The Most Popular Traditional South African Folk Song Video

My Mother’s Love that Turned into Tough Love

What seems to be is not always what it is

What seems to be in this world is not always what it is.

Sugar, white bread, fried foods, and cakes, for example, may taste delicious, but they are not necessarily healthy. Similarly, male characteristics could be feminine and feminine characteristics could be masculine.

It is no surprise that most of the guys I used to have crushes on are simple and quite sensitive, and many of them ended up marrying tomboys. Many of the marriages between such men and tomboys still stand strong. This might be a sign of the end times, or indeed, it could be that what we have always believed were feminine characteristics are actually male traits.

When I mentioned this to a friend, he observed that women, much more than men, are inclined to talk about money and material things, are prone to public opinion, and compete with each other far more than men. If left to their own devices, most men, aside from a car and possibly a TV, would be uninterested in a fully furnished home.

Kira-Najjera Suburb

Lockdown in Kampala: The Informal Sector in Uganda

Video by Timothy Kalyegira

Music by Harry II ‘The Lungfishman’ Lwanga 

The Language of the Black Headed People

The origin of the Bantu must be investigated. Did you know that the Sumerians had goddesses and gods with Bantu sounding names such as Enten, Baba, Antu, Damu, Anunna, Enki, Erra, Girra, Gula, Haya, Inana, Nanna, Nisaba, Ninisinna, Utu, Bunene and Kakka?

But perhaps the similarities between the names of the Sumerian deity and the Bantu language is simply because both languages have repetition of sounds such as ‘na,’ ‘ne’, ‘ka’ and so on.

Enten was the god of vegetation, created to take responsibility on earth for the fertility of ewes, goats, cows, donkeys and birds. So I can't help linking it to the word 'ente' for cow in some Bantu languages.

Gula – Babylonian goddess of healing (means ‘buy’ in Luganda)

Damu (meaning the child) – Vegetation god (means ‘blood’ in Kiswahili)

Baba – Akkadian goddess of healing (means ‘father’ in most Bantu languages)

Antu – Babylonian goddess (Suffix of the word ‘Bantu’ that means 'people,' in many Bantu languages)

Annuna – a group of ancient Sumerian gods (‘Anuuna’ in Luganda means he/she is sucking)

Annunaki – a group of ancient Sumerian gods (offspring of the Sumerian god of the sky, An) – (‘Anuuna kyi?’ means what is he/she sucking?)

Enki – Sumerian god of water (means ‘what’ in some Bantu languages)

Erra – Akkadian god of chaos and epidemics (can mean ‘and’ in Luganda)

Girra – Babylonian and Akkadian god of fire and light (suffix of the word ‘okugira’ that means ‘to finish’ in Luganda)

Haya – Sumerian god of the scribes (means ‘okay’ in Kiswahili)

Nisaba – Sumerian goddess of writing, learning, and the harvest (‘Ni saba’ means ‘it’s seven’ in Kiswahili)

Inana – Ancient Sumerian goddess of love, beauty, sensuality, war, justice and political power. Her most prominent symbols included the lion and the eight-pointed star. (Inana sounds like ‘munaana’ which means ‘eight’ in some Bantu languages such as Luganda.  It also sounds like Nanna, the Sumerian god of the moon)

Ninisinna – Sumerian patron goddess of the city Isin (sounds like ‘nini?’  ‘sina’ which mean ‘what?’ ‘I don’t have’ in Kiswahili)

Utu – Sumerian god of the sun, justice, morality, and truth (sounds like the suffix of the word ‘mutu’ which means ‘person’ in Kiswahili and most Bantu languages)

Bunene – chariot driver of the sun-god Šamaš (means ‘bigness’ in Luganda)

Kakka - attendant and minister of state to both the gods Anu and Anshar (‘Kaka’ means ‘brother’ in Kiswahili)

References:

“List of Mesopotamian Deities.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mesopotamian_deities.

Mark, Joshua J. “Sumer.” World History Encyclopedia, World History Encyclopedia, 6 June 2021, www.worldhistory.org/sumer/.

 

 

The Ab’engo (People from the Leopard Clan)

Just like the Chwezi who were believed to have had oblong shaped heads, one African writer, claims that Kintu who is recognised by the Banyoro as the first king of the Batembuzi, and the Baganda as the first person on earth, had an oblong shaped head. The African writer claims that that is why he was called Kintu which means ‘thing’ in Luganda.  The Batembuzi reign was from 1100 to 1500 and they are believed to have been gods coming from heaven. The same African writer believes that the Batembuzi and the Chwezi Kings ruled for hundreds or thousands of years because they had age defying DNAs.

It is said that Kato Kintu, the first king of Buganda named himself ‘Kintu’ after the first person on earth according to Buganda mythology. There are about four theories as to the origin of Kintu.  One theory claims that he was born in Bukasa Village in the Ssese Islands, which were known as the islands of the gods.  The other three versions hold a different story about Kintu and where he came from.   

