Is Rain Making Among the Madi People in Uganda a Reality or a Myth?:

Article Summary: The Madi people are a group of Luo speaking people in Uganda. Like any African country, Uganda is composed of many tribes and every tribe has its traditional beliefs. Among them are the Madi people of Northwest Uganda. These people have the culture that is admired by their neighbours who are composed of Okebu people, Lugbara, the Kakwa and the Lendu of eastern Congo. They are mostly feared because of their superstitious ways among which include the making of rain.

The Madi people are a group of Luo speaking people in Uganda. Like any African country, Uganda is composed of many tribes and every tribe has its traditional beliefs. Among them are the Madi people of Northwest Uganda. These people have the culture that is admired by their neighbours who are composed of Okebu people, Lugbara, the Kakwa and the Lendu of eastern Congo. They are mostly feared because of their superstitious ways among which include the making of rain.


Scientifically rainmaking is not believed but among the Madi people of Uganda, it is believed that some clans have the capacity to make rain. With the coming of the Western culture to Africa some of the traditional beliefs are seizing. We have come to know that rainmaking indeed was possible although it can’t be confirmed as all people to give you actual information are already dead. But what we have researched conforms that rainmaking among the Madi people of Uganda was possible.


Rain Making Procedure


With only two exceptions, rain could be made by the rainmaker by using a special set of stones which were usually white in colour. Within the whole of the Madi community, there were as many as forty-five rain-making centers.
These “rain stones” as they were called were believed to come with rain from the sky and they could be categorized into “male” and “female” stones. The male stones were conical with fairly sharp points while the female ones would be either round or conical but perhaps without sharp points.

Actually some female stones looked exactly like male ones but the rain maker could tell which without any difficulty. When “rain stones” were discovered, they were immediately reported to the chief.In the event of thunder or lightening, it is said the “rain stones” would jump about.

They were kept in special pots and they could not be looked at without the permission of the chief or rain maker, otherwise they could easily strike the insolent viewer with impotence.
If rain failed to come, people would ask the rainmaker to assist. The ceremony of making rain was completely perverse of the rain maker. The stones were smeared with fat or oil and supplications were made to Rabanga (god) and to the former chiefs. Then the offertory food was eaten and the stones would be placed in a little water.


The rain maker would take the offertory food (mtami, wimbi and beans) together with shear- butter nut oil into the huts where the rain stones wee kept.
Then he would put the clay pot on a wooden basin, remove the “rain stone” from their pot, and wash them and, calling upon the spirits of the dead chiefs and Rabanga to bring rain, he would put them in a bowl in which they were anointed with a little oil.


The rain maker and the chiefs principle wives, who were the only people supposed to be present at the ceremony, would cook the beans in the oil and brew beer from mtami and wimbi.
From the remainder of the wimbi, millet bread would also be made. This food was eaten by the rainmaker and the two principle women who prepared it.
The “rain stones” were then placed in a pot with sufficient water which would be neither too much nor too little. The rain maker and the women would neither leave the hut nor eat any other food during the whole day.


Rain was expected to fall on that day.
If rain failed to come, the rain maker would extend the rain making ceremony to involve the killing and eating of a sheep.
Unless there was something really unnatural, rain was expected to come. If there was too much rain, the rain maker would pick a branch of a bush called erewa, smear it with red ochre and put it in the roof of the hut where the rain stones were kept.


It is said that only two clans among the Madi people would cause rain to fall without using “rain stones”. Their elders would meet at their place of worship and ask Rubanga to bring rain by just playing to him.
The birth ceremonies varied from clan to clan and others from village to village.

by Twinomugisha Charles

Free Guide to African Traditional Marriage Among the Batooro People in Uganda.

Article Summary: The Batooro people are a group of Bantu speaking people in Uganda. They are found in Western Uganda near Mount Rwenzori ranges .They are under Tooro Kingdom which is among other kingdoms in Uganda. They are neighbors to Banyankole ,Bakiga, Bakonjo, Banyoro,Baganda and Bamba people .

The Batooro people are a group of Bantu speaking people in Uganda. They are found in Western Uganda near Mount Rwenzori ranges .They are under Tooro Kingdom which is among other kingdoms in Uganda. They are neighbors to Banyankole ,Bakiga, Bakonjo, Banyoro,Baganda and Bamba people .

Their culture is very interesting as it is welcoming to every one who comes to this land. Among other this that interested us is their African traditional marriage ceremony. Marriage occupied an important position in the cultural life of the Batooro. Man would not be regarded as complete before he got married. Although much has changed, Batooro traditional marriage has not changed. On this article we give you the details on how marriage among the Batooro people in Uganda was taken traditionally.

Formerly, marriage would be arranged by the parents of the boy and the girl without their knowledge with or without their consent. During the preparations however, the consent of the girl would have to be sought. A middle-man was usually sought by the boy’s side and his role was socially recognized and rewarded. He was known as Kibonabuko.

