The decline and eclipse of Ankole Kingship: Regalia Galore revisited

Martin Doornbos is Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. He has published extensively on politics in East Africa.

The reasons for a renewed interest in a study dealing with the historical background of Ankole kingship are not too difficult to discern. Along with the other monarchies in Uganda, the institution of kingship in Ankole was abolished in 1967 by President Milton Obote’s first government, amidst what then appeared to be a widespread indifference among the population of Ankole. In recent years, though, the future of Ankole kingship has become a highly contested issue, following attempts to restore the institution in the wake of the example of the reinstatement of the monarchy in neighbouring Buganda in 1993, and subsequently those of Toro and Bunyoro. In contrast particularly to Buganda, where the idea of kingship could count on broad popular support, social relations and perceptions of history in the Ankole region have appeared to militate against the re-acceptance of monarchical institutions. In recent times, therefore, proponents and opponents of monarchical restoration have found themselves engaged in increasingly fierce verbal battles about the matter, in the Ugandan press, on radio and television, in parliament and local councils, until it was left to rest in a provisional deadlock and stalemate from about April 2000 onwards. The proponents of restoration then announced they would pursue the matter again after the year 2003, when the next parliamentary and presidential elections are over.