BUGANDA PEOPLE in Culture, History, Tourism Buganda is a kingdom of the Ganda people situated within Uganda in a swampy hillside that served as a refuge for those that escaped rivalries in neighboring Bunyoro. It’s the largest traditional kingdoms in Uganda, comprising the Central Region, including the capital Kampala. They have a long and extensive history. Unified in the fourteenth century under King Kato Kintu, they became one of the largest and most powerful states in East Africa during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Buganda’s boundaries are marked by Lake Victoria to the south, the River Nile to the east, Lake Kyoga to the north and River Kafu to the northwest. To the west, Buganda is bordered by the districts of Isingiro, Kiruhura, Kyenjojo, Kibale, Hoima and Masindi. The Ganda language (Luganda) is widely spoken in Uganda, and is the most popular second language in Uganda along with English. It is also taught in some primary and secondary schools in Uganda and at Makerere University, Uganda. The Luganda language was also used as a means of instruction in schools outside the region of Buganda prior to Uganda’s Independence in 1962 By the 18th century, the formerly dominant Buyoro kingdom was being eclipsed by Buganda. The newly conquered territories were governed by chiefs nominated by the king. The armies and royal tax collectors of Buganda people traveled swiftly to all parts of the kingdom along specially constructed roads which crossed streams and swamps by bridges and viaducts. On Lake Victoria which is called Nnalubale by the Ganda, a royal navy of outrigger canoes, commanded by an admiral who was chief of the Lungfish clan, could transport Buganda armies to raid any shore of the lake. From 1993, the king of Buganda, has been Muwenda Mutebi II. He is recognised as the thirty-sixth ‘Kabaka’ of Buganda. The queen, known as the Nnabagereka, is Queen Sylvia. In a Buganda family, the father is revered and obeyed as head of the family. His decisions are generally unquestioned. A man’s social status is
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 18:52:01 +0000