Uganda Peoples >> The Nilo
Hamites >> The Kakwa
Langi | Karimojong|
Iteso | Kumam
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The Kakwa live in the extreme northwest of
Uganda. They occupy the Koboko county of Arua district. Ethnically,
the Kakwa are Plain Nilotes, which means that they are of
Kushitic descent.
Origins
There are two main traditions concerning
the origins of the Kakwa. One piece of tradition asserts that
the ancestor of the Kakwa of Uganda was Yeki. He is said to
have migrated from Karobe Hill, Southern Sudan and settled
on Mt. Liru in Koboko. Here, Yeki is said to have produced
seven sons one of whom was fond of biting his brothers. For
this reason, Yeki is said to have nicknamed him Kakwanji,
meaning biter. The descendants of Yeki are said to have adapted
the plural term and called themselves Kakwa.
The second tradition claims that the Kakwa were originally
known as Kui. The Kui are said to have been fierce fighters
who inflicted heavy losses on their enemies. For this reason,
the Kui are said to have nicknamed themselves Kakwa because
their fierce attacks were like the bite of a tooth. The majority
of the Kakwa in Koboko cling firmly to this tradition.
Virtually all the Kakwa in the whole of Koboko,
part of Maracha and Aringa trace their origin to Loloyi but
none of them can tell what or where exactly Loloyi is. By
linguistic connection the Kakwa can be traced to the Bari
of southern Sudan. Indeed the Kakwa still believe that they
have connections with the Kuku, Mandari, Nyangwar, Pojuru
and even the Karimojong.
The Koboko tradition comes from the direction
of Ethiopia. This tradition does not state, however, the point
at which the Kakwa separated from the Bari. The general conjecture
is that they split in the Bari country east of the Nile. Given
that they are Plain Nilotes like the Iteso and the Karimojong,
they might have separated from the Bari at Kapoeta.
Social and political set-up
The political institutions of the Kakwa were
segmentary. They had no centralised system of, government
and the clan was the basic social and political unit. Each
clan was politically indipendent of others and it enyoyed
sufficient traditional loyalty.
At the head of each clan, there was a chief
known as the Matter. Other clans referred to the chief as
the Buratyo; and others, Ba Ambogo. The highest political
officer was the chief and immediately below him were the clan
elders known as Temejik. The Temejik were more often than
not, heads of sub-clans and were related to the chief, being
brothers or uncles.
The chief was both a political figure and
a rainmaker. The Kakwa of Koboko still admit that rainmakers
among them had been chiefs. Chieftainship was confined to
the rainmaking clans and the chief would simultaneously assume
two titles as chief of the land and chief of the rain.
Nevertheless, there were some Kakwa clans
which did not have a rainmaker. An example was the Ludara
Kakwa. They gave the reason that their ancestor Solo, did
not belong to a rainmaking family. In such clans, the duties
of the chief of the land and the chief of the rain were separated.
That of the chief of the rain was entrusted to another person
who was not the chief. However, it was rare to find a chief
who was not also a rainmaker.
The Kakwa society was matrilineal and the
position of the chief was hereditary. However, among the non-rainmaking
clans, the chief's office was not hereditary. Clans without
rainmakers could borrow them from other clans and a borrowed
rainmaker did not have political influence. He would instead
be paid for his services.
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