A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BAGISU

2013-08-08T12:34:00.001-07:00

-The Gisu people, or Bagisu are the people of Bugisu sub-region. At times refered to as the Gishu, are a tribe of the Masaba of eastern Uganda, closely related to the Bukusu people of Kenya. Bagisu were prior to the creation of the new districts in uganda, known to live mainly in Mbale District on the slopes of Mount Elgon. Today, they ocupy a number of districts, Bududa district, Bubulo district, mbale municipality, Budadiri district, to mention a few. The Gisu undergo a circumcision ritual called the Imbalu. The ritual is held in even years. The ritual opens on the first day of the even year, and the main event is placed in august and dcecember.

The Gisu speak a dialect of the Lumasaba language called Lugisu, which is fully understandable by other dialects, and is also understood by the Bukusu.

Lumasaba is a rich Gishu language of bantu origin. This site is to help you begin your journey into becoming a speaker of the heart language of millions of people from the slopes of Mount Elgon.

A little more of the Bamasaaba History and Origin. The Masaba people, or Bamasaaba, are a Bantu people inhabiting the Eastern Ugandan districts of Sironko, Manafwa, Bududa, Mbale, Bulambuli, Kapchorwa, Bukwo and Kween (Then Sebei County before Uganda achieved self rule in 1962) under the Bugisu district before the British colonial rule in 1962. Closely related to the Bukusu and Luhya of Western Kenya, they are a mainly agricultural people, farming millet, bananas and sorghum on small-holder plots. Maize became popular with the coming of Europeans in late 1890s.

The Bamasaaba are famous for their traditional male circumcision ceremonies, held every even year. In a three-day ceremony of dancing and feasting, preceding a couple of months preparations, the initiates are admitted into adulthood and expected to begin their formal contribution to the growth of their respective communities.

The name Bamasaaba is sometimes used interchangeably with the name Bagisu, even though the latter is actually a tribe of the Bamasaaba nation.

The origin of the Bamasaaba is not known but traditions carried over generationa by oral history points at Egypt [Misri] as the traditional homeland but this could be the similar epicenter where other migrations from the lower Nile and north-western Ethiopia took place at the close of the millennium, approximately 900 AD. These groups, included the Nilotics and Hermitic communities that constitute the Hima-Tutsi peoples of western Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Indeed it is difficult to place the Bamaasaba among the Uganda communities because they relate to both Ugandan and Kenyan communities. The language architecture is close to the Baganda and Bakonjo of western Uganda And kinyarwanda. while their cultural traits are close to the Hermitic groups of north western Ethiopia.

The current Babukusu of western Kenya are believed to have migrated from the Bamasaaba, particularly from areas around Bubulo, in current Manafwa District. Many clans among the Babukusu have their origins among the Bamasaaba, a testimony to this linkage. Masinde Muliro, once a veteran politician and elder of the Babukusu from Kitale, was from the Bakokho clan, with its base at Shirilwa, near Bumbo in Uganda. Other clans common to both sides include Batiiru, Babambo, Baata,and Bakitanga. There are other clans whose names, however, that are only on one side, such as Babichache and Balonja who are mainly among the Babukusu. The common cultural ties are a further indication of close relations among the two sister ethnic groups. During the Constituent Assembly that led to the 1995 Constitution of Uganda, Mulongo Simon, a Delegate from Bubulo East, introduced Babukusu as one of the ethnic groupings of Uganda, acknowledging the fact that both groups, Bamasaaba and Babukusu are intertwined.

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BAGISU