Umukuuka we Bamasaaba III Jude Mike Mudoma….Photo/courtesy.
By IP reporter.
MBALE, Uganda (IP)
The Ugandan government has officially changed the name of the Bamasaaba cultural institution from Inzu ya Masaba to Inzu ya Bugisu.
The decision by the government has stirred debate among elders, cultural leaders and members of the Bamasaaba community within and without Uganda.
The institution’s jurisdiction stretches beyond Uganda’s eastern border into western Kenya where most clans trace their lineage to Masaaba.
Its leadership structure reflects this cross-border heritage and the cabinet of the Umukuka includes Bamasaaba from both Kenya and Uganda, as well as representatives from the diaspora.
The change was announced in April 2025 by Ugandan Minister of Gender Betty Amongi, who issued a statutory notice in the Uganda Gazette correcting errors in the names of traditional and cultural leaders, and formally declaring their areas of jurisdiction.
The notice issued alongside similar corrections for other cultural institutions nationwide went unchallenged within the legal timeframe.
“In law, a gazette can be challenged. But nobody did,” said Steve Masiga, spokesman for the Inzu ya Masaba. “It’s like closing the stable after the horses have bolted.”
Masiga questioned the uproar in Bugisu when other cultural institutions across Uganda have remained largely silent.
“The reason is simple; Most(cultural institutions) were founded under the legal framework — Article 246 of the Constitution and the Institution of Traditional or Cultural Leaders Act (2011),” he added.
Bugisu’s case is unique. In 2009 before the enabling law existed, a group of elders registered a cultural institution as a company under the Companies Act.
While they were pioneers in preserving Bamasaaba heritage their structure was not anchored in law at the time.
The government later on established a legal framework for recognizing cultural leaders.
Under the Ugandan law any community can create a cultural institution but it must follow the formal provisions.
“The Inzu ya Masaba elders must listen to the law, not the other way around,” Masiga said. “Elders cannot create Bukuka or the office of the Umukuka on their own. These are created through Ugandan law in harmony with our customs. Nobody can pocket Bukuka as it belongs to all Bamasaaba people.”
Masiga drew a cultural analogy to underline his point;
“Do people give birth to culture, or does culture give birth to people? In the same way do the people follow the law or does the law follow the people?”
The spokesman also recalled a 2014 incident when then Minister for Gender Mary Karooro Okurut de-gazetted several cultural leaders for using fictitious titles.
At the time one of Bugisu’s first Umukukas was almost arrested in Bunyoro for driving an unregistered car and introducing himself with a title unfamiliar to local traffic officers.
For now Inzu ya Bugisu is the institution’s legal name not Inzu ye Bamasaaba and unless the courts say otherwise it will remain so.
Ends.
