Paper short abstract:

By examining how indigenous leaders navigated the demarcation of the Uganda-Congo boundary and the colonial securitisation of lake Katwe between 1894-1906, this paper explores the role of firearms and aesthetic objects in the production of authority along violent and unstable colonial frontiers.

Paper long abstract:

From 1885 to 1915, geographic errors delayed the delimitation and demarcation of the boundary between Uganda Protectorate and Congo Free State, transforming the colonial frontier into a locus of fierce competition between British, Leopoldian and indigenous actors. As imperial rivalries slowed diplomatic attempts at negotiating a new boundary, administrators in Africa turned to an array of strategies to securitise the frontier within and outwith. In the Semliki Valley, British and Congolese authorities increasingly restricted the circulation and use of firearms and ammunitions, which indigenous leaders had long employed prior to colonisation to compete for political authority over lake Katwe and its renewed salt deposits. Besides regulating and controlling the material access to weaponry, however, colonial securitisation also relied on aesthetic objects and practices, which European authorities widely employed not only to perform the boundary on the ground, but also in the context of political encounters and engagements with frontier societies. Drawing from British and Belgian archival data, this paper discusses the colonial securitisation of the Uganda-Congo frontier between 1894-1906, analysing the strategies adopted by European agents around lake Katwe and the tactics employed by local leaders in response to demarcation and securitisation. By showing how, in addition to firearms, indigenous leaders also resorted to flags and uniforms to play off colonial rivalries and seize control of Katwe, the paper explores the materialities associated with the production of indigenous authority along unstable and violent colonial frontiers.