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KINTUMYTHCYCLE
Kintu is the First Human in Buganda legend,
founder of the kingdom of Buganda, and
“Father of Humanity.” The Buganda people’s
first human legend is similar to those of other
African traditions. Indeed, the national narra-
tive of the Buganda has striking similarities to
that of the legendary Mbona in the neighboring
Mang’anja religion. The first written record of
the first legendary ancestor, Kintu, appears
around 1875 AD, but the narrative is much
older in the oral form. However, the myth of
Kintu should not be