Mparo tombs in Bunyoro
Omukama Kabalega’s Tomb in Mparo
Mparo royal tombs in bunyoro are some of the most treasured historical sites in the region that was once under the Bunyoro Kitara empire and located about 3km along the Hoima-Masindi road in Mparo Division, it is the burial site for the great Omukama Kabalega, Bunyoro’s most known king, Sir Tito Winyi, father of the current Omukama, and several royals.
Many people pay visits to this site to perform rituals and also to pay homage or seek inspiration from Omukama Kabalega. He is widely remembered here for resisting British colonialists who had allied with Buganda to fight Bunyoro for opposing colonialism. He is a key figure in African history and remains one of the remembered figures for putting on a resilient resistance against imperialism.
After being defeated eventually in April 1899, Kabalega was exiled in Seychelles. He later died in 1923.In front of the gates to the tombs is a cone-shaped monument painted in white and black. It was built on a site where Sir Emin Pasha first met Kabalega in 1871.
Mparo royal site was rehabilitated by UPDF in 2009 prior to the activities lined up for the Heroes’ Day celebrations that year. The soldiers constructed a perimeter wall and renovated the traditional huts and tombs inside the site, which was formerly Kabalega’s palace.
Kabalega’s tomb is inside a round-grass thatched hut, which has a wooden door. A visitor has to make confessions to the caretakers of the tomb before being permitted to access the site.
It is a taboo for one to enter this tomb when you had an extramarital affair the previous night and it’s a requirement and a ritual for every visitor to deposit an amount of money he or she chooses in a basket before you get a guided tour of the tomb. Inside the hut is the tomb, which is covered with a large cowhide pegged down with nine pieces of traditional hoes. Lion and leopard skins, which served as floor coverings in Kabalega’s palace are spread inside the steps the tomb.
Traditional regalia in the Royal site;
Inside the hut are a number of implements, which include smoking pipes, clay pots, milk and water containers, baskets, wooden bowls, sticks, spears, drums, shields, and wooden stools. There are coffee berries, which are said to have been used by Omukama Kabalega and Omukama Sir Tito.
It becomes so easy to visit this attraction if your Uganda Safari has Kibale Forest national Park.
