Ekyabagabe: Tree believed to have powers in Ntungamo

There are numerous sites in Uganda’s Western region where the Bachwezi are believed to have been based, to manage the entire great lakes region, which became their kingdom, the Bunyoro- Kitara and part of Karagwe Kingdom. Later several kingdoms including Ankole, Tooro, Bunyoro, Rwenzori, Busoga, Buganda, Rwanda developed out of splitting of the Chwezi Kingdom.
Most of the sites they left were inherited by traditional kingdoms and some abandoned. However, some are still put to use. In Ntungamo District, seats what one could call the ‘headquarters’ for the African traditional (Bachwezi) faith, Ekyabagabe in Ngoma Sub-county.
The tree believed to be more than 4,000 years old, brings together the faithful from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, and DR Congo, among other countries. During, the hey days of the Rwanda Kingdom, Kigeri (the king) would be installed at the tree before going for other rituals at Lake Kiyanja,15 kilometres away, also in Ngoma.
The tree seats at least 45 kilometres from Ntungamo town in southwestern Uganda. One can access it from Rubaare town which is 25 kilometres off Ntungamo-Kabale road. Then one takes Kashenyi- Kizinga road for another 20 kilometres to reach the tree.

Atmosphere
The tree stands tall alone in the thicket. The land belongs to the community and is used for communal grazing.
Like many places where the faithful go, it is hard to find people unless it is Saturday, especially the last Saturday of every month when there is a convention of heads of traditional African churches.
I meet Dan Butera, the Ngoma sub- county councillor, who has known the tree since childhood. We were told that Kings of the Bachwezi and the Rwandan kingdom were installed there. Butera says while there are people who go there to pray, others have converted to Christianity and attachment to Ekyabagabe has waned.
“Growing up in the 1950s, many people used to flock there like they do to at a hot spring, for treatment of different illnesses. I never went there or saw the tree until I was old enough because my parents were Christians. We used to hear many stories about the tree. There are still more people visiting the place for healing, I do not think they are Christians,” Butera notes.
Because of the proximity to the Uganda-Rwanda border post, most people speak Kinyarwanda.

Meeting the high priest
People who pray at the site are not allowed to reveal their names or use cameras. However, they freely interact with anyone seeking information as long as you talk about your challenges.
“It is not that everyone comes to pray, it is only those who are devout that have become prophets and come to reinvent themselves. No one comes here without spiritual conviction. There are people who even come from London but because god has revealed that they come for healing and faith renewal. The power of this place brings you here and you can never go back the same. I guess you must be here to pray for something and you will get it,” a man who claims to be the high priest, says. Meanwhile he does not accept to speak facing the camera or even have his identity revealed. Let us call him Thomas Uwimana.
Healing is done at night but at times there are special prayers, mainly for people who have travelled long distances.
“Here we do not pray during the day, we seek god when we can put together our heads and seek him in unison. There we can pray and he listens to every prayer we make,” Uwimana says. “During the day our minds wander and we do not concentrate on god and when we pray we may fail ourselves,” he adds.
He speaks a mixture of Kinyarwanda and Runyakitara, saying he prophesies to the faithful who come for prayers. Shaking his head and shoulders, he looks into one’s eyes, tells you about your family background and a few basic things about your neighbourhood before you say anything to him.
We visited as a team of four bringing together with us a woman who claims she needed healing. Then, it was her turn to see the priest. She stepped forward with us in tow.
“You failed to pursue a course in medicine because of an eye problem, you have a brother with a similar problem and another of your brothers has a mental problem. You need to pray so hard and turn to god, then you will be healed, never look for any medicine,” he tells the woman.
“If you keep here until dusk it will be easy to heal you and your family. You will even see those who have sent charms your way,” he explains. He chants and mumbles as he holds her hands and asks her to return at night for total healing.
The woman, who happens to be a faithful, later confesses that whatever the priest said was true and she would return for prayer. Before we leave to look for a meal, we ask to take a walk around. Across from the tree are some shops under construction.

At the tree
The tree occupies about 70 square feet. Well-manicured grass surrounds it, the buttress roots spread on the ground like snake tails. The big roots separate the entrances into seven sections.
Three women seat at different positions of the tree each covering her head with shuka. One with a mat sits at the ‘entrance’, there are 12 stones arranged horizontally in front of her just before the tree trunk, another women seats inside the root formation shaped like an entrance. She is sounding a drum and chanting.
“Oh holy angel of god, when i don’t have you i fail, come for at this moment and occupy our place, my angel of god when i don’t have you where will i go, my angel of god it is your place when i don’t have you i fail, holy angel of god show your face at the entrance”.
The other woman at the entrance shakes her head. In front of her is a cow that seems to emerge from nowhere. Uninterrupted by the cow or our presence, they continue chanting. On the northern entrance, the woman there lay face down on the mat as if to hide from our cameras only for one of us to disrupt her attention.
“Please remove your shoes! This is a holy place, step back, please step back!” she says.
The tree trunk has three sides where at least an adult can fit with their legs bent. In one section is a lit kerosene lantern despite the fact that it is broad daylight.
“We light the lantern every time there is someone praying, god works in light. Sunlight is what he gave us and so we must light for him when we pray,” Uwimana comes after us and explains.
The other side of the trunk keeps possessions of the priest and gifts that the believers bring.The priest says he never dresses up during the day for the functions. Among his belongings is the African Bible which he uses to administer the “Church”.
For prayer and healing, one removes shoes from the eastern side of the entrance, makes a wish, sit to pray, present thanks and move around the tree through the south, visiting the three ‘rooms’ of the tree, sits and prays again at the eastern side. At times the prayer is administered by the place priest. After exhaustion, one is not allowed to use the same direction he entered from. You have to exist through the north which is also covered with grass. Gifts include money and bananas.

The faithful
Erasmus Ainebyona, notes that he has had healing from the tree.
“I came here when I could not walk, I had been left to die by my family. Someone brought me here, when we prayed I got healed and I can now perform my tasks without pain. This is a wonder tree, many have been healed here they have testimonies but most of them fear to talk,” Ainebyoona notes.
The tree is believed to also have given powers to people in high offices, mainly politicians, while others have got children yet they had been pronounced barren. Others have been able to get money and do big businesses.

Neighbours say
Anthony Ikiriza, a resident, says there are many people who come to the tree to spend days there. He, however says as residents, apart from doing business with the people who come to visit and pray at the tree they attach less importance to it.
“This is a tree that belonged to the Kingdom of Rwanda, we hear the people who go there are Bachwezi, they believe in the Bachwezi and most of us do not believe in it. Ikiriza says there are some people who have been raised here but have never seen what takes place at the tree.
“But vehicles come from as far as Kampala, sometimes big vehicles and coasters drop off passengers who spend weeks there. For us we do business with them, in fact this trading centre has grown because of the faithful,” he says.
Boniface Hakiza, an elderly resident, says the tree used to be a place for installing Rwandan kings before the kingdom collapsed. Before the Kigeris it was a place of high regard for the Bachwezi where healing and power were believed to come from. It was also the installment place for the Kigeri.
Associated with Bachwezi, who existed up to the 5th Century, are the Ankole long horned cattle, Arabic coffee, and live fencing.