19/07/2018
LANGO ORIGIN: PART 7
The Lango-Bantu link was more than just a link; it was an alliance and brotherhood. In this 7th and also the last series of Lango origin, we look at how Kings Mwanga and Kabarega of Buganda and Bunyoro respectively sought and got asylum in Lango.
KINGS MWANGA AND KABAREGA IN EXILE IN LANGO
In the end, when Kings Mwanga of Buganda and Kabarega of Bunyoro were defeated by the mighty British, they needed safety, refuge and a ground to regroup. Again, they looked to Owiny-Akullo of Lango, and indeed he gave them asylum in his nation in 1897.
When the two Kings camped at Dokolo in Lango; they regrouped, recruited and trained fighters with the view to launching a return attack against the British and regain their thrones. Even though there was no Geneva Refugee Convention at that time, Lango nation believed that it was their right and duty to host and protect any refugees within their territory. Sadly, because of their resolve to stick to their belief, they paid the ultimate price. Their country would eventually become a battle field during the climax of the decade long war against Mwanga and Kabarega.
Consequently, in order to break the back of Lango people who did not only resist British colonisation, but also harboured their most wanted enemies Mwanga and Kabarega; the British and their mercenaries like Semei Kakungulu, wreaked havoc on Lango.
Mr Herbert Driberg reports in page 34 of his book “LANGO A NILOTIC TRIBE OF UGANDA” how Lango fought the British and their mercenaries for two years to defend their guests, the two Kings, and prevent their capture by all means by the British. “During these two years, armed parties of Baganda and Banyoro crossed the Nile at many places, ostensibly in search of Kabarega, but actually inspired by the lively expectation of plunder and pillage. They undoubtedly did considerable damage to isolated villages and captured many herds of cattle, but such was the courage of the Lango and so great their warlike reputation that they inflicted many severe reverses on the invaders, armed though the latter were with sniders.”
Driberg who published his book in 1923, spelled out some outstanding Lango commanders among them Owiny-Akullo who gave the invading British a bloody a nose. “Otwal, Owiny-Akullu and Etik are only a few of the names which stand out in that period. Owing-Akullo won many notable victories against the Baganda and in one battle near Aber defeated a larger force killing seventy and chasing the remainder across the Nile as far as Foweira, at that time a Government station. And even greater victory was won by Etik in the neighbourhood of Kidilande, where he killed two hundred armed Banyoro and captured many sniders.”
But unfortunately, the mightier British with mightier fire power would in the end rout the poorly armed Lango warriors, capture and deport Mwanga and Kabarega to Seychelles Island of the Indian Ocean in 1899.
Meanwhile Owiny Akullu’s Lango Kingdom, which he was establishing came to an abrupt end when the British overran Lango.
Interestingly, the impact of the British-Kabarega-Mwanga war also had a remarkable impact on the demographics of Lango population. According to Driberg’s finding, many Bantu people who had come to support or fight against the two Kings, ended up settling in Lango for ever. “But successful as Lango operations were, a large number of the Banyoro who had come over to arrest Kabarega, together with many who were of his faction, made their home on the east bank of the Nile and along the north shore of Lake Kwania from Kwibale to Akokoro, to which area their expansion had as yet carried but a few Lango. Here, they led a precarious existence, always threatened by Lango attacks, each year bringing more immigrants from across the Nile and consequently greater security, until, small as their numbers were, they established their rights to that strip of coast land.”
It should be noted that many years later, these immigrants clamoured to be reorganised as an independent ethnic group, but the greater Lango community rejected their desire. In the end, they were assimilated into the Lango community and became Lango people in terms of language, ethnicity and belonging.
LANGO POPULATION
According to the recent 2014 national population and housing census Lango was the fifth largest tribe in Uganda with two million people after Baganda, Banyangkore, Basoga and Teso respectively. Some clan leaders in Lango dispute the figures arguing that there are hundreds of thousands of Lango living in other regions but counted for others. They cite several Lango clans, whose territories were curved out to other tribes and areas like Acholi, Teso and Karamoja, examples: Punok in Anaka, Lwaa in Omoro, etc.
Here below are some prominent Lango figures. You are free to add more names to the list: (1) Dr Apollo Milton Obote from Akokoro Apac, twice president of Uganda. (2) Major General David Oyite Ojok from Loro Oyam, Chief of Staff of the UNLA 1979-1983. (3) Field Marshal John Okello from Alebtong, liberator and conqueror of Zanzibar from the Arab slave traders and rulers. (4) John Akii-Bua from Alebtong, first Ugandan Olympic Gold medallist - 1972 Munich Olympics. (5) Hon Cecelia Ogwal – Miss Uganda 1969 and also respectable Member of Parliament.
Eventually, whether Luo or Ateker theory, one thing is constant; i.e. Lango is a mix of Luo and Ateker (Hamite) in terms of ORIGIN, BLOOD, LANGUAGE & ASSIMILATION. Apparently, almost everyone who followed these series from the beginning tends to believe one of the other of the two Lango origin theories.
Subsequently, Uganda In History agrees more with the Luo theory. In fact let’s measure how Luo Lango is by the using the four factors above.
(1) Luo theory scores 4/4 i.e. ORIGIN – Luo Shilluk, BLOOD – Lango was Luo by blood, LANGUAGE – Lango spoke Luo in the beginning, ASSIMILATION – Lango assimilated a hamitic group Langolok.
(2) Ateker theory scores 3/4 i.e. ORIGIN – Non Luo Ethiopia, BLOOD – Intermarriages with Luo people, LANGUAGE – Adopted Luo, ASSIMILATION - Assimilated into Luo.
According to the above measurement, Lango is Luo whichever way you look at it.
So, at the end of a long walk from an unclear origin to Modern Lango, some questions need to be posed and answered.
If 300 years ago Lango spoke an Ateker language as argued by Ateker theory (Ateker and Luo languages are completely unintelligible), how could they lose about 99 percent of their original Ateker language even when they were the conquerors of the people whose language they purportedly copied?
Is it fair to assert that because a substantial number of Acholi women formed the motherhood foundation of Modern Lango, therefore Modern Lango is arguably mixed Lango-Acholi?
In conclusion, as we wind up this wonderful but also tumultuous journey into Lango origin, it’s clear that there are still many tough questions to be answered; most suitably by conducting an extensive DNA research.
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See you here soon again when we take a journey into another tribe's origin.
