Bakiga People in Uganda, Social Set up of Bakiga Tribe , Bakiga Clans in Kigezi
Learn about the traditional marriage among Bakiga peopleMarriage was a very important cultural institution among the Bakiga. Traditionally, no marriage could be honored without the payment of bride wealth. In the past, a marriage could be arranged by the boy’s father or uncle on the boy’s behalf. The final arrangements could only be made after the payment of bride wealth. The bride was normally paid by the boy’s father. It involved cows, goats and hoes. The amount paid differed from group to group and from family to family within each group. It is said that it was taboo to sell any animals given as bridewealth.Such animals could be used to obtain wives for the girl’s brothers or father. The Bakiga are a very polygamous society; the number of wives was only limited by the availability of land and bride wealth obligations.The Bride wealth paid on a girl was shared among the girl’s principal relatives. Of the relatives the most important were Nyinarimi (maternal uncle) and ishenkazi (paternal aunt). If one of them went away dissatisfied, so they said, he could render the girl barren or cause her to have incessant ill- health by inciting the wrath of the ancestors. Boys tended to marry at a slightly late age, between eighteen and twenty years, while girls could be marred off between fourteen and sixteen years of age. The normal trend was for girls from richer families to get married later than girls from poorer families. Before marriage, a girl wield spend a month or so in seclusion. During this period, she would be well fed and instructed in the art of home management. Divorce was a common phenomenon among the Bakiga. The common causes were barrenness and laziness on the part of the wife or the husband. Some other matters of misunderstanding between a husband and a wife could also lead to divorce. A divorce was allowed to remarry but she would fetch less bride wealth this time as she would no longer be a virgin. The majority of the would-be instances of divorce were settled by the elders. They would normally be called by the woman’s father to listen to both the husband and the wife and try to have the two sides reach an amicable conclusion that would prevent divorce. In such cases, it was normal to fine the offending party. Fighting in the home between husbands and wives was frequent, but would not normally lead to divorce. The Bakiga believed in a supreme being Ruhanga, the Creator of all things earthly and heavenly. At a lower level they believed in the cult of Nyabingi. The Nyabingi cult was said to have originated from Karagwe. It had its base at Kagarama, near Lake Bunyonyi. There were special shrines for Nyabingi known as endaro. Through Nyamingi’s representatives known as Abagirwa people would worship and tender sacrifices of beer and roasted meat to Nyabingi. Back to Uganda Visit and Travel Guide Home Page
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