He had the duty of making investigations about the character of the girl, her family background and her ability to work. After such ground work was completed, the kibonabiko would proceed to secure the girl from her parents on behalf of the boy’s family.

The Kibonabuko would wake up one morning and go to the girl’s family and declare his intentions to marry their daughter. He would make the following statement to the father of the girl:

“Sir, I come to you that you should build a house for me. I would like you to be part of my clan; I have come to ask for a wife, the builder of the house.”

The normal response from the girl’s father was: “I don’t have any child”. The Kibonabuko would insist that the child was there, and on being asked who exactly he wanted, he would name the girl.

If the father consented, the Kibonabuko would thankfully kneel down as a sign of appreciation. The next step would be for the boy’s family to take beer to the girl’s parents for the bride wealth to be fixed.

The bride wealth was normally in the form of cows. It varied between the Bahuma (cattle keepers) and the Bairu (cultivators). For the Bahuma, it ranged from six to twenty cows.

For the Bairu, the ceiling was about eight cows. They would often make payments in goats and hoes. All or part of the bride wealth when due, would be received during a ceremony known as Okujuga.

It was a very important ceremony involving a lot if eating, drinking and merry making. There after, the young man’s family could send barkcloth and some skins for the bride’s dress. Meanwhile other formalities would be finalized for the wedding.

On the wedding day, another big feast was organized. The bride would be collected around six or seven o’clock in the evening. Before leaving, she would first perform a ritual of sitting on her parents laps.

This ritual was known as okubukara. She would then be lifted onto a litter and carried to the bridegroom’s home. On arrival, she would perform a ritual of being carried on her parent’s in –laws laps.


There she would be sprinkled with some herbal water (endemezi) to welcome and bless her. Before the feasting started, the bridegroom would go to bed with the bride, to perform another ritual, okucwa amagita.

Thereafter, the guests were given coffee berries, smoking pipes, beer and later food. If the girl was found to be a virgin during okucwa amagita, a gift of a cow or a goat would be sent to her mother to congratulate her on raising her daughter well.

On the third day, the bride’s friends and relatives would give her gifts from home. They would come to see where she had been taken.

The bride would spend some days in confinement and, at the end of it all, an elaborate ceremony would be held to bring the girl out and to initiate her into the art of cooking and house keeping.


In the event of a divorce, bride wealth would be refunded. However, part of the bride wealth would be retained if the woman had already had some children with her husband.The birth ceremonies varied from clan to clan and others from village to village.

by Twinomugisha Charles

Learn About the Origins of Traditional Circumcision Among the Bagishu People in Uganda.

Article Summary: The Bagishu people in Uganda are a group of Bantu speaking people in Africa. They live on the slopes of Mt Elgon in Eastern Uganda bordering Kenya. They are agriculturalist mainly and their main cash crop is coffee. Although much of their traditional beliefs have changed, their love for circumcision has not changed since time immemorial.

The Bagishu people in Uganda are a group of Bantu speaking people in Africa. They live on the slopes of Mt Elgon in Eastern Uganda bordering Kenya. They are agriculturalist mainly and their main cash crop is coffee.

Although much of their traditional beliefs have changed, their love for circumcision has not changed since time immemorial.

On this article we will give you detailed information about the origin of circumcision among Bagishu men and how the whole practice is performed.
The actual origin of this practice is mysterious even among the Bagishu themselves.
One tradition states that it originated from the demand by the Barwa (Kalenjin) when Masaba, the Bagishu hero ancestor, wanted to marry a Kalenjin girl.

Another tradition claims that the first person to be circumcised had a complication with his sexual organ and the circumcision started as a surgical operation to save the man’s life.
There is also a story that the first person to be circumcised had as a punishment for seducing other people’s wives.

Legend has it that it was decided to castrate him by a way of circumcision. When he recovered, he resumed his former practices and rumour went around that he was excellent at it.
In order to compete favourably, other men decide to circumcise also.
The Bagishu are a highly superstitious people. Before circumcision, and initiate is administered with herbs called ityanyi.

Its purpose is to arouse interest on circumcision within the candidate.
Often, itenyi is tied round the initiate’s big toe or it is put in such a place where he might jump over it unawares. It is believed that if a candidate who has taken itenyi is delayed, or hindered from being circumcised, he might end up circumcising himself as his mind is said to be so much stimulated towards circumcision that no other thing can distract him.
Circumcision among the Bagishu occurs bi-annually during leap years. Every male has to perform the ritual upon reaching puberty.

Those who abscond are hunted down and forcefully and scornfully circumcised.
Before the day of circumcision, the initiates are tuned up by having them walk and dance around villages for three days. Their relatives dance with them and there is much drumming and singing.

