Bunyoro Kingdom – Empango Celebrations inauguration run, Hoima, Uganda

De Muzungu’s developed a taste for hanging out with Ugandan Royals recently, so when I heard Kampala Hash House Harriers – the Hash – were (dis)organising the Bunyoro Kingdom’s Empango Celebrations inauguration run, my name was first on the list!

11th June 2013 marked the 19th anniversary of the coronation of Omukama (King) Iguru Gafabusa Solomon the 1st of Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, so the inauguration run (two days before the actual Empango) was one event I couldn’t let pass me by…

It was only to be expected: for one reason or another, the bus left Kampala for Hoima two hours late.

Just as we were ready to leave, someone asked “where’s the driver?”

“He’s gone to Friday prayers” came the answer.

Eh banange! Only in Uganda.

As we left Buganda Kingdom and crossed the Mayanja River into Bunyoro, Harriet explained that “Kabalega was a real King who fought for his kingdom. He didn’t just sit on a red carpet.” We were to hear his name mentioned many times on our trip to Bunyoro.

The only way off the bus is to drink the beer first! Empango inauguration run, Hoima

The fact our bus was only half full meant there was more than enough beer to drink. “If you can’t dance sleeping, you can dance standing ” and so the party bus danced its way from Kampala to Hoima.

Pump action. Harriet eagerly watched the dial on the petrol pump go round, making sure we didn’t waste a shilling of beer money on unnecessary fuel

We’d been at the petrol station 20 minutes before we realised there was no petrol. Tewali! (Nothing!)

The second petrol station was also empty.

Third time lucky, we landed at a “wind-up petrol station.”

We arrived in Hoima, Bunyoro Kingdom, at dusk

Surprise, surprise, most of us missed Friday’s ‘Red Dress’ Hash run around Hoima. Stopping seven times along the way for ‘short calls’, snacks, chatting up the ladies, more beer, muchomo roasted meat, etc tends to do that to your programme. The three plus hour journey took twice that long.

Mural of the traditional marwa drink that is shared and sipped with straws from a calabash. Scene at the – more cheap than cheerful – Riviera Hotel, Hoima, Uganda

Saturday morning started with a visit to the Karuziika, the Omukama’s Palace, a modern looking house (Brits, think Surrey suburbs!) with some traditional Bunyoro huts being (re)built in the compound, in preparation for the Empango Celebrations on June 11th. [Great time for the camera to fail, part 1].

We were welcomed by the hugely knowledgeable Permanent Secretary (PPS) who commended us for our “exercise to combat modern lifestyle diseases.” That made me feel a bit sheepish. (Had no-one mentioned that the Hash is ‘a drinking club with a running problem?’)

Throne Room at the Karuziika, Bunyoro Kingdom Palace Uganda. Look how well-behaved we can be! Empango Celebrations inauguration run, Hoima

Earlier we’d been invited into the Throne Room. Excited Hashers – ordered to leave smelly trainers and drinks outside – were asked to sit on the assorted lion and leopardskins lying on the floor as the PPS introduced us to the Bunyoro Kingdom’s history as traders, hunters and metalworkers. He briefly flicked up a corner of the ceremonial bark cloth so we could have a peek at the nine-legged throne / stool.

I’m hooked on the Bunyoro cultural history. “The empire was built and lost on ivory” he told us, as we heaved a heavy elephant tusk around our group. He pointed out the spearholes in the lionskins beneath us. The huge lion paws were still intact and there was a discernible smell of (big) cat. As for leopard “there are only two ways to kill one,” he said, “with a club or by strangling it.” (This advice obviously predates the invention of AK47s!)

We heard that the King has just returned from China – nothing to do with ivory I hope? I first arrived in Uganda to work for the Uganda Conservation Foundation, essentially combating poaching and protecting elephants, and there I was sitting on dead animal skins, passing around an elephant’s tusk … !

Oil looms large over Hoima, Bunyoro, Uganda. Hashers stop at a checkpoint

As we Hashed (ran/walked) into Hoima town, I chatted to someone from the local radio station about Hoima’s new status as Uganda’s Oil City. Definitely a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. He told me stories of people relocating. Some have come to Hoima to seek their fortune, others have had to move out of town as their 60,000 Uganda shillings monthly rent has increased to a whopping 200,000 UGX. Ow.

Hoima market scene, similar to many across Uganda, is set to change with the construction of a new purpose-built market centre. Growth in Hoima is fuelled by the developing oil industry.

The town’s growth is fueled by Uganda’s developing oil industry. The Hoima market scene, for example, similar to many across Uganda, is set to change with the construction of a new purpose-built market centre.

The walk to Lake Albert down the steep Rift Valley Escarpment takes around one hour. Better take a boda, especially coming back up!

Saturday afternoon’s trip to see the oil wells wasn’t what I expected. Silly me, fancy expecting to see oil wells on your trip to see the oil wells! In the end, the impromptu boda boda trip down the steep escarpment, passing the modest Kabalega Falls on our way down to Lake Albert, was one of the highlights of the weekend. Impassable by vehicle, the loose gravel and hairpin bends made it a hair-raising descent. To be honest, coming up was even scarier, especially when we met this guy and his jerry can collection as (three of us on a boda) were struggling to negotiate a tight corner.

