PART 1A: Remembering Chetambe War – The First Battle Of Lumboka

In this part of the series, I remember the first battle of Lumboka. A battle whose significance has been lost to confusion. Read on to meet the forgotten heroes of Lumboka.

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About The Series

In this first part of the Mulembe Nation series that honors the memory of the gallant shujaas of Chetambe, I detail the chronology of the war of Chetambe. Read on to learn of the triggers of the battles (the battles of Mukhweya and the battle of Lumboka I and Lumboka II) that culminated in the Chetambe war of 1895.

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THE FIRST BATTLE OF LUMBOKA

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The offer by the Bukusu for rifles that had outbid that of the revered throne of King Nabongo Mumia was four/five cows in exchange for one firearm. If a certain legend of how the Wanga had once conned the Bukusu in a deal gone sour holds, then the hostility of the Bukusu on sighting Mr. Spire’s contingent can be partly explained.

In that deal gone bad, the Bukusu had gone to Nabongo Mumia’s headquarters to purchase a breed of legendary hunting/war dogs from the Wanga. Oral literature has it that on receipt of property in exchange of the dogs, the Wanga had led the Bukusu buyers to an enclave where they held the said dogs. Leaving the Bukusu to figure out how they would lead the dogs away, Nabongo’s people went their way. It is only on unlatching the gate of the trap that the Bukusu learnt that what they had bought were not dogs, but wild foxes. Enjusi.

How The Bukusu Came To Mistrust The Wanga Following A Deal Gone Bad Led To The War Of Chetambe

Thus over and above the possibility of a Bukusu revolt against the crown of Nabongo, the Bukusu must have viewed with skepticism the offer of disarmament. After all, wasn’t it the same Nabongo people who had conned them in the hunting/war dogs deal? Among the Bukusu, the disarmament therefore must have been seen a ploy by Nabongo to usurp a perfectly fair bargain crafted in the marketplace: four heads of cattle for one firearm.

With both sides suspicions of each other, it became a matter of when. As a result, in preparation of hostilities one account of the war of Chetambe has it that the Bukusu upped their ways of getting guns. Besides fair trade with Swahili, they would agree to exchanging guns for cattle only to lay ambush later and take both the guns and cattle from Nabongo’s men.

As things got thick, the Bukusu stationed lookouts outside their fort walls. And it came to pass that one day before the August of 1984, a Bukusu guard spotted a strange man crawling about the walls of Lumboka fort. The exact location of this encounter between guard and spy was at 0°25’5″ N 34°29’E. This is according to Mr Hobely’s account of the war which identifies the exact location of Lumboka fort. Upon encounter, it is on record that the guard shouted:

There is someone by the gate! See he is running away…It must be the enemy who we were warned was coming,

The Prophesy Of Mutonyi wa Nabukelembe

That last part of the guard’s cry “who we were warned was coming”, who does it refer to? Well, one recollection of the battle of Lumboka has it that the Bukusu had for months anticipated a British attack. Prominent Bukusu anthropologist Boniface Munialo in a blog entry explains who it is that might have warned BaBukusu. He writes:

From the prophesy of Mutonyi wa Nabukelembe, the community knew that it was on a collision course with a foreign enemy. Stories of a Whiteman up Sio River had emerged; a section of people confusing him to Wele kwe Luchi. Indeed, it was Joseph Thompson, pioneer British explorer, who briefly stopped at Mumias on 23/12/1883, then to Samia, Mt Elgon and back to Mombasa. A year later, Sir Fredrick Jackson of Imperial British East Africa Company, on way to Buganda Kingdom set temporary camp in Mumias to hunt ivory at the orders of the Queen of England.

Boniface Munialo

Sweet Victory For The Bukusu At The Start Of The Series Of Battles With Colonialists That Culminated In The War Of Chetambe

And with the guard’s cry of alarm, the first battle of the war of Chetambe was on. One account recorded in the history journal entry has it that the enemy, Nabongo Mumia’s men, consisting of a Swahili general named Namisi and Swahili mercenaries numbering about two hundred attacked the main gate of the fort. Hobely’s account has it that the attack consisted of twenty five Sudanese mercenaries sent by Mr. Spire. Mr. Munialo talks of thirty Zanzibari and Sudanese soldiers.

