3 - Kawuugulu and Royal Politics

Summary

Aboobutiko have a historical intimate relationship with the kabaka. At the heart of this intimacy lies the clan's protective and entertainment obligations to him, duties that Kawuugulu members primarily enact through drumming, singing, and dancing in royal contexts. Aboobutiko's closeness to the kabaka is the subject of the song “Waggongolo Omutanda” (Mr. Millipede the Joiner; see ex. 4.3). Many clan members concur that the song acknowledges the kabaka's readiness to lead them (and members of other clans) without their prompting. According to the Kawuugulu performer Charles Lutaaya Muwaga, born in 1924, the song's lyrics ky’abeeredde, azinga enkata nga tannalaba kya kwetikka (“what he is fond of, he rolls a head pad before seeing what to carry”) demonstrate how mindful the kabaka is of Aboobutiko's needs and his willingness to address such needs before he even learns about them. In return—as was expressed by Ignatio Kawere Ganaayaba, also a Kawuugulu performer and head of a secondary lineage in the Butiko Clan, born in 1919—Aboobutiko willingly serve the kabaka without expecting any form of compensation.

To the performer and primary clan lineage head Muhammad Sensonga, born in 1928, “Waggongolo Omutanda” indirectly addresses ineligible performers who attempt to perform with Kawuugulu in order to get close to the kabaka. The song warns them against this behavior, ensuring that inegligible performers do not get ahead of themselves. Through such cautioning, “Waggongolo Omutanda” legitimizes Aboobutiko and their ensemble's royal privileges, reminding us of how the griot performers of West Africa assert their historical legitimacy. (Griots have the unique prerogative to face and speak truth to the powerful in ways that others cannot, both in the past and in the present.) This chapter examines Buganda's interactions with the kabaka through the intimate relationship he shares with Aboobutiko and their Kawuugulu Ensemble. Focusing on ensemble practices associated with the origins and use of the Nyamitongo, Nyoolaevvubuka, mpuunyi, and Kijoboje drums as well as the Kawawa royal spear, I argue that the clan and ensemble represent other clans before (stand in for them in their special roles vis-à-vis) the kabaka while setting themselves apart from those clans. This arrangement allows Kawuugulu, via royal musical performances and storytelling, to manage, structure, model, and legitimize a collaborative relationship between the kabaka and his subjects.