UNLIKE other kingdoms, the Basoga do not have clear-cut burial rituals for their kings and chiefs. Steven Nantamu, the minister of culture in the Kyabazinga’s government, says in earlier times, the death of a chief in Busoga was first reported to the Omukama of Bunyoro, who would send the funeral barkcloth and all the requirements for the burial rites.
He notes that on several occasions, the Omukama would appoint the heir or send the son of the deceased chief, who was usually at his court in Bunyoro, back to Busoga.
This changed when the Isebantu Kyabazinga’s office was established in 1919, with Ezekieri Wako as the first Isebantu Kyabazinga.
As the third Kyabazinga, Henry Wako Mulooki’s funeral will not follow the same format as that of his father, or Sir Wilberforce Nadiope, who built his own grave and was buried at his palace in Budhumbula, Kamuli district
“The Kyabazinga, Henry Wako Mulooki will be laid to rest at the same ancestral grounds as his father in Kaliro. The burial rituals might alter a bit as they keep changing,” Nantamu notes.
He, however, believes the Balangira clan heads will perform a special and private ceremony at the king’s palace before his body is taken to its final resting ground.
Both Nantamu and Busoga’s Ssabalangira, (royal clan head)
Christopher Mutyaba, are tight-lipped on the rituals that will be performed on the Kyabazinga’s body before his burial.
Nantamu, however, volunteers that when a king died in Busoga, in the past, his subjects were expected to weep and wail, bow their heads and fold their arms across their chests wherever they went.
More so, they were not expected to work and personal journeys had to be postponed. He laments that this is no longer the case. Nantamu notes that whenever a king in Busoga dies, a drum known as Omukidi is repeatedly sounded throughout the kingdom to notify the subjects of the calamity that has befallen them. Another drum called the Nakyeri is sounded every day at the palace until the king is buried.
The royal clan, however, sounds the Ntukiirire drums to announce the Kyabazinga’s death. It is a call to all clansmen to heed to the plea and rush to the palace to respond to the distress.
Like the Baganda, the Basoga also light a bonfire throughout the funeral process, for they equate the King’s lifetime with the burning of the fire. The practice, Nantamu says, started during the reign of Kabaka Kintu.
He notes that in Kiganda tradition, when the Kabaka died, his body would be carefully wrapped in appropriate attire and placed in a room called “Twekobe”, inside the Kabaka’s house.
He says it is the same practice for Busoga, although with modern practice, such norms are becoming obsolete.
“Before burial, the body would be embalmed for almost six months since there was a belief that the spirit of a man would always remain where his jaw bone was.
For this reason, the jaw bone of the Kabaka was removed from his body before burial and a special shrine built to house it. This has since been eroded,” he notes.
Nantamu says a dead chief among the Basoga was buried in his first wife’s hut. He was buried with his body facing towards the Basoga’s supposed direction of origin. This explains why most Basoga bury their dead facing westward because they believe they came from Bunyoro.
Unlike other graves, which were about six metres deep, the chief’s grave measured about 10 metres.
Before burial, his wives washed the corpse. It was smeared with butter and a large coloured bead was tied around the neck. The body was then carried to the burial hut and laid in the grave but no earth was put in yet.
A bullock was tied to the doorway of the hut and dedicated to the dead chief. The ceremony would also involve the installation of the heir.
Uganda Kingdom Cultures is a big attribute to Uganda’s touirsm industry and should be conserved to captivate more tourism.
By Tanah Hadijah
Uganda Culture