From the Wisdom of Jjaajja Muguluma
Jjaajja Muguluma used to say, seated on his three-legged stool, while eating Enkomamawanga under the Omugavu tree:
"Omusajja omugezi taba na kiriro kimu. Abala amalaalo gonna agali mu Mupya ye, n'ago agali ku muliraano."
A wise man does not count only the graves in his yard. He counts the graves in his neighbour's yard too.
That is the wisdom Chief Oracle Misagga has used for 40 years.
THE BURIAL AT NDEREBE, IN BULAWAYO
On Saturday, we buried the Young Lion of the Nderebe.
He was 34 years breathing, 31 years wearing the barkcloth crown. The world knew him as the boy who became clan-head before his teeth were full. He fell sick, was flown to Polokwane Hospital - far from his hills, far from his drums - and there his breath stopped.
We brought him home to Sebitoli, under Nderebe mountains. Thousands walked from the main shrine. Orange shawls. Barkcloth. Abambowa drums crying. Women ululating until their voices broke. The Enjole Sanduku rolled on a striped mat, as our grandfathers taught.
But at the grave, Jjaajja Muguluma's second proverb came true:
"Enju bwe filwa omukulu, abakungubazi sibebbaba abasika."
When the elder dies, the mourners do not become the heirs.
Two truths fought at the grave with spears hidden in smiles:
Truth One - The Indaba: The old keepers of blood, the Indaba, led by the Omubedde, the Paramount of all traditions, said: "This child never brought any child to the fireplace to be smelt by us. Paper is not blood. Ink is not seen by ancestors. So we, Indaba, give the stool to his cousin, the elder who speaks on the clan radio. Let him throw nine coffee berries."
Truth Two - The Palace: The Queen Mother and her daughter, Princess, stood at the door, eyes red, and shouted: "You have locked us! He left a letter in 2022! He left a small son, his true seed! You want to eat the stool!"
One grave. Two kings. One old man we see. One young son we have never seen, whose name is still hidden in a basket.
And on a far hill, Chief Oracle Misagga, the man who has herded the great Clan since 1986, watches and writes in his life book. He does not read foreign books. He reads graves. He reads Jjaajja Muguluma.
WHAT MISAGGA LEARNED FROM THE GRAVES OF THE WORLD
Jjaajja Muguluma said: "Omwana omugabi yeebuuza ku balilanwa nga tannaba kugalamira." A clever child asks about other people's beds before he sleeps.
Misagga has asked. He has studied, Misagga tasagga kubanga Simusazze.
SADDAM - THE LION OF THE DESERT
Saddam ruled Iraq 24 years by pure fear. He killed sons-in-law at dinner. He showed Enkoni every day. No Fox, only Lion. When enemies came in 2003, his own people broke his statues with hammers. No one cried. Jjaajja says: "Enkoni yokka tegumya nju." Enkoni alone cannot hold a house. You must sometimes buy meat for children.
GADDAFI - THE TENT KING OF THE SANDS
Gaddafi ruled Libya 42 years from a tent. No Indaba, no Omubedde, only Green Book. Many sons, no chosen heir. When fire came in 2011, each son ran with his own gun. Tent burned with father inside. Lesson: A clan without Indaba and Omubedde is meat for dogs. Misagga has built his own Indaba well.
FIDEL CASTRO - THE BEARDED ORACLE OF CUBA
Fidel was sick in 2006. He did not die and leave a vacuum. He gave Enkoni to his young brother Raul while still alive, while still watching from his chair. Raul ruled 12 years under brother's picture. Picture remained on wall. Jjaajja calls this: "Okuwumula nga amaaso go galaba." To rest while your eyes still see. This is the retirement that still rules.
MOBUTU - THE LEOPARD OF ZAIRE
Mobutu wore leopard skin, built jungle palaces, ate all. No plan for children. When he fell in 1997, his sons pushed carts in foreign lands, like boys pushing akamukogo in Owino. Jjaajja says: "Alya yekka, abaana be balya kasasiro." He who eats alone, his children eat dust. This is your Abakungubazi essay, Mzee.
