In the Name of the Father of Lights, His Son, Our Redeemer and Illuminator, Jesus Christ, and the All-Holy Spirit, AMEN
Today, 06 April 2023, we commemorate the One Hundredth Anniversary of the death of the His Majesty, Omukama Chwa II Kabalega.
His Majesty, Omukama Chwa II Kabalega was born on 18 June 1853 and ascended to the throne in 1869 at the age of sixteen as the twenty-third Omukama from the Babito Dynasty, following the death of his father, Omukama Kamurasi Mirundi Rukanama rwa Kanembe Kyebambe IV. Omukama Chwa II Kabalega led a brilliant revival of what had been a declining kingdom through the reclamation of some lost territories by improving and increasing food production, cattle herding, improved trade, iron smelting, and through the resources provided by the Kibiro Salt Mines.
In health and welfare innovation, in 1878, Omukama Chwa II Kabalega’s Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom was the only place in the world where Cesarean section surgeries were performed to save the life of the mother AND child, and where a cure was developed for sleeping sickness.
Omukama Chwa II Kabalega was described by his friend Dr. Emin Pasha thus:
“He (Omukama Chwa II Kabalega) is very lively, he laughs a lot, often shaking with mirth. He is very talkative and appears to submit to ceremonial with a certain measure of constraint.”
Though His Majesty was known as warm and personable to his friends, one can state with sure confidence that he was recognized as an implacable adversary; he gave the British occupation forces half of a decade of military challenges and difficulties (having been referred to by historians as a thorn in the side of the British occupation forces) ere His Majesty was wounded and sent into exile in Seychelles for twenty-four years. Though released prior to his death, His Majesty did not live to see his beloved kingdom again, having died in Jinia, on his journey homeward, just outside of his beloved Bunyoro’s borders, one hundred years ago today, 06 April 1923.
May we say “MEMORY ETERNAL” in honor of His Majesty Omukama Chwa II Kabalega, and may we, in honor of His Majesty’s dedication to His Kingdom and his people, emulate the brilliance, courage, dedication, innovation, kindness, solidarity, steadfastness, and strength, of this Hero of Bunyoro and Hero of Uganda; may we be blessed to work together to serve his Kingdom with the same exemplary qualities
An Unworthy Servant, in service of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and in His Majesty’s Esteemed Service.
+Cherubim Abu-Seifein Akiiki, Office of the Abuna, Catholicos, and Patriarch
