Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
Kabalega
1853 – 1923
Fought the British for nine years as Omukama of Bunyoro
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Uganda Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
King of Bunyoro-Kitara, who built a standing army and fought the British advance for the better part of a decade before being captured and exiled — the longest armed resistance to colonial conquest in what became Uganda.
Chwa II Kabalega became Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara in 1870 after a war of succession, and set about rebuilding a kingdom that had been losing ground for a century.
His central reform was military: the abarusura, a standing professional army loyal to the throne rather than levies raised from the chiefs. With it he recovered territory, took control of the salt works at Kibiro, and made Bunyoro the strongest power in the region again.
When the British moved in through Buganda in the 1890s Kabalega refused the treaties and fought — a long campaign of raids and withdrawals through the bush of western and northern Uganda that ran for the better part of nine years and needed Sudanese troops, Ganda levies and Maxim guns to end. He was finally cornered and captured in April 1899, in the same action as his ally Mwanga II of Buganda, after being shot in the arm.
He was exiled to the Seychelles for twenty-four years, and died in 1923 at Jinja on the journey home when he was at last allowed to return. Bunyoro lost much of its territory to Buganda as a reward for Ganda assistance, and the resulting lost counties dispute ran on into the 1960s. He is a national hero in Uganda.
His central reform was military: the abarusura, a standing professional army loyal to the throne rather than levies raised from the chiefs. With it he recovered territory, took control of the salt works at Kibiro, and made Bunyoro the strongest power in the region again.
When the British moved in through Buganda in the 1890s Kabalega refused the treaties and fought — a long campaign of raids and withdrawals through the bush of western and northern Uganda that ran for the better part of nine years and needed Sudanese troops, Ganda levies and Maxim guns to end. He was finally cornered and captured in April 1899, in the same action as his ally Mwanga II of Buganda, after being shot in the arm.
He was exiled to the Seychelles for twenty-four years, and died in 1923 at Jinja on the journey home when he was at last allowed to return. Bunyoro lost much of its territory to Buganda as a reward for Ganda assistance, and the resulting lost counties dispute ran on into the 1960s. He is a national hero in Uganda.
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