The Heroes of Old

In the past, I read with interest many stories about the Bachwezi and Ab'engo who are people from the leopard clan of Buganda.  I have also read about the history of the Ssese Islands with less enthusiasm even though I wanted to know more about these Islands for the sake of my maternal grandfather Katumba and grandfather Kafeero who were brothers and who are said to have come from there.

After discovering that General Katumba Wamala came from the Ssese Islands, I began reading more about the people of these Islands.  As I read about them, I learnt that Kibuuka (the god of war) of Buganda came from these Islands.  This reminded me of how my late mother and I used to wonder about the similarities between Kibuuka’s death story and that of Luanda Magere of the Joluo of Kenya.  My mother used to joke about this saying that maybe we were once Luo.

Both men were great warriors who died after giving away the secret to their power on the battlefield to their wives. The stories of these two heroes are actually very similar to that of Samson and Delilah, where after the wives found out where the secret to the power of these men lay during battle, they spilled the secret to their people and their people were able to defeat these men and kill them.  While Samson’s secret lay in his long hair, Kibuuka’s lay in his ability to fly and hide in the clouds, while that of Luanda Magere lay in his shadow.

Now Luanda Magere's wife was from the Nandi people who are a sub-community of the Kalenjin ethnic group and who were enemies of the Joluo. Kibuuka's wife was from the Banyoro people who were enemies of the Baganda.

After reading about these two heroes, I realised that the two men might not be the same because Kibuuka is said to have lived during the time of Ssekabaka Nakibinge, a King of Buganda who is said to have reigned in the 16^th century from 1524 – 1554.  It is said that Luanda Magere was born in the 18^th century in 1720 and fought his battles against the Nandi between 1750 and 1770.

According to legend, hundreds of years ago, the Bassese people of the Ssese Islands were a race of super humans famous for their impressive size and strength and also for their connection to the supernatural world. 

Since Kibuuka who is referred to in Buganda as the god of war, was able to fly like a bird during battle, he is believed by some to have been a supernatural being.  Someone even called him one of the sons of God mentioned in the Bible, who fell for the daughters of men.  In other words, he meant to say that he might have been a Muchwezi and the Bachwezi might have been the Nephilim.

Apart from ruling the empire of Kitara between the 14^th to the 16^th century, one African writer claims that the Bachwezi were tall supernatural beings with oblong shaped heads and dark brown skin.  They are said to have had supernatural powers such as the power to instantly disappear and then reappear in a different place, the ability to move objects with their mind, the ability to read thoughts, fly and to see into the future.  These abilities helped them to avoid danger.

The origin of the Bachwezi is still under debate.  Some claim that they were descendants of the Kush, Nubian, and Khamitian (ancient Egyptian) royalty.  Incidentally, the Kalenjin people are also believed to have been from the military clan of Ancient Egypt. 

There are two legends that explain how the Bachwezi disappeared. One claims that after being overpowered by the Luo-Biito, the Bachwezi disappeared into Lake Wamala which was named after the last Chwezi king called Wamara. The second one has it that they disappeared into Lake Albert.  There is a belief held among scholars that the Bachwezi dispersed and mixed up with the indigenous people who became the Hima, Tutsi, Hinda clan, Kiga, Nyambo of Tanzania, Basoni of Zimbabwe, Baganda and related tribes on the northern banks of Lake Victoria.  This theory held among scholars might be closer to the truth.

References:

Young, Sarah P. “The Cwezi: Ancient Race of Mystical People and the Modern-Day Cwezi Cult Accused of Black Magic.” Ancient Origins, Ancient Origins, 1 July 2019, www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-africa/cwezi-cult-0012220.

Jenkins, Dr. Orville Boyd. Tutsi and Chwezi:  History and Pre-History, orvillejenkins.com/peoples/tutsihistoryandprehistory.html.

 

 

Our Children are not Us

Our children don't have to be friends with our friend's children no matter how great the friendship because our children are not us. In fact, none of our children may be anything like us.

Wadudu ni Hatari and other Songs

I remember this advert song that used to play on VOK. (Cavalier, do you remember it)? 

Hii ni nyumba yako 

Wewe na jamii yako 

Usikaribishe wadudu kuishi na wewe 

Wadudu ni hatari 

Wadudu ni wachafu 

Waue mara moja 

Doom, doom, doom! 

Dawa doom! 

Then at lunch time it would be 'kuleni mayai, pia maharagwe. Hivi ndivyo vyakula bora vya kujenga mwili.' 

As we prepared to go to school in the morning we had: '...jiepushe na uvivu tujenge taifa. Mwanangu, kumekucha amka wende shule. Elimu ndiyo msingi wa maendeleo.'

Descendants of Nimrod?

Just came across strange information about a sub-tribe of the Luhya called the Kabras that live in Malava. It is interesting to know that that their name 'Kabras' comes from ‘Avalasi’, which refers to the warriors or Mighty Hunters they once were. As to the claim that they are descendants of Nangwiro associated with the Biblical Nimrod, I am flabbergasted.

