SUMMARY

The Bakonzo people (also known as Konzo or Bankonjo) are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group that resides around the Rwenzori mountains in western Uganda and eastern DR Congo. In DR Congo, the group is referred to as the Banande. In Uganda, the Bakonzo are mainly found in Bundibugyo, Kasese, Kabarole and Ntoroko districts. Estimates put the Bakonzo population in Uganda at around 850,000, which constitutes approximately 2,5 % of the country’s total population.

Researchers believe that the Bakonzo and Banande people stem from the Bayira, a people that once lived in the ancient kingdom of Bunyoro in Uganda. In the early 19th century, a group of the Bayira are said to have crossed the Rwenzori Mountains into today’s DR Congo in search for cultivable land. This group came to be known as the Banande, whereas the group that decided to remain on the eastern side of the mountains became recognized as the Bakonzo. Even though the Bakonzo and the Banande developed in different ways when it comes to social and political organization, they still speak the same language and share many of the same traditions. The Bakonzo are mainly agriculturalists who cultivate cassava, yams, sweet potatoes, coffee and cotton.

In the middle of the 19th century, the Bakonzo became subjects of the newly established Tooro kingdom and pushed their settlements further up the slopes of the Rwenzori Mountains. After experiencing decades of oppression and marginalization under the Tooro rule, the Bakonzo (together with their neighboring tribe the Bamba began to seek independence from the kingdom. In 1962, the two tribes launched a rebellion known as the Rwenzururu Movement (Rwenzururu being a local name for the Rwenzori massif). The Rwenzururu struggle continued for decades and in 2008, the government of Uganda officially recognized the Rwenzururu kingdom as a cultural institution, shared between the Bakonzo and the Bamba.

The recognition of the Rwenzururu kingdom created new problems as it sparked tensions between the majority Bakonzo and the minority Bamba. In February 2016, the declaration of local council election results in Bundibugyo district resulted in violent clashes between the Bakonzo and the Bamba (see Bakonzo - Bamba).