This last week, a very important cultural emblem in Uganda was destroyed. The Kasubi tombs are the burial site of four kabakas (kings) of the Buganda Kingdom. The Buganda Kingdom is the largest surviving kingdom in all of Africa. There is still a kabaka who rules over the kingdom. He does not hold political power in the country, but he does still hold a lot of sway over the Baganda people.
On Tuesday, the Kasubi tombs were burned down. It is suspected that it was arson, though no one really knows. The Kasubi tombs hold so much cultural importance to the Baganda people, so this was a devastating loss. Thousands of people turned up at the tombs, the kabaka called for a week of mourning, and many religious and political leaders have called for funds to be raised to rebuild the tombs (even though many of the cultural items within were lost). However, there was also unrest. 3 or 4 people were killed, and many more were taken to the hospital. There was small scale rioting, and the people around the tomb tried to keep the President (Museveni) from visiting the site. Thankfully, there was not full scale rioting as there was last September, but cultural/tribal tensions run deep, and this event exposed that those tensions are still there
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