Mutatembwa of Kiziba (1857-1903)

Mutatembwa of Kiziba (in the middle), photo by Rehse (published in 1910)

Mutatembwa was an old man, when the Germans arrived at Lake Victoria in 1890. He was the bakama, or king/chief of Kiziba. The country was on the border to the British sphere of influence.

Mutatembwa was born in 1857 as the son of Ruhangarazi of Kiziba. Before the arrival of Germans, Mutatembwa fought a series of very successful campaigns against his neighbors. His expansion was only stopped by Germans. Mutatembwa was one of the few rulers at the Lake to offer a year-long resistance against the Germans in the region. His resistance originated rather in the course of regional power struggle and in local intrigues over the succession to the throne than in the German presence.

The first ally of Germans in the region was Mukotani of Kiamtwara. Emin Pasha (or Eduard Schnitzler) founded the first German station at Bukoba, which was in Mukotani's kingdom, in 1890. The German presence in his kingdom gave Mukotani a decisive advantage over his rivals in the struggle for hegemony in the region. He persuaded Emin Pascha to attack Mutatembwa for his alleged enmity against the Germans. This attack laid the foundation for the future relationship between Mutatembwa and the Germans.

The main event of the early 1890s in the region, however, was not the arrival of Germans, but the Bugandan civil war. The conflict had major consequences for the regional system of alliances and rivalries. Kiziba was in the orbit of influence of the Baganda for most the 19^th century. Mutatembwas first reaction to the arrival of Germans was to ask the Bagandan king for help, but the king itself fought for his survival against a coalition of protestant Bugandans and the British IBEAC. When Mwanga lost his throne, he went to exile to Mutatembwa. The fight for the Bugandan throne was seen by the British, and later by many Germans too, as a struggle for European supremacy in the region. Mwanga was portrayed a ruthless despot, and anybody, who was allied to him, too.

Mutatembwa chose his son Mutahangarwa as his successor. This was opposed by the Germans on the basis of an incident in 1897, when Mutatembwa refused to provide the German doctor Zupitza with the corpses of people, who had died of plague. The king's advisers accused the German of cannibalism. Mutahangarwas main rival for the succession to the throne was a certain Reshebula, who took the affair as a chance to get rid of Mutahangarwa. He accused Mutatembwa and his son of being an enemy of the Germans and an ally of the Bugandan king Mwanga. For his refusal to deliver the corpses, Zupitza punished the king by killing his prime minister or katikiro.

Mutatembwa finally gave in and choose not to continue his resistance. The mistrust between both sides, however, remained for the rest of his regency.

Mutatembwa died in 1903.  Mutahangarwa followed him as the new king.