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• cissy's blog
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The Kasubi tombs -- commonly known as a “Masiro” -- are situated five kilometers away from Kampala City Centre on Kasubi Hill, on the Kampala/ Hoima Road. The place is a burial ground for Buganda Royal Kings and a cultural heritage centre.

The Kasubi Tombs entrance site was inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2001. The Tombs are marked by a thatched hut. It is a major example of an architectural achievement in organic materials -- principally wood, thatch, reed, wattle and daub. The site's main significance lies, however, in its intangible values of belief, spirituality, continuity and identity.

The grass thatched Kasubi Tombs were gutted by fire in the night of 16th March 2010, at about 8.30 pm. The Uganda Police have yet to establish the cause of the fire. The arrival of Uganda Fire Brigade did not save anything as the fire caught up the grass thatched huts (Esuubi) and gutted them within no time. The raging fire burnt the whole rear hut, and fumes could be seen from a distance by some of us who are neighboring the tombs.

The crowd flocked to the scene of the fire scene singing, the “Ekitibwa kya Buganda”, drumming and chanting, making a lot of noise. This hampered the fire brigade from effectively extinguishing the fire. See http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/713151

To maintain peace and order, security personnel had to be deployed to protect the remains.

The deployed personnel were forced to fire in the air scaring away the hooligans who would run to and fro. By 11pm, the fumes could still be seen from a distance. The fire brigade team did not save much and the grass thatched huts were burnt to ashes, including most of the traditional tools, which are used to perform some rituals according to Buganda cultural norms.

It is reported that “four people are feared dead in the chaos reigning at the Kasubi tombs” (www.256news.com). The famous heritage site, “Kasubi Tombs” is no more. It’s a pity the traditional rituals could not foretell the incident.

A lot of noise still goes on as the idlers take advantage and disrupt the efforts to safe guard the remains. Chanting and singing have scared Ugandans who have not forgotten the riots last year that cost many lives of innocent Ugandans.

Kasubi Tombs is a very important and historical site for Buganda. The Kings (Kabakas) always built their palaces on strategic hills to control the major roads to the Palace, and find easy ways to escape in case of an invasion or rebellion. When they died, the traditional practice was to bury each Kabaka at a separate site to establish a royal shrine to house his jaw bone, which was believed to contain his spirit.

These shrines were staffed by descendants of the Kabaka's leading chiefs, his wives, his ritual half sister, and by spirit medium through which the dead Kabaka communicated with his successors. Many of the shrines are still maintained today. The four Kabakas have been laid to rest forever at Kasubi Tombs.

The structures of Kasubi Tombs are traditionally built with non permanent materials, and this makes it prone to fire dangers. The gate house was constructed using wooden columns supporting a thatched roof, with walls made of woven reeds. The entire structure is divided into departments. The Bajjabukula leads to a small courtyard which contains the Ndoga-Obukaba, a circular house in which the royal drums are kept.

One enters the main courtyard (Olugya) enclosed by a fence constructed of reeds and several houses built for the widows of the Kabakas and for other Ritual purposes. The entrance into this county yard is a striking experience, as one immediately faces the main tomb building known as Muzibu-Azaala- Mpanga, which is the architectural masterpiece of this ensemble.

The hidden part inside the great house is known as the” forest" or Kibira. It is a sacred and secret area where king’s spirits reside. Only the widows have access to this part behind a bark cloth curtain.

Apart from the Royal burial ceremonies, other traditional rituals are carried out throughout the year. They include the new moon ceremony and the consultation of the mediums. But the main spiritual life is not visible to the ordinary visitor as many ceremonies are performed secretly inside the buildings. The Baganda observe the myths concerning the origin of death. People believe that every person's death has a spiritual origin.

The government will assist in the restoration of the vandalized Buganda Kingdom tombs at Kasubi in Kampala, according to a statement from State House. We hope this historical Buganda cultural site will be restored to its original state.