SUMMARY
The Bakonzo and the Bamba are two Bantu-speaking ethnic groups in western Uganda and eastern DR Congo. The Bakonzo and the Bamba share a long history as they have lived side by side around the Rwenzori Mountains for centuries. In the middle of the 19th century, the two ethnic groups became subjects of the newly established Tooro kingdom. By the end of the century, the Tooro rule was strengthened with support from British colonizers. After experiencing decades of oppression and marginalization, the tribes began to seek independence from the kingdom. When the Tooro regional administration and the Government of Uganda denied the Bakonzo’s and the Bamba’s request for a district of their own in 1962, they launched a rebellion known as the Rwenzururu Movement (Rwenzururu is a local name for the Rwenzori massif). Subsequently, the tribes declared an independent Rwenzururu kingdom and appointed Isaya Mukirane of the Bakonzo, the Bakonzo being the significantly bigger tribe, as their king. When Mukirane died in 1966, his son Charles Wesley Mumbere succeeded him.
The Rwenzururu struggle continued for about two decades, until 1982 when the movement agreed to lay down arms in exchange for a degree of local autonomy, following negotiations with the then Ugandan President Milton Obote. However, the movement resurfaced again in 1986 when Yoweri Museveni and the National Resistance Army (NRA) seized power in Uganda, one issue being that the Museveni government canceled Mumbere’s scholarship to study abroad. Some of the Rwenzururu fighters that were dissatisfied with the 1982 settlement decided to leave the movement and instead joined the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU) in their struggle against the Museveni government. NALU and former members of the Rwenzururu movement later merged with another rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
In 1993, the call for a Rwenzururu kingdom gained fresh momentum when the Museveni government decided to reinstate some of the old traditional Ugandan kingdoms as cultural institutions. In 2008, the Government of Uganda officially recognized the Rwenzururu kingdom as a cultural institution shared between the Bakonzo and the Bamba, headed by Mumbere. The Rwenzururu kingdom came to include the districts of Bundibugyo, Kasese and Ntoroko.
The recognition of the Rwenzururu kingdom created new problems as it sparked tensions between the majority of Bakonzo and the minority Bamba. The Bambaopposed the cultural domination of the Bakonzo and claimed that the kingdom failed to represent all minority tribes. As a result, the Bambastarted to make demands for a kingdom of their own. The Bakonzo, however, saw the demand as a tactic used by the government to weaken the power of the Rwenzururu kingdom. In 2014, the Bamba kingdom (Obudhingiya Bwa Bwamba) was established in the Bundibugyo district by Uganda’s President Museveni.
The formation of the Bamba cultural institution further escalated the tensions between the two tribes and resulted in several violent clashes, which made the Government of Uganda increase its military presence in the region.
In February 2016, local council elections in Bundibugyo district revived past grudges and violent clashes between the two groups occurred again as the results were announced. At first, officials declared the incumbent chairman Jolly Tibamanya, mainly supported by the Bamba, winner of the election. However, only a few hours later the political rival Ronald Mutegeki, mainly supported by the Bakonzo, was declared the winner instead, sparking confusion and unrest. The clashes that followed left at least 30 dead and thousands of people displaced within the district.
The non-state conflict between the Bakonzo and the Bamba is first included in UCDP data in 2016. In late April of that year, clashes between the two groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.
