Humanist

For the most part of my life, decades long, I live in Entebbe. Be that as it may, it is only today, when I am planning a campaign to stop used sanitary pads and other medical waste ending up in the Nkumba landfill, which serves Entebbe Municipality, that I have sought to understand the history of why the name of the place of my birth is Entebbe.

In August of 1968, I was born at Grade B Hospital in Entebbe; a hospital that was built in the 20^th Century by the British Colonial Administration of Uganda. It is a public hospital that has since been renamed Entebbe General Hospital and is commonly known as Entebbe Hospital.

But for us born in the 1960s and 1970s and grew up in Entebbe, it remains Grade B Hospital in our vocabulary. Entebbe General Hospital has been in the media of late, but that is a story for another day.

Knowing Luganda, the language of the largest first nation of Uganda, the Buganda Kingdom, in whose territory Entebbe falls, I knew that e ntebe means chair. But I had never really taken the time to understand why the place I was born is named after a chair. I went Google search and learnt why.

“Entebbe was a cultural site for the Mamba clan and it was called “entebbe za Mugula.”  Mugula was the title of a chief of a subdivision of the Mamba clan.”

Wikpedia

The spelling of the name of Mamba Clan has different variations. In some of the online search results I opened, the spelling used is Mmamba, with a double M. Whatever variation of the spelling, Mmamba is Lungfish. One of the legends, “a tell of the evolution of Mmamba Gabunga Clan,” about how the clan came to be and subdivided is a very interesting read.

Folklore holds that the first leader of a subdivision of Mmamba Clan was Gabunga, hence the name “Mmamba Gabunga Clan,” for the sub-group that Gabunga headed. And so in some references the clan is “Emmamba Gabunga Clan.”

Yes, there is another sub-division of Mmamba which is a separate clan named: “Mmamba Kakoboza”. No wonder, apparently, the Mmamba clan is the largest clan of the Buganda Kingdom, with over three million members. And yes, obviously, the Clan Totem is emmamba (lungfish)

Other interesting titbits about the Mmamba Clan. They are the keepers of Naggalabi Hill where the Kabaka (King of Buganda) is crowned. And, so far, nine Kabakas (Kings of Buganda), including the famous Kabaka Mwanga, were of Mmamba Clan

Truthfully, I did not start off today wanting to learn more about the history of how my place of birth came to be named Entebbe. My first Google search this morning was to answer the question: “How many villages are there in Entebbe Municipality?” As I write this blog post I still haven’t gotten the answer online. I have decided to walk over to the Division B Local Government Offices and get the answer from government officers.

But, even though I am descended from the fifth largest first nation of Uganda, Iteso, I am interested to learn more about the place of my birth, and I will.