Kabalega of Bunyoro

Chwa II Kabalega (18 June 1853 – 6 April 1923), was the King or Omukama of Bunyoro in Uganda from 1870 to 1899.

Biography

The final resting ground known as Mparo Royal Tombs of King Kabalega II

In 1869, Omukama Kamurasi Kyebambe IV died and two of the legitimate royal candidates — Kabalega and Kabigumire could not agree on who should be his successor.^[1] This led to a devastating war of succession in the Empire of Kitara.^[1] Normally, such wars to determine a legitimate successor were supposed to be brief and decisive until only one claimant to the throne was left alive.^[2] However, sometimes these conflicts dragged on for years, destabilising all of society and leading to famines, massacres and refugee crises.^[1] In this case, the clan leaders and the dead king's brother, Prince Nyaika, were so tired of Kabalega and Kabigumire's constant fighting that they ordered Kabalega, who had the upper hand, to respect Bunyoro's laws of succession and just-war conventions and end the war.^[1] When Kabalega was crowned king, he set out to develop his new empire via trade especially through the Kibiro Saltworks.^[3] On 1 January 1894, the British declared war on Bunyoro. At the height of the British offensive on his empire, Kabalega went into hiding in Acholi under the protection of Chief Awich Abok of Payira. It's from there that he consistently led the Nyangire rebellion that proved to be a thorn in the side of the British colonialists.

Legacy

In 1972, President Idi Amin renamed Murchison Falls, located within Murchison Falls National Park, Kabalega Falls after the Omukama.

On 8 June 2009, Kabalega was declared a national hero of Uganda by President Museveni.^[4]

In 2010,^[5] the Most Honourable Order of Omukama Chwa II Kabalega was founded in honour of Kabalega by the Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara^[6]

References

1. Otunnu 2016, p. 38.
2. Otunnu 2016, p. 37.
3. Johnston, Harry (1911). "Unyoro" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 782., Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
4. Royal Order "The Most Honourable Order of Omukama Chwa II. Kabalega".
5. Royal Order "The Most Honourable Order of Omukama Chwa II. Kabalega".
6. About Titles of Ugandan Traditional Rulers, Royalty, Chiefs, Nobility and Chivalry

Bibliography

• Otunnu, Ogenga (2016). Crisis of Legitimacy and Political Violence in Uganda, 1890 to 1979. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. p. 369. ISBN 9783319331560.

Further reading

• A. R Dunbar, Omukama Chwa II Kabarega, East African Literature Bureau, 1965.

Preceded by Kyebambe IV	Omukama of Bunyoro 1869–1898	Succeeded by Kitahimbwa