes among the elders.

Marriage among the Bakiga was an important institution where the bride was not taken without paying bride price to the parents of the girl. In the past marriage would be arranged by the boy’s father upto the final arrangements where the boy’s father paid the bride price informing of cows, goats, hoes among others.

Uganda’s exceptional cultural diversity, warm welcoming local communities like the Baganda,Bagisu, Sabiny, the Karamojong, Batooro, Banyoro, Bakiga among others and traditional practices like Imbalu among Bagisu, Empango ceremony among the Banyoro and so on, continue to make Uganda the most perfect destination for cultural encounters.