One of the accounts reports that this party of Nabongo soldiers first attempted to negotiate for return of the guns. However, during the tense negotiations, a firearm went off by mistake. This account, Hobely’s to be precise, blamed the absence of a European for this mishap that eventually triggered the start of the war.

Thankfully, all accounts have it that BaBukusu won this first battle. However, how this happened or who was responsible differs from author to author of history.

Heroes Of The First Battle Of Lumboka In The Chetambe War of 1895

According to the account that talks of two hundred Swahili soldiers, the Bukusu bravely defended their position behind the fort gates. They did this under the leadership of Olukhoba lwa Lumboka. As per this notation the leaders, shujaas of this phase of the Chetambe war, were drawn from different Oluhyias.

These freedom fighters, according to Mzee Mukisu Kakai who was interviewed in December of 1970 for the journal entry, were:

• Headman Wamurwa who was Omulunda by clan;
• His son Were the commander and leader of the warriors;
• Headman Tengi who was also Omulunda by clan;
• Shujaa Sirengo the son of Maika, Omulunda by clan;
• Kutalan’gi Maloba the son of Saita, Omubuya by clan;
• Heart of a lion Kasamabeli the son of Muloa, Omulonja by clan;
• And other kutalan’gi whose identity is lost, but whose bravery and sacrifice never forgotten.

May their souls rest in peace.

However, Mr. Munialo’s account handles this expedition a little bit differently. First, the good anthropologist mentions it just in passing. Still, his account is important for two reasons.

Calm Before The Storm

First, it times the battle of Lumboka. According to his notation, the ‘real’ or if you like, the battle of Lumboka II begun two days after this incursion or battle of Lumboka I as I prefer to call it. If this record is true, then the dates given at the beginning of this article (August 1984) come into question. Here, I humbly fault the anthropologist. Other accounts report a lull before the storm. Indeed, the British take time to gather military resources before making the assault on the fort of Lumboka in March/May of 1985.

This considered, the expedition to recover guns must have occurred sometime significantly earlier. Unless of course the expedition was a ploy by the British to lure BaBukusu into battle. Nonetheless Hobely’s account indicates the possibility of time between the excursion and the ‘real’ battle.

However, I have to acknowledge the anthropologists notation that the Namisi excursion had been triggered by a case of guerilla warfare which saw Nabongo’s men rifles stolen. This was in spite BaBukusu ofring them shelter. Finally, Munialo’s account is important as it offers alternative view of BaBukusu military organization at the fort. In this account shujaa Wakoli Okhwa Mukisu is the general in charge of the planning and execution of this sweet BaBukusu victory.

BATTLE OF LUMBOKA I, THE TACTICS

In part two of this series, we will discuss with some detail, the war tactics and military strategies employed by both sides of the divide. However, in passing, for this first battle of Lumboka, the Bukusus simply occupied the Nabongo-Spire army at the fort’s gate. Though Munialo doesn’t mention this, the trickery of other warriors slipped through back gates has the imprint of Wakoli all over it. The history journal entry of this war mentions that the warriors who had escaped the attentions of the invader mobilized other Bukusu clans. The reinforced group then circled back, surrounding the enemy.

Sensing defeat, and with nowhere to retreat, the imperialists tried to escape. Be design or default, the only available escape route would lead them to Mukhweya. According to this account, in Mukhweya, a contingent of the Bukusu defense lay in wait. It is not clear whether the legendary warrior Wakoli the son of Mukisu was part of the chasing pack of warriors from Lumboka. Neither is it mentioned if he was part of the group that had blocked the invaders path to safety from behind. Maybe, in fairness given his stature and prowess, Wakoli could have been the leader of the group that lay in wait at Mukhweya.

Either way, Wakoli Okhwa Mukisu was just about to change the course of history. This kutalang’i was about to enter the annals of Bukusu and Kenyan history forever.

……………………………………… to be continued. Part 1B of this series will be on the Battle of Mukhweya and the heroics of Wakoli, the freedom fighter.

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Series Navigation

<< PART 1: Remembering Chetambe War – Lumboka To Chetambe, Resisting Nabongo Mumia, The Legend Of Wakoli The Freedom Fighter and Chetambe Ifile The Great Tachoni WarriorPART 1B: The Heroics Of Freedom Fighter Wakoli khwa Mukisu At The Battle Of Mukhweya – Remembering Chetambe War >>