The BaKonzo (pl. ''Bakonzo'', sing. ''Mukonzo''), or Konzo, are a

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

ethnic group located in the Rwenzori region of Southwest

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. Numbering 850,646 in the 2014 census, they live on the plains, hills and mountain sloping up to an altitude of 2,200 meters in the Rwenzori Mountains. Traditionally

agriculturalist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

s and animal husbanders, they farm yams,

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

es,

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

soy bean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu a ...

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es,

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

s, and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

, while keeping

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

, and

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...

. They speak the Konjo language and practice traditional

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

s and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Konzo speakers also live on the Western slopes of the Rwenzori range in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

."Konjo: A language of Uganda"

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...

(accessed 7 June 2009) The Konzo were part of the armed

Rwenzururu movement The Rwenzururu movement was an armed secessionist movement active in southwest Uganda, in the subnational kingdom of Tooro. The group was made up of Konjo and Amba fighters and was led by Isaya Mukirania. It disbanded in 1982 following success ...

against the

Toro Kingdom Tooro is a Bantu kingdom located within the borders of Uganda. The current Omukama of Toro is King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV took to the throne of Tooro kingdom in 1995 at the age of just three ...

and central government that reached heights in the mid-1960s and early 1980s. In 2008, the government recognized the Rwenzururu Kingdom, formed by the Konjo and

Amba people Amba (pl. Baamba and known by various other names) is a Bantu ethnic group located on the border area between the DRC and Uganda south of Lake Albert in the northern foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains. On the Uganda side, they are found in Bundib ...

s, as Uganda's first kingdom shared by two tribes."Uganda: Welcome Rwenzururu"
editorial by the ''

New Vision The ''New Vision'' is a Ugandan English-language newspaper published daily in print form and online. Overview ''New Vision'' is one of two main national English-language newspapers in Uganda, the other being the ''Daily Monitor''. It is publi ...

'', 31 March 2008 Since July 2014, secessionist ambitions have led to armed clashes in which dozens have died. Rwenzururu kingdom has witnessed episodes of bloodshed the recent notable one being that of November 2016; a conflict between the government of the repulic of Uganda and the Rwenzururu kingdom. This conflict saw the death of hundreds of people and others arrested including the king His Majesty Charles Mumbere and his then prime minister Thembo Kistumbire. Notable Bakonjo include

Amon Bazira Amon Bazira (sometimes referred to as Amon Kabunga Bazira; 1944–1993) was a Pan-Africanist leader and organiser who created an extensive intelligence network that was a clandestine component of the struggle to end the regime of Ugandan military d ...

, a political figure instrumental in the negotiations that ended the 1980s conflict, and

Charles Mumbere Charles Wesley Mumbere, known by his royal title Irema-Ngoma I, is the king (known locally as the Omusinga) of the African kingdom of Rwenzururu, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. Mumbere was arrested in December 2016 after the clashes in th ...

, named the ''Omusinga'' (king), of the Rwenzururu Kingdom.

Origin

Legend has it that the Bakonzo once lived on Mount Elgon in Eastern Uganda and that during the Kintu migrations, the Bakonzo came with Kintu to Buganda. However, rather than settle in Buganda, the Bakonzo are said to have decided to continue until they finally settled on the western highlands of Mt. Rwenzori which had a similar climate to that of Mt. Elgon where they had originally lived. This is said to have been around A.D. 1300. Another tradition asserts that the Bakonzi have lived on Mount Rwenzori from time immemorial and that they have no foreign place of origin. This tradition asserts that the ancestor of the Bakonzo emerged from one of the caves of Mount Rwenxori and produced the rest of the Bakonzo.

Writing system

References

Ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Ethnic groups in Uganda Rwenzori Mountains {{Africa-ethno-group-stub