NYERERE & KAUNDA - THE TWO TEACHERS
Mwalimu Nyerere left in 1985 to Butiama, Kaunda wept on TV in 1991 and left after losing the election. Loved men. But their parties died after them because they left no Kasekende holding Enkoni. Their cows were eaten by hyenas. Jjaajja says: "Okugenda nga tolina musika, kuleka nju yaakyo nga eggwanga lya bayaye." To leave without an heir is to leave the house for thugs.
MANDELA - THE KING WHO REFUSED THE CROWN
Mandela did 27 years in prison, 5 years as king, then said, "Enough." One term. He left. But South Africa had strong Indaba - ANC, courts, constitution - that protected his children. Does Misagga's big clan have such Indaba? Or is it like Libya's tent?
Misagga writes all this in charcoal on his wall.
THE WISDOM FOR MISAGGA'S OWN KRAAL
Now our young Lion of the Nderebe is gone. No public child. Indaba says will is not above blood. Palace says will names a hidden son. Archbishop begs unity. Flags half-mast, but ordinary people are barred from seeing real rituals. Why?
Jjaajja Muguluma answers: "Ebyama byomufu tebimanyibwa bantu bonna." Not everyone should see the secrets of the dead. Ritual is power. Who controls the coffee berries controls 30 years.
Chief Oracle Misagga, who holds Enkoni - the sacred stick that makes cows move and warriors kneel - has learned:
He will not be Saddam - hated. He will buy meat, forgive debts, build inland and Zaire roads.
He will not be Gaddafi - tent alone. He has built Omubedde, Paramount Chief of traditions, and Indaba who say, "We are above paper." Constitution says one thing, Omubedde says another, and people listen to Omubedde.
He will be Fidel - he will hand Enkoni to his son Kasekende while still alive, eyes open. Kasekende already holds Enkoni. Young herdsmen love him, old herdsmen fear his loud voice. He is the only grown man with Enkoni while others debate small boys in Bulawayo.
He will not be Mobutu - eating alone. He lets his Indaba eat smooth, so they protect Kasekende tomorrow.
He will not be Nyerere or Mandela - because his kraal has no strong courts like South Africa. If he leaves like Mandela, his sons will ride boda boda.
Jjaajja's final wisdom:
"Omusajja omukulu bw'aba alaba enaku z'omwana omuto, tteba mukulu muto, aba mukulu alina amagezi."
When an old man watches the burial of a young clan-head, he is not watching death. He is reading his own future.
We buried a Young Lion of Nderebe who reigned 31 years but lived 34 years.
We watch a Chief Oracle who has reigned 40 years, who has studied all graves, who holds Enkoni, whose son Kasekende waits.
One kingdom in Nderebe land had no plan and now has two heirs - one visible elder, one invisible child.
The big kraal has a very clear plan and pretends it has no plan.
Both are chapters from Jjaajja Muguluma's Book of the Leopard Ku Mbuuga, seated in the Mutuba tree.
And you, small herdsman in Bulawayo, pushing your boda, selling your tomatoes, remember your own proverb you wrote about Abakungubazi:
When mourners cry loudest in Nderebe and at the big kraal, check your pockets. They are not wiping tears. They are searching where you hid your land title.
Enkoni is still in Kasekende's hand.
Coffee berries are still in Omubedde's hand.
The grave in Ndebere land is still fresh.
Who will throw the berries?
Tukwatagane. Even on the throne, even against Abakungubazi.
The Oracles of Kifuuta kyotera Buddu, sitting at the fireplace, to give insight when children are roasted maize. Misagga tasagga kubanga Simusaze Kasekende yalina Enkoni.
The Oracles added, remember when Misagga was born, Jjaajja Muguluma Yamuwanga ewa Dunda and asked him and the gods to make Misagga an Engineer. When Misagga brought Kasekende to be initiated in the Goan maternal Clan, the same was asked from the Goan gods of Indians to make Kasekende an Engineer. Both are Engineers, extremely skilled, knowledgeable, wise, and confident, so do not think otherwise that the Clan Enkoni handler will ever be decided by the Bulawayo Indaba.
Misagga told these to his son Kasekende: stop trying to be a Saint in the world of thieves, learn to be a beautiful monster or you will not rule for a week, be a lion at the same time, a fox, strong and cunning, life is Fortuna and virtu, better to be feared than loved and do not be hated, hated rulers are overthrown, goodness is luxury and power is survival. Misagga mastered the end justifies the means as he walks back to Kifuuta muntebeye.
