Beyond ethnicity: the violence in Western Uganda and Rwenzori’s 99 problems

SUMMARY

In the Rwenzori region, a range of historical, socio-economic and political tensions have in past years resulted in a series of deadly clashes between different ethnic communities. Patronage politics of recognition of cultural kingdoms and district creation critically drives the manifestation of these tensions in ethnic violence, especially in the context of electoral contest.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Anna Reuss is a joint PhD candidate at the University of Antwerp Institute for Development Studies and Management, and in the Department of Conflict and Development Studies at Ghent University. Her doctoral research focuses on regime stability and the security sector in Uganda. Based in Kampala, Uganda, she works as an independent analyst of political, security and integrity risks in Eastern Africa. Email: [email protected].

Kristof Titeca is an assistant professor at the University of Antwerp Institute for Development Studies and Management. He has published extensively on conflict and governance in Central and Eastern Africa. Email: [email protected].

ORCID

Kristof Titeca http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2003-2053

Notes

1. The final version of this paper was submitted on 1 November 2016, before the clashes of late November 2016 in the Rwenzori region. For this reason, the briefing does not deal with these events. For a brief analysis incorporating these events, see Reuss and Titeca (2016).

2. The Abayora revolt was a protest against the imposition of colonial rule on the Bakonzo, and on the cultural oppression of Tooro, in addition to forced labour and taxation (Syahuka-Muhindo and Titeca 2016).

3. See http://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/basongora-bakonzo-clash-over-land-evictions.

4. This (im)migration is related to a variety of issues, such as labour migrants who seek opportunities in Kasese's mining industry and the oil sector, but also Ankole cattle-herders and refugees from DRC.

5. Mukonzo is the singular of Bakonzo.

6. Long-time defence minister Crispus Kiyonga, a Mukonzo from Kasese, was one of its most vocal critics.

7. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVBATs-uIZw.

8. And thus who would control more and better habitable land, and whether the Basongora minority would gain a majority in any of the new districts.

9. Heightened tensions between the kingdom and government became visible at the ceremonial grounds: royal guards denied access to police, including personal guards of politicians (New Vision 2016j).

10. See Pennacini (2008) for history, relations and identity politics of the Nande and Bakonzo.