I provide a photo of our visit to the Kasubi tombs taken in 2005 (I.e before the great fire of March 2010) to “support” my “right” to review it!  I can fully understand the somewhat dispiriting experience which Zoe recently ran into. There were elements of it for us and they possibly led to my decision not to do a review at the time. However, the "imminent" reopening (but repeatedly delayed - its last promised date was Dec 2023 and is still only "90% Complete" in Jan 24 - with no promise!) of the tombs, together with Zoe's review, have stimulated me to catch up on the memory of our visit and to fill in some gaps in my "understanding". 

At least we saw, and entered, the main structure over the tombs, the “Muzibu-Azaala-Mpanga”, although I don't remember that as being a great "revelation". The photo of it in the Craterre report linked to below didn't contain any "surprises". I don't even have an interior photo and can't remember being prevented from doing so (though I do have some of the interior of the Drum House). What is particularly "annoying" is not even to remember seeing the "two chairs and a table which were donated by Queen Victoria of England" and were destroyed in the fire!!

We have often found that visiting and gaining a reasonable understanding of cultural WHS in Sub-Saharan Africa is not easy for the non-African tourist, however interested they might be in them. I think of Koutammakou, Abomey and the Asante buildings. I have described the "value" of such sites as being "low on the tangible but high on the intangible".  As such, a good guide (assisted by some personal "preparation"?) is required to explain the background, but that is often not the case, with the job sometimes being more a way of accessing tips etc than as the culmination of significant study in the subject and the guiding profession. 

The Site

We undoubtedly failed to get the most out of our visit of almost 20 years ago, failing to "progress" much beyond its "on view" sights - and I am prepared to blame ourselves as much as our guide! It had been a WHS for 4 years but Web-based information was rather limited and certainly not available "in situ"! The "East African Handbook", with which we then travelled, has a only bit over half a page on the Tombs. Nowadays one can access the Nomination File which, in this case, is quite good, particularly given its small (5mb) size - but I have checked on Wayback Machine and that document wasn't available on-line until early 2008. I can further recommend this downloadable document from Craterre titled "Kasubi Tombs. Uganda, Kampala" by Sébastien Moriset updated after the fire and containing nice photos and plans/explanation of the interior, together with a useful glossary and explanation of the history and cultural practices. I wish we had been able to reference both before our visit!! (Craterre's documents, by the way, are excellent and I have already recommended its equivalent one on Koutammakou in my review of that WHS). 

The Rebuild

Understanding why it has taken so long to rebuild sheds light on the Tomb's "cultural environment". Japanese assistance addressed financial problems, but could do nothing to overcome the simmering cultural conflicts heightened by the rebuild! These have included debates about the skills and materials being used and the “rights” of certain groups to determine and supply those. Throw into that a complex mix of Ugandan politics and competing religious factions and you have recipe for delay. See this article  and this from ICOMOS

Note the complexity regarding the "Authenticity" of any rebuild. As Japan has often stated, "Western" concepts aren't really applicable to structures built of natural materials since they regularly have to be replaced irrespective of "disasters". This para from a UNESCO Mission regarding the history of the destroyed building shows that it too had undergone "inauthentic changes" - "The Muzibu Azaala Mpanga was originally constructed in 1882 and became a Royal Mausoleum in 1884. In 1905, the building was reduced in size because of structural problems related to its very large roof. Further remodelling of the building took place in 1938, and at that time non-vernacular materials were introduced. Concrete supports and steel beams had the advantage to allow more floor space in the absence of a forest of poles supporting the roof."

The "King's Wives"

Finally - The issue raised by Zoe about those “Slums” and the women and families living within them. Who are they? This article by UNESCO titled “Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi: a testament to their female guardians” provides some background but perhaps the most useful paragraphs are to be found in the above article on the "conflict" between "Traditionalists" and "Modernists - "The custodians of tradition inherit their duties from their ancestors. They comprise the leaders of the Bugandan clans and the people in charge of producing and looking after the traditional items of regalia. In the surroundings of the royal tombs these are mainly women – the wives and sisters of the deceased Kabaka. These are hereditary offices, so there are wives of a Kabaka who passed away 200 years ago.......... Many of the custodians of tradition have only very little Western education." (My Bolds)

It seems that the people actually "on site" (as opposed to the "senior" current royal officials living elsewhere) are relatively “lowly”, “possible” distant descendants from within the extended family and contacts of a long previous Kabaka, living there off their inherited rights, "secret" knowledge and duties (which they naturally guard with all their might given the alternative of being thrown out!). This article from 2010 gives an indication of the reality of being an "on site carer" at that time. These people are significantly separated from, and even hostile to, the  current “real Royals”. The current Kabaka of Buganda - Muwenda Mutebi II (b 1955) and his family are rich. He was educated at an English “Public” (i.e “Private”!) school and Magdelane Cambridge. His (official and regularized in a Catholic ceremony) single wife has a BA from NYU and an MA from the NY Inst of Tech. Childern of other "wives" exist, and the mother of his eldest was one Vénantie Sebudandi who died in Nov 2023 having been a Rwandan diplomat in numerous roles worldwide. And the same applies to the many wives and children of his immediate predecessor, Mutesa II (1924-69), whose "tomb" is one of the 4. He too was educated at Cambridge, and, whilst his family (13 wives and 23 children!) may have suffered during the Obote regime, many had a good education and have or have had good jobs and careers as per this Wiki article (page down). None of these people or their descendants are ever going to “live” in a hut at the tombs, making "rush mats"!!!