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The Bunyoro Agreement 1955

This document, from the National Archives of Uganda, is the original of the Bunyoro Agreement of 1955 between Great Britain and the Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara, one of the traditional kingdoms of Uganda. The agreement, in both English and Lunyoro, was signed on September 3 by Sir Andrew Cohen (1909–68), governor of the Uganda Protectorate, on behalf of the British government in London and the government of the protectorate, and the Omukama (king), Sir Tito Gafabusa Winyi IV (1883–1971), on behalf of himself and his successors, the Rukurato (the traditional governing council of Bunyoro-Kitara), and the people of the kingdom. The agreement stipulated that the king, the Rukurato, and the people would cooperate with the governor and follow his advice in all matters relating to the administration of the kingdom and the welfare of its inhabitants. It guaranteed the right of the Omukama to use and be addressed by the traditional designation, Rukirabasaija Agutamba Omukama, and established a procedure for selecting the successor to the Omukama. The Omukama was to nominate the person to succeed him at death by selecting, in order, from the following classes: his sons; his sons’ sons; his sons’ sons’ sons; his brothers; his brothers’ sons; his brothers’ sons’ sons; or other direct male descendants of the Omukama Kabarega (the Omukama of Bunyoro, 1870–99). The signatures of the governor, the Omukama, and other witnesses appear at the end of the agreement.