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Bantu ethnic group

Kiga people, or Abakiga ("people of the mountains"), are a Bantu ethnic group native to south western Uganda and northern Rwanda.

The Kiga people are believed to have originated in Rwanda as mentioned in one of their folk songs Abakiga twena tukaruga Rwanda, omu Byumba na Ruhenjere meaning that all of us Bakiga, we came from Rwanda in Byumba and Ruhenjere (called Ruhengeri in Rwanda). Both Byumba and Ruhengeri are Rwandan cities. The Bakiga are believed to be the descendants of Kashyiga, who came to be called Kakiga son of Mbogo from the small Kingdom of Bumbogo in Rwanda later. He came to form the present community of the Bakiga of Kigyezi or Kigezi as a result of immigration. Not even in Rwanda among the Tutsi who took over the Kingdom after Mbogo had been defeated, did they dare to use the name Mukama because it signified a more fundamental power than they had assumed. Similar names could be like Byamukama, Kyomukama, Womukama, Kamukama, Bainomukama and so on. Therefore, the title for the King in Rwanda remained Mwami (Omwami), whereas in the Rukiga (the Kiga Kingdom) they continued to use the title Mukama (Omukama). As time went on, the population grew and Kakiga wanted to expand his localities. He started sending groups to search and conquer. He sent the first group towards the east in the parts of Karweru, where the group of the Abasigi was supposed to conquer. This group was under the leadership of Rwandeme. This was believed to be the strongest group that was to fight the forces of Ankore. Rwandeme lost the Royal Drum. While the Bakiga would later be classified as Hutu, originally they considered themselves an entirely separate people. In modern Rwanda, the Hutus of southern Rwanda are called Banyanduga, while the Hutus in the northern Rwanda are collectively referred to as Bakiga.

Many Bakiga still lived in Rwanda at the time of European colonization. An Anglo German agreement signed in Brussels on 14 May 1910, modified part of the boundary between British and German territories initially established as the parallel of one degree south latitude by the treaty of 1890. Modified were the sectors between the Congo tripoint and the junction of the Kakitumba and Kagera, comprising the present Rwanda Uganda boundary, and between the junction and the second crossing of the parallel of one degree south latitude by the Kagera, comprising the western segment of the present Tanzania Uganda boundary. Details of the final delimitation and demarcation of the Rwanda Uganda boundary between the Congo tripoint of Sabinio and the southwestern branch (Lubirizi) of the Tshinzinga (Muvogero) are given in an Anglo German Protocol signed at Kamwezi on 30 October 1911. Therefore, many Bakiga became Ugandans by de facto in 1911 when the current international boundaries of Uganda were formally finalized. Bakiga were a one class society that did not have kings but was based on clans, lineages and households. The Bakiga communities defended their independence until the collaboration of German colonial forces and the royal troops of the Mwami or Mukama succeeded in incorporating the region into the Rwandan colonial state at the turn of the twentieth century. The region remained a hotbed of discontent against the central authority for many years. One of the strongest influences upon the character of the Bakiga was the anti centrist cult of Nyabingi. The conditions for these rebellions were created by the system of forced labor tribute (ubareetwa) imposed on the Bakiga by their new colonial masters. P. T. W. Baxter noted that, "The proud boast of the Kiga is that they were never, as a people, subjugated by either Tutsi or Hima." However, this resistance was, paradoxically, in large part led or inspired by disaffected members of the Tutsi elite. The Bakiga became one of two major forces, along with the hill level tensions of Hutu peasants and Tutsi chiefs, in the formation of "Social Revolution" of 1959. In the pre colonial system, land usage was controlled by chiefs who owned land (bakonde) or controlled access to it (bagererwa). With the onset of colonial rule, these chiefs were technically replaced by southern Tutsi and Bakiga who agreed to work for them. However, the old order was never entirely erased, resulting in tensions between the two. While the older bakonde yearned for a return to their old status, younger generations of bakonde were able to merge their claims into that of the anti colonial/Tutsi revolutionary movement. The Bakiga are very developmental. They love new things and enjoy life. In ancient times they had one thing to admire from colonists, their way of life. Most of the Bakiga dream of having a good life, and decent living. The European way was a perfect image for them. Remember that the state of denial of kingship would still come up in trying to imitate the high life. So for the Bakiga, a European style home, imported objects are admired, and locals dress in a Western way. As in most of Uganda, people are extremely concerned about clothing. To "look smart" is a priority for anyone who can afford it. The elaborate, among the older generation, traditional weddings of the Bakiga were being neglected by anyone who could afford a Western looking ceremony. Clothes were borrowed, music equipment and generators brought to the area, every possible thing done to imitate foreign customs. However of recent, most youth are going back to their cultural ways. Traditional wedding ceremonies are being held more often than before, everyone comes dressed in the Kikiga Kinyakore wear, as the traditional ceremonies are carried out. It should also be noted that Bakiga regardless of where they are, have a strong solidarity more so among the youth. At the meetings of district councils, English is used although everybody is a Mukiga, though it is the problem of the entire country. Parents who know English well, sometimes resort to speaking it with their children. Those who use English are supposed to be educated and successful. Festo Karwemera, a respected elder from Kabale, offers this general comment: "Accepting the culture of the West is a result of the inferiority complex due to ignorance emanating from the fact that they are the ones introducing civilisation in this land and we tend to assume that everything they do is the best. Their way of living is clean and attractive hence positive because nobody takes trouble to find out how best we can modernise our culture in our own way."

Rutanga, Murindwa and Fr Vincent Kanyonza. 2021. Epistemology and Politics in Proverbial Names in the Pre Colonial Great Lakes Region. Francis B. Nyamnjoh, Patrick Nwosu, Hassan M. Yosimbom, eds. Being and Becoming African as a Permanent Work in Progress: Inspiration from Chinua Achebe's Proverbs pp. 379–412. Langaa Research and Publishing Common Initiative Group.