A high-profile meeting convened by the National Committee for the Formation of the Bakenye Cultural Leadership is sitting in Buyende at the district headquarters on 22nd March 2025 for the purposes of forming a subcommittee that will follow up on President Yoweri Museveni’s promise of recognising Bakenye as the indigenous fishers of Uganda.
The Buyende district LC5 chairperson, Michael Kanaku, one of the prominent Bakenye in the country, told Busoga Times in an interview that Museveni previously pledged to empower the Bakenye to lead Uganda’s fishing sector.
In a letter to all Bakenye, Musisi Jackson Igga, the Chairperson of the National Committee for the Formation of Bakenye Cultural Leadership, said this subcommittee will play a critical role in preparing Bakenye to engage with Museveni in May 2025, as part of the President’s commitment to empowering them to lead Uganda’s fishing industry.
This subcommittee will engage directly with the President’s office and other key stakeholders, advocating for both the fishing sector’s development and the broader interests of the Bakenye people.
Joel Kiraire, one of the young Bakenye who is expected to attend the meeting, told Busoga Times in an interview that he expects the meeting to task the elected committee to advocate and advise the government on the way forward as the cabinet is looking at returning the lake to the fishers.
Setup of the subcommittee
The subcommittee will consist of the Chairperson, who will be the overall leader of the team; Vice-Chairperson; Secretary-General; Treasurer; Regional Representatives (5 positions); Elders’ Representatives (2 positions); Fishing Sector Representatives (5 positions); Legal Advisors (2 positions); Women’s Representative (1 position); and Youth Representative (1 position).
Others are the Religious Leaders’ Representatives (2 positions); Political Leaders’ Representatives (2 positions); Business/Entrepreneurial Leaders’ Representatives (2 positions); Cultural and Heritage Representatives (2 positions); Social Affairs Representative (1 position); Public Relations Officer (1 position); and Coordinator of Youth and Women’s Affairs (1 position).
Musisi encouraged participants to prepare for the elections to fill these positions, saying, “It is crucial to elect individuals who are passionate, knowledgeable, and capable of advocating for the Bakenye community at all levels.
The subcommittee shall be responsible for advocacy, consultation, follow-up, advisory role, coordination, proposing sustainable solutions, expansion of membership, and creation of special task forces/subcommittees.
Army on the lake is not the solution
Kanaku said that the president (Museveni) has had a struggle on the lake for many years without success. “He has tried to use Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF); things have failed. MAAIF worked with the Beach Management Units (BMUs); things were not working very well. He thought he would use the army; things are failing to work,” he stated.
“Ever since the economics of fishing demanded that even somebody who knows nothing about fish can get any gear to get fish from the lake and get money, things turned bad. There is now almost total extinction of fish in the lakes. Even people who don’t eat fish are fishing for commercial purposes, not because of their love and respect for fish and the lake.
Kiraire grieved that much as the army was brought on lakes to protect and conserve fish from bad fishing that threatened depletion of fish, it has done more harm than good to the people who earn their livelihood from water bodies. He said that many of the Bakenye have lost lives during the army operations. The total shutdown of fishing has rendered our people jobless; they have experienced the highest level of poverty, he added.
Bakenye, the tribe
Kanaku explained that the Bakenye are a tribe recognised in the constitution of Uganda. He revealed that Buyende has the highest population of Bakenye in the whole country. It is only in Buyende district where you get a whole parish when the population is 90% Bakenye – the parish of Ikanda, he noted.
He further revealed that Bakenye are traditionally fishmongers; they grew up with fish, eating fish, and they love fish. The Bakenye have two big organisations – the Bakenye Isaanga Development Association (BIDA) and the Bakenye Community Link (BCL). He said that at some level the two groups looked like competing, but now they are harmonising to work together.
He noted that the Bakenye people are spread across different parts of the country after being dispersed by previous insurgencies like the Teso rebellion.
Kiraire notes that the Bakenye have lacked a voice in terms of leadership, something that has cost them so much. “This is the main reason why we are organising to have a cultural leadership for the first time in the history of Bakenye. We hope that this cultural head will help us revive and restore and give direction to our cultural norms and values that have shrunk over the years,” he said.
“Even red ants organise themselves and have a leader or leaders. Why not us, the Bakenye, who have existed for over 230 years since our migration from Buganda during the Kabaka Jjungu and his brother Semakokiro war?”
“We are worried about the anticipated extinction of our language – Lukenye – since many of us live in the dominant tribes of Baganda, Basoga, Bateso, Bagwere, Banyore, etc. When you have no language, you have no tribe. The preservation of our language is key and very important, and we ought to create leadership to help see our language survive.”