The Kabras were originally Banyala (different from the ones in Kayunga). Nimrod was a mighty ruler and nation builder who founded many cities, including the great Babel or Babylon. 

In other news, my Mom says she heard a story told in Western Kenya about the Buganda Prince who became ruler of the Wanga Kingdom. Now I may have mixed up a few things about the story she heard but this is what I remember her telling me.

“It is said that when the Prince arrived in Western Kenya, some lady noticed that whenever it was time for him to bathe, he would hide himself from the others. Later on, she discovered the reason why the Prince did this. He had the mark of a snake on his body, which he was trying to conceal. After her discovery, the woman went and told her father who said, ‘That is the mark of royalty. Wherever this boy may have come from, he must be from a royal family.’ Thus, the boy was made king over the Wanga.”

Pure Speculation?

I read somewhere on the internet that some Luhyas came from Egypt and so did some Baganda and oba Banyoro. I thought all Bantus came from Congo or Cameroon. Speaking of Congo, I read somewhere that the Ethiopia referred to in the bible included the area stretching from the Congo basin.

Another mind boggling thing I read on the internet is about the Wanga (a tribe of the Luhya). I read that the Wanga came from Egypt as part of the migration that settled in Kampala area that formed the Buganda Kingdom. A muganda Prince called Kaminyi, who was Kabaka Mwanga I's cousin and Kabaka Mawanda's son, fled to Tiriki in Western Kenya. (Incidentally, I lived in Tiriki with my parents for 8 years) The Prince fled because as the king's cousin, he posed a threat to the reigning monarch.

On reaching Western Kenya, the Prince became a ruler and was succeeded by his son Wanga who established the Wanga Kingdom with the title of Nabongo in the 18th century.

Thou shall not eat of the swine

Our neighbour rears some pigs. There are 3 huge ones and 6 piglets. Often times, they set themselves loose and walk into our compound, much to our chagrin.

My mom does not like pork.

When she told me that sometimes pigs barked like dogs, at first I did not believe it until I heard one pig bark last week.
“When I first heard these pigs bark that is when I said to myself ‘Surely! People are not supposed to eat pigs’,” she said.

I mean, think about it. Eating something that can bark is like eating a dog.

Then on Sunday, one of them clucked like a chicken. I have not heard them go ‘ee-I, ee-I, oh’ like the ones in Old MacDonald’s farm. I guess my neighbours pigs are of a Japanese-Polish breed.

http://www.bamfield.eu/sounds.php mentions how pigs make different sounds in different countries:
Pigs in Britain, Spain and Italy are thought to say 'oink, oink'.
Portuguese pigs go 'roncar'.
Japan, they go 'buu, buu'.
French pigs go 'groin, groin'. German pigs, in contrast, go 'grunz'.
Mandarin Chinese pigs say 'Zhu' and in Cantonese, 'Jul'
South Africa, Africaans pigs say 'snork'.
Polish pigs go 'chrum, chrum'
The largest pork exporter, Denmark, has pigs that go 'øf-øf'.
The Netherlands' pigs go 'knor, knor' (NL is the second largest pork exporter). The noise made by pigs is 'knorren' in Dutch and Piglet (Winnie the Pooh) is called 'Knorretje' in The Netherlands.
Finnish and Swedish pigs say 'nöff, nöff'.
Russian Pigs go 'hrgu, hrgu'.
Pigs in Lithuania say 'kriu-kriu'.
Turkish pigs may say 'hoink, hoink' but we are not sure.
Jogoslav/Serbo Croat pigs just say 'Hrrrrrr'.

Tom Writes to Jerry

Dear Jerry,

I have done a lot of thinking about what my workers have said about having you arrested once you set foot on my organization. It is said that you have been killing cows. I want you to know that the views expressed by my workers are their own and do not necessarily represent my views. I mean you and I have shared a strong passion for cow milk for ages. I know you can’t kill cows except perhaps for their meat, another of our delicacy.

The main reason I decided to write you this letter is because our organization could do well with some funding since the credit crunch has bitten us. You see one of the conditions for our organization to get funding is to become a member of the Tea with Milk crew so I joined. Voluntarily. Nobody forced me to join. All members of the Tea with Milk crew must arrest anyone found to be killing cows.

Secondly, you know how much I love cows. If I fail to arrest you, the other members of the crew might kill my cows in revenge. I do not want that to happen. If I lose my cows, where will my crew get their tea with milk from, let alone their bread with butter, cheese and cow ghee?

I want you to know that I am very sorry for what my workers said and this is a special letter from me to you, saying please don’t come to visit us. My hands are tied. Once you set foot here, I will have no option but to arrest you for the wellbeing of my cows.

Love,

Tom

Disclaimer
The characters in this letter are entirely imaginary and any resemblance to persons living or dead or actual events is purely coincidental.