The Lion (Mpologoma) clan is believed to have begun with Kintu and his son after the two ate lion meat and fell sick.  This made them put themselves under an oath, declaring that they and their descendants would never eat lion meat.

Although Kato Kintu came from the Mpologoma clan, today, this clan is not officially recognised as the royal clan. One is counted a royal if they are direct descendants of Kimera who is claimed to have been the third king of Buganda. However, according to the Banyoro, Kimera was Kato Kintu and was the twin brother of their King Isingoma Rukidi Mpuga and so they regard him as the first king of Buganda and not the third.

As a result of the royal link between the Mpologoma clan and Kato Kintu, many members of this clan were persecuted.  This led to some of them fleeing to Bunyoro and some parts of Buddu.  Others hid themselves under other clans. My maternal maternal great grandfather was one such person.

During the reign of Ssekabaka Kateregga from 1644 – 1674, four hundred members of the Ngo (leopard) clan were killed because of their royal links and eligibility to the throne. This is because the Ngo clan was one of the 13 clans that came with Kintu to Buganda. This oppression continued during the reign of Ssekabaka Jjunju from 1780-1797.

I once read about the Basimba or Bashimba of the leopard clan on Wikipedia, where it is mentioned that Basimba is a Kiswahili word meaning big lion and that the Basimba of the Leopard Clan means (The Big Lion Clan of the Leopard Totem). Today, the Basimba live in the Northern, Luapula Valley and Copper Belt Provinces of Zambia, Mwanza Region, northern Tanzania, northern Zimbabwe, eastern Uganda among the Bagwere and Haiti. They claim to have come from the kingdoms of Luba and Lunda which was found in what is now the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

After I learnt that the Basimba people found among the Lungu and Bemba of Zambia and the DRC speak a language that is similar to the Haya language (in Tanzania), Luganda and Lugwere (in Uganda), I became interested in listening to various Zambian YouTubers who spoke Bemba.  I was struck by the similarities between Bemba, Luhya, Kiswahili and a bit of Luganda. In fact, I noticed the same similarities in many other Southern Bantu languages. (By the way, the Luhya language is closely related to my late father’s Gishu or Lumasaaba language).  This similarity made me wonder whether the people in Buganda once spoke Luhya or rather, the Luganda language evolved from Luhya to what it is now.

Here are some examples that I found on the internet:

In the Nyanja language of Zambia & Malawi:

‘What is your name?’ - ‘Dzina lanu ndani?/Dzina lanu ndi yani?’ – In Kiswahili ‘Jina lako ni nani?’

‘See you later/We shall meet’ – ‘Tionana’ - In Kiswahili  ‘Tutaonana.’

‘Night’ - ‘usiku’ just like in Kiswahili.

In the Bemba language of Zambia:

‘Ishina lyandi ni’ - ‘My name is’ - in Lugisu, ‘Lisina lyase.’

‘Nga’ - ‘like/as’ and this is the same word used in Luganda.

‘Iwe’ - ‘you’ just like in Kiswahili and it is similar to the Luganda ‘gwe.’

‘Isa kuno’ - come here - in Lumasaaba ‘Itsa hano.’

In the Sotho language of Lesotho & South Africa:

‘Ntate’ - ‘father’ which is akin to the Luganda ‘Taata.’

‘O dula kae?’ - ‘where do you live?’ This is close to the Luganda  ‘Osula wa?’

‘Se lebale’ - ‘don’t forget’. This almost sounds like the Luganda ‘towelabila.’

In the Tonga language of Zambia & Zimbabwe:

‘Chakulya’ - ‘food.’ Except for the spelling, this is identical with the Luganda ‘kyakulya’ and related to the Kiswahili ‘chakula.’

‘Atwende’ - ‘let’s go.’ In Kiswahili  - ‘twende’ and Luganda  - ‘tugende.’

‘Banakazi’ – ‘women.’ This sounds a lot like the Luganda ‘abakazi.’

‘Meso’ - ‘eyes.’  In Luganda - ‘amaaso’ and Kiswahili - ‘macho.’

‘Seka’ - ‘laugh.’  This is the exact word used in Luganda and is close to the Kiswahili ‘cheka.’

In the Tswana language of Botswana & South Africa:

‘Gana/gannê - ‘refuse’ which is much the same as the Luganda ‘gaana.’

‘Lwala/lwetse’  - sick, just like the Luganda ‘lwala.’

‘Bolêla/boletse’ - ‘tell.’ No different from the Luhya ‘bolela.’

‘Leba’ - ‘look’ which is close to the Luganda ‘laba.’

‘Botsa’ - ‘ask.’ In Luganda - ‘buza.’

‘Batsadi’ - ‘parents’ which almost sounds like the Luganda ‘bazade.’

In the Xhosa language of South Africa:

‘Ndiyeke!’ - ‘leave me alone!’  In Luganda - ‘ndeka!’