Paper short abstract:

In September 2009 a dispute over internal boundaries caused widespread roting and social unrest in the Ugandan Kingdom of Buganda. This paper analyses contested narratives around the historicity of competing boundary claims and explores the role of the British colonial government in their evolution.

Paper long abstract:

In the final decade of the nineteenth century the Kingdom of Buganda undertook a period of significant expansion with British assistance. The British believed Buganda to be more "civilised" than neighbouring territories and Buganda utilised such beliefs, alongside European geo-political concerns, to pursue an extension of Kingdom boundaries within the newly created Uganda Protectorate. Consequently, a number of non-Ganda peoples were included within the Kingdom's administrative sphere.

This paper explores how contemporary boundary disputes in Buganda's north-eastern territories of Buruli and Bugerere can be traced historically throughout the twentieth century. The extension of the Kingdom's northern borders was achieved through the annexation of lands belonging to the neighbouring Kingdom of Bunyoro. This incorporation of Nyoro lands resulted in a long-running dispute which culminated in the return of two territories to Bunyoro in 1964. Buruli and Bugerere, however, remained under Ganda control. Since the 1980's a number of indigenous peoples of these two areas have increasingly agitated for a redrawing of internal boundaries to allow them to secede from Buganda's cultural and administrative sphere.

In 2009 continued tensions around border issues resulted in widespread riots and violence across Buganda and in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Drawing upon these events this paper argues that while contested cultural and ethnic boundaries are partially the result of contemporary concerns over resource allocation, the tenacity and power of such disputes derives from the complex narratives of Buganda's colonial history.