MONARCHIES - TORO KINGDOM
Late King Patrick Olimi Kaboyo with wife Best Kemigisha |
In spite of the heart- breaking early death of the beloved Rukirabasaija Omukama Olimi Patrick Kaboyo 11, the tragic mar tyrdom of Prince Charles Happy Kijanangoma and the resultant harrowing adversity, the Batooro should not succumb to despair or disarray.
Throughout their history, they have time and time again been plunged into deeper and more atrocious crises only to rebound from them with more amiability, sprucer elegance and greater dignity. All they need to do, is to calmly take a good look at their amazing past.
Until the 1830s, Tooro was an integral part of the Bunyoro-Kitara empire, but in 1836 Olimi Kaboyo the oldest and favourite son of Kyebambe III Nyamutukula, the aging Omukama of Bunyoro- Kitara, set up Tooro as an independent Kingdom. Apparently Kaboyo's suc cessful secession was planned and supported by the Empire's powerful pastoralists of Mwenge, Bufiyangabu, Burahya, Butuku and Busongora who were growing tired of the cultural decline at their empire's court caused by foreign immigrants.
Thus at one stroke, Bunyoro-Kitara lost its richest and most beautiful region which contained not only the bulk of the empire's cattle herds, but also the valuable salt , deposits of Katwe.
Alas! Tooro's independence did not last long. In 1867 the indomitable Chwa 11 Kabalega mounted the throne of the ailing and emaciated Bunyoro- Kitara and invaded Tooro which was then under the reign of Nyaika Kasunga, the son of Kaboyo 1. Nyaika himself had just returned to power after slaying his brother Rukidi I.
Kasunga's son and successor Mukabirere had been on the throne for a year when he was again invaded and captured by Kabalega. No sooner had Mukabirere's brother Mukalusa succeeded him on the throne than Kabalega once again invaded Tooro and cap tured him after bloody battles.
It was at this sorry juncture that the pretty and pertinacious Princess Byanjeru (Kasunga's uterine sister) took up the reins of power in Toro and heads rolled! Then Kabaka Mutesa of Buganda Pokino Mukasa, invaded Tooro and installed Nyamuyojo the son of Mukabirere, but then as expected, Kabalega invaded and drove the new king into exile and instant death in Buganda.
However, as providence would have it, a very young brother of Nyamuyonjo Prince Kasagama (note the name) survived all the massacres and escaped to exile in Buganda where he was looked after by a very able guardian Yafesi Byakweyamba.
Fortunately for the fugi tive refugees, 1891 saw the arrival of Capt. F. Lugard with his intimidating Maxim gun. He promptly installed the young Kasagama as king Kyebambe IV of Tooro. Inevitably however after Lugard's departure, Kabalega overran Tooro, but this time instead of fleeing to exile, Kasagama climbed into his strategic Mountains of the Moon from where he proceeded to organize a protracted resistance.
Eventually however, it was British colonial rule which finally secured Tooro's inde- pendence. During the fol- lowing 60-year colonial period and under the approbative reigns of the resolute Kasagarna Kyebambe IV (1891-1929) and his ebullient son Sir George Rukidi Kamurasi (1929-1965), Tooro flourished. Not only were its traditional salt deposits lucrative, but the fisheries, copper-mining, tea and tourism industries Sprung Up.
But then as in the past, Tooro's happiness was abruptly checkmated by the independence scourges. Indeed the Rwenzururu insurgency was among the very first ones to erupt in post- colonial Africa.
Succeedingly and as if on schedule, the Batooro along with the rest of Ugandans, soon found themselves under the heel of a ghastly and sinister tyranny. Their young king Patrick Kaboyo, Rutabingwa rwa Muhokya Omwana wa Rusasuka (his praise-names) who was crowned in March 1966 at Uganda's darkest hour, went into exile. To cut the well-known story short, the NRM finally brought peace to Tooro and Uganda, a peace sweetened with democracy. But it is beyond the NRM's mortal powers to manipulate destiny or change history.
For instance, a good look at the above history reveals that the current startling events are not novel. On the contrary, the contemporary actors in the Tooro saga have antecedent forerunners. Isn't the prodigy young Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru another Kasagama?
What about the Cambridge-educated, steadfast and beautiful Princess Bagaya: could she be another Byanjeru of the 19th century? How about the masterful regent John Katuramu: is he another Yafesi Byakweyamba? As for President Museveni, he will find himself acting up the combined roles of Lugard, Mutesa I and Kabalega. Because of its glamorous attractions, Tooro has always been up for either domestic or out side grabs, a lighted bea con to relentless con tention.
Today, the Batooro and their many Buganda, should take the long view of history and desist from acting as if the world is ending today.
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