Girls, especially the sisters of the initiates, enthusiastically take parting the processions.
It is believed that once a boy is circumcised he becomes a true Mugishu and a mature person.
An uncircumcised one is called a MusaniOn the day of circumcision, the initiates are assembled together in a semi-circle. The operation on each initiate is pretty fast.
The circumciser and his assistant move around performing the ritual as appropriate. The assistant circumciser pulls the fore skin off the penis and the circumciser cuts off.

The circumciser goes further and cuts from the penis another layer which is believed to develop into another top cover for the penis if it is not removed.
The circumciser proceeds and cuts off a certain muscle on the lower part of the pennies. These cuttings end the circumcision ritual.

After circumcision, the initiate is made to sit down on a stool and he is then wrapped in a piece of cloth. After that he is taken to his father’s house and made to move around the house before entering it.
For three days, the initiate is not allowed to eat with his hands. He is fed. They say that it is because he is not yet fully initiated into manhood.

After three days, the circumciser is invited to perform the ritual of washing the initiate’s hands. It is after this ritual that the initiate can eat with his hands.
On the same day, the initiate is declared a man. It is then that the custom allows him to marry.

During the ceremony, the initiate is instructed on the duties and demands of man hood. He is informed in addition that agriculture is very important and advised to always behave like a man.
It is believed that the healing of the cuts depends on how many goats have been slaughtered during the circumcision. After healing, a ritual is performed. All the new initiates in the locality have to attend. This ritual is called Iremba.
It is an important ceremony which all village people these days even government officials attend.

During ritual proceedings, the initiate could pick any girl and have sexual intercourse with her, the girl was not supposed to refuse. It is believed that if a girl refused, she would never have children when she got married.

Previously, circumcision was done in specific enclosures and only the initiates and the circumcisers were allowed in. The rest of the congregation would just wait and listen from the outside enclosure. Today, however, all people are allowed to watch the whole process. Firmness and courageous endures on the part of the initiate is appreciated as a sign of bravery.

by Twinomugisha Charles

Compare Traditional Religion of Baganda People and the Current Religions in Uganda.

Article Summary: Baganda are a group of Bantu speaking people in Uganda. They are the majority of Ugandan tribes as of today making 17% of Uganda’s population. Traditionally they were the most civilized people in Uganda where Christianity came to Uganda in 1877. Although Islam had come earlier, fewer people had followed it compared to those who followed Christianity. And for that matter when Christianity came many people went with it .And no matter the majority today are Christians.

Baganda are a group of Bantu speaking people in Uganda. They are the majority of Ugandan tribes as of today making 17% of Uganda’s population. Traditionally they were the most civilized people in Uganda where Christianity came to Uganda in 1877.

Although Islam had come earlier, fewer people had followed it compared to those who followed Christianity. And for that matter when Christianity came many people went with it .And no matter the majority today are Christians.

But this does not mean that they left their traditional religion. Some Baganda people are still practicing their traditional religion side by side with the current western religions.
In this article, I will give you the little I have gathered about their traditional religion.

The Baganda people believed in superhuman spirits in the form of mizimu, misambwa and balubaale.
The Balubale were believed to have been men whose exceptional attributes in life were carried over into death.

The mizimu were believed to be ghosts of dead people for it was believed that only the body could die and rot but the soul would still exist as omuzimu (singular of mizimu).
Such ghosts were believed to operate at the family level to haunt whoever the dead person had grudges with. If the mizimu entered natural objects, they were believed to become misambwa.

At another level, the mizimu could become tribal figures and also be known as Balulaale.
The supreme being among the Baganda people was the creator Katonda. Katonda was, believed to have had neither children nor parents. He was said to have created heavens and the earth with all that they contain.

Katonda was however, not believed to be very different from the other Balubaale. In fact he was believed to be one of the seventy –three Balubaale in Buganda.
There were three temples for Katonda in Buganda and all of them were situated in Kyaggwe under the care of priests from the Njovu clan.
The other Balubaale had specific functions. The most important among them were; katonda, Ggulu, god of the sky

the father of Kiwanuka, god of lightning.

Then there was Kawumpuli, god of plague,

Ndaula, god of small pox,

Musisi, god of earthquakes,

Wamala, god of Lake Wamala

Mukasa, god of Lake Victoria.

Musoke was the god of the rainbow

Kitaka was the god of the earth.

There were temples dedicated to the different Balubaale through out Buganda. Each temple was served by a medium and a priest who had powers over the temple and acted as a liaison between the Balubaale and the people.
In particular clans, priesthood was hereditary, but a priest of the same god could be found in different clans. The priests occupied a place of religious importance within society and they usually availed themselves for consultation.

The Kings had special shrines of worship.
The Royal sister known as Nnaalinya took charge of the king’s temple.
There is a tradition among the Baganda people that the Balubaale cult was introduced by kabaka Nakibinge to strengthen his authority and that he combined both political and religious functions for that matter.

by Twinomugisha Charles