Better take a boda coming back up the Rift Valley Escarpment!

The smell of drying fish hit us as we approached the village of Kibero.

It felt like we’d landed in an alien country. There were no vehicles, just a few bodas (making the most of the unexpected day tripper BONANZA) and no advertising (thus little colour). Neither were there any food stalls, market vendors or rubbish in the dirt roads. It all seemed very strange. There are hundreds of Ugandan villages cut off from the rest of the world but this one was different somehow, just a collection of drab sun-dried mud houses, piles of fish drying in the sun, ducks, people sitting on doorsteps.  [Great time for the camera to fail, part 2].

On the beach – not a slot machine or ice cream van in sight – dozens of excited kids posed for photographs with the Lake Albert backdrop.

The remote Kibero fishing village, Lake Albert. You have to love Ugandan kids, always a beautiful smile for the camera.

Back in Hoima, Saturday evening’s programme was a special audience with the Omukama at the Palace.

All the ladies had on their best dresses. (Rumour had it that the Omukama would pick One Lucky Lady as his next wife! So we all kneeled dutifully when a Hashette tipped us the nod.) The Omukama looked very dignified, although the corporate branding across the front of his tent slightly overshadowed the traditional nature of the occasion. What next? “Bunyori Kingdom sponsored by Tullow”. Sigh. Pragmatically, oil has to be the best thing to happen to the Kingdom this century, as the minister of information, Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, confirms in Uganda: Bunyoro is regaining her glory.

Hashers jostling to stand next to the Omukama of Bunyoro, King Gafabusa Iguru

In 2009, Kabalega of Bunyoro was declared a national hero by President Yoweri Museveni and honoured with a three-gun salute for his nine-year resistance against the British colonialists.

Kabalega is said to be ‘the last great king of one of the greatest kingdoms in the Great Lakes region,’  and is buried at Mparo. Unfortunately, we didn’t get inside the grass thatched traditional hut that is Kabalega’s Tomb.

Sir Tito Winy’s Tomb is encased in concrete inside a modern structure. It is covered with a huge cowhide, fixed in place with nine traditional hoes. Mparo, Hoima

The traditional huts of the Bunyoro Tombs are very similar to the Buganda Kingdom’s famous Kasubi Tombs – showing Bunyoro descendence from Buganda.

The Kasubi Tombs burned down in 2010. (2014: rebuilding of Kasubi Tombs is underway).

“The man with the key is gone” but we were at least shown the grounds by ‘the heiress’  – one of Kabalega’s descendants.

Luckily we had Harriet to translate for us!

Paint it pink and I’d eat it. Les reads the plaque on the rather weather-battered wedding cake cum monument

The monument marks the spot where in 1877 Kabalega granted an audience to Emin Pasha.

“When Emin Pasha came face-to-face with the Omukama (King) for the first time, Kabalega was dressed in a piece of fine orange-pink coloured bark cloth. It covered his body to his breast except the left-hand shoulder, over which was thrown a piece of darker coloured bark cloth. He wore a necklace of hairs from the giraffe’s tail, the middle of which was strung a single blue glass bead, which encircled his neck. He was strikingly fair and about 5 feet, 10 inches tall. He made the most favourable impression on Emin Pasha.”

A.R. Dunbar, “Uganda’s famous men series: Omukama Chwa 11, Kabalega” (East African literature Euro 1965).

Money offering left outside Sir Tito Winy’s Tomb. Sir Tito Winy was the heir to Kabalega

Writing this blog has given me a real interest in Kabalega and Emin Pasha. I’m pretty dumbfounded by what I’ve read. Between them they changed the course of history for millions of people, numerous kingdoms and several countries. How have I been in Uganda almost five years and hardly learned about them? (Visiting Kampala’s rather posh Emin Pasha Hotel hardly counts!)

Girls paying our respects at Kabalega’s Tomb, Mparo, Bunyoro Uganda

Kneeling for the camera was my idea of fooling around. If I’d known what I’ve read today, I would have done it with more respect.

Julia receives a roadside benediction from what appeared to be a Chineseman made out of recycled metal. What’s this all about?

A few kilometres outside Hoima, we came across some disused ornamental fountains. Another fountain featured a metal bird. Some interesting colonial type buildings lay derelict next to them. I can imagine this all being snapped up and turned into a bijou coffeeshop when the real oil money starts pouring into town. Andrew Roberts, co-editor of the epic Bradt Uganda guide, what is this all about?

All in all, another brilliant Uganda week-end for Diary of a Muzungu. It’s a shame we didn’t hang around for the real royal Empango celebrations. Apparently 200,000 people partied for three days! Photos of the official Empango celebrations

The Omukama at the 2013 Empango celebrations in Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, Uganda

2014 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Omukama’s coronation, guess who’s planning to attend?

For more Ugandan royal stories, read A wedding fit for a king.

If you like African bus journey tales, you might enjoy No hurry in Africa: on board the bus Kampala to Kigali and Kampala to Nairobi – 14 hours of speed bumps