Rwenzururu movement

This article is about the secessionist movement that was active from 1962 to 1982. For the article on the subnational kingdom in Uganda, see Kingdom of Rwenzururu.

Rwenzururu movement
Leaders	Isaya Mukirania Charles Mumbere
Dates of operation	1962 [1] –1982
Active regions	Rwenzururu region
Ideology	Konjo and Amba self-determination
Opponents	Uganda Uganda Protectorate (before 30 June 1962)
Motto	"Better to perish than to live in slavery"

The Rwenzururu movement was an armed secessionist movement active in southwest Uganda, in the subnational kingdom of Tooro. The group was made up of Konjo and Amba fighters and was led by Isaya Mukirania. ^{[1] [2]} It disbanded in 1982 following successful peace negotiations with the Ugandan government. ^{[3] [4]}

History

After decades of being subjects of the Tooro Kingdom, the Konjo and Amba peoples asked the British colonial government in Uganda to provide them their own district in the 1950s, separate from the Toro District. The colonial authorities denied their request, and the Bakonjo and Baamba subsequently launched a low-intensity guerrilla war against the government in response. ^[3]

In the 1960s, the Rwenzururu Freedom movement began to shift its objective from creating a separate district to creating a fully independent kingdom, ^[5] and on 30 June 1962, the movement declared an independent Kingdom of Rwenzururu with Isaya Mukirania as the Omusinga of Rwenzururu, three months before the independence of Uganda. ^{[6] [7]} The violence reached its height in 1963 and 1964, when Tooro soldiers massacred Bakonjo and Baamba as they sought control over the lower valleys. The Uganda Army intervened against the Rwenzururu, doing such significant damage that the movement was suppressed for some time. ^[5] One of the units that took part in the suppression of the Rwenzururu movement was the Ugandan 1st Battalion. ^[8]

After the Uganda–Tanzania War and the collapse of the regime of Idi Amin in 1979, Rwenzururian fighters looted abandoned weapons and supplies left by the retreating Uganda Army, reestablishing themselves as a serious threat in the region. However in 1982, the administration of President Milton Obote negotiated a settlement with the leaders of the movement, in which they agreed to abandon the goal of secession in exchange for "a degree of local autonomy", the appointment of Bakonjo and Baamba to government administrative posts, and economic benefits such as vehicles and educational scholarships distributed by local elders. ^[9] During the negotiations, the government preferred direct talks, as they believed third-party mediation would give legitimacy to the Rwenzururu claim. ^[5]

Amon Bazira, who was a key supporter of the movement to overthrow Idi Amin, had been a key person in the negotiations between the Rwenzururu movement and the Obote government. His belief was that the movement was a largely middle class organisation that could be appeased with commercial prizes. Bazira later approached President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya, both of whom had grounds for disliking the new Ugandan government led by Yoweri Museveni, and asked for support for a new Bakonjo-led rebellion under an organisation called the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU). In 1993, Bazira was assassinated at the State House of Kenya in Nakuru, a probable target of Ugandan agents. ^[10] In 1995, Sudanese agents engineered the merging of the remnants of NALU with the Uganda Muslim Liberation Army and the Buganda monarchist Allied Democratic Movement in order to give these latter organisations a local constituency, creating the Allied Democratic Forces. ^[11]

See also

• Rwenzori Mountains
• Isaya Mukirania
• Tom Stacey

References

1. Syahuka-Muhindo, Arthur; Titeca, Kristof (January 2016). "The Rwenzururu Movement and the Struggle for the Rwenzururu Kingdom in Uganda" (PDF). Retrieved 15 May 2018.
2. Doornbos, Martin (2017). The Rwenzururu Movement in Uganda: Struggling for Recognition. Routledge. ISBN   9781351708982 . Retrieved 15 May 2018.
3. Prunier 2009, p. 82.
4. Prunier, 82. See Kirsten Alnaes, "Songs of the Rwenzururu Rebellion," in P.H. Gulliver, ed., Tradition and Transition in East Africa (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), 243-272.
5. Rothchild, Donald S. (1997). Managing ethnic conflict in Africa: pressures and incentives for cooperation. Brookings Institution Press. p. 90. ISBN   978-0-8157-7593-5.
6. "Rwenzururu Kingdom wants Isaya Mukirania declare hero". Ugpulse (Ultimate Media). 5 September 2011.
7. "Bakonzo to protect all â€" LC5". New Vision. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
8. Risdel Kasasira (27 February 2017). "Life as an Amin army commander". Daily Monitor. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
9. Forrest, Joshua (2004). Subnationalism in Africa: ethnicity, alliances, and politics. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN   978-1-58826-227-1 . Retrieved 6 June 2009.
10. Prunier 2009, p. 83.
11. Prunier 2009, p. 87.

Works cited

• Prunier, Gérard (2009). Africa's World War : Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-970583-2.