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Batwa humiliate Bakiga in 30-year war for supremacy
An illustration of Bakiga and Batwa fighting. The two tribes fought for about three decades. ILLUSTRATION BY DANNY BARONGO
What you need to know:
- Better prepared. The Batwa had better weapons than the Bakiga. The bows and arrows used by the Batwa were by far better than the spears of the Bakiga. While each Mukiga fighter carried one or two spears, a Mutwa warrior could carry up to 50 arrows and shot all of them using one bow, and with less energy and within a very small space, writes Faustin Mugabe.
- The Batwa had for centuries lived in the jungles of Bwindi and Mgahinga with wildlife as hunters and fruit gatherers until 1991 when government evicted them from their ancestral dwelling to pave way for wild life conservation.
- The forests, located on the Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo frontiers, are protected as Bwindi Impenetrable National and Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks. About 3,000 Batwa who were evicted are in Kigezi sub-region, according to the United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda.
Today, it is a common belief among some sections of the public that Bakiga are brave people. But to the Batwa (pygmies), fighting the Bakiga was not as hard or dangerous as hunting a buffalo or lion.
As a matter of fact, until 1900, the Bakiga feared fighting Batwa warriors and avoided provoking them. But the Batwa often provoked, harassed and fought the Bakiga. And until 1900, the Batwa had always fought and defeated the Bakiga in a nearly three-decade conflict.
Perhaps, if Sir Harry Johnston, the special British commissioner to Uganda, did not send the Kings African Rifles (KAR) army to Kabale, the Batwa would have probably driven the Bakiga out of the area and forced them to retreat to Rwanda or Congo.
The Bahororo were not in good terms with the Bakiga and, therefore, it was impossible for the Bakiga to move north into Rujumbura (Rukungiri) as it was known at the time.
Batwa ambush colonialists
Sir Johnston arrived in Uganda in December 1898 and traversed Uganda in order to be acquainted with the environment and politics of the territory before signing the 1900 Uganda agreement.
When he reached Rukiga in Kigezi, he found fighting caused by the Batwa. Once Sir Johnston and his forces reached the enemy (Batwa) positions, war started.
The Batwa ambushed Sir Johnston and his troops. But when he ordered his troops to open fire, the Batwa retreated to the bush. But the Batwa had attacked and wounded porters in the lead.
In his book Uganda Protectorate Volume 1, Johnston said the Batwa, who had never heard of the sound a gun, perhaps mistook it for another form of spear or arrow.
When the Batwa retreated to the bush, the colonialists ignored them. And that is how the gun defeated the Batwa and liberated the Bakiga. And since then, the Batwa have lived in the forests in the districts of Kisoro, Kabale and Kanungu.
Why Batwa fought Bakiga
The Batwa had been fighting the Bakiga because they looked at them as invaders who had come to compete with them for wealth which included land, animals and fruits.
Because the Batwa were hunters and did not grow food, they often attacked the Bakiga, stole their food and looted their property.
The Batwa are believed to have arrived in the area long before the Bakiga and so they believed that they owned that “country” and wanted the Bakiga to be submissive to them, which the Bakiga could not. This caused animosity between the two tribes which resulted in one of the longest wars in the region (Uganda).
Why Batwa defeated Bakiga
Other facts remaining constant, the Batwa had better weapons than the Bakiga. The bows and arrows used by the Batwa were by far better than the spears of the Bakiga.
While each Mukiga fighter carried one or two spears, a Mutwa warrior could carry up to 50 arrows and shot all of them using one bow, and with less energy and within a very small space.
The Batwa (pygmies) of Africa were the earliest fighters to use snipers. A single pygmy warrior with 50 poisonous arrows would hide and probably shoot all the 50 targets.
The Batwa warriors knew how to provoke and draw out the targets from their homes or hide-outs. Be it human beings or animals.
For instance, during the war against the Bakiga, a pygmy warrior would in the evening hide near the hut of the Mukiga under the cover of darkness. And with arrows and bows, he would shoot a child and if a mother came to see, she too would be shot.
And when the males got outside to assess the situation, the Batwa would shoot at them without being detected.
And if they did not die instantly, they would die later a painful death as a result of poison from the arrows.
Meanwhile, those shot would wail and call for help from neighbours who would fall into the ambush and many more would get killed.
Besides using the snipping tactic, the Batwa would ambush Bakiga warriors and shoot at them from the ground. Even in modern times, fighting snipers has proved to be very complicated even for the best armies.
But the Batwa were also better organised and commanded than the Bakiga. The Batwa had a central commander. Their commander always led in battles.
On the other hand, the Bakiga lacked proper leadership and in times of war, each family or clan fought independently.
Because the war had lasted for long, the Bakiga did not have enough food as the Batwa would either steal, destroy the food or it was left in the gardens to be eaten by birds and animals.
Another fact why the Bakiga were defeated was that while they were still facing the war caused by the Batwa, the king of Rwanda ordered his forces to attack the Bakiga.
The long conflict and the infamous Mishorongo/Rwaranda famine of 1897 ravaged the “country of Rukiga” to the advantage of the Batwa who had enough food from the forests and wild animals.
Guns defeat Batwa
The Batwa had thoroughly defeated the Bakiga in a war that is believed to have started around 1873 and ended in 1902.
Thus, the Batwa/Bakiga war was the earliest longest recorded tribal war in what is Uganda today. Had the British not come to Uganda, undoubtedly, the history of the Bakiga would have been written differently.
It was the gun of the KARs that silenced the Batwa and saved the Bakiga from further humiliation.
The Batwa had humiliated the Bakiga so much that today, if a Mukiga wants to curse or humiliate someone, he or she will say,“Keitwe abatwa” (wishing you could be killed by the Batwa).
During the 2014 population census, the Bakiga had a total population of 2.4 million, making them the fifth largest tribe in Uganda, while total population of the Batwa was 6,200 people.
About the Batwa
The Batwa had for centuries lived in the jungles of Bwindi and Mgahinga with wildlife as hunters and fruit gatherers until 1991 when government evicted them from their ancestral dwelling to pave way for wild life conservation.
The forests, located on the Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo frontiers, are protected as Bwindi Impenetrable National and Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks. About 3,000 Batwa who were evicted are in Kigezi sub-region, according to the United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda.
About 1,598 live in Kisoro, 774 in Kabale and 665 in Kanungu districts, and a few others are in Bundibugyo and Kasese districts. Two decades outside the forest life, Batwa are still unable to compete on equal terms with other ethnic groups in Uganda and they remain marginalised and the poorest section of the society.
They believe they were owners and custodians of the forests but the government never allocated them alternative land, which is a violation of their human rights.
Continues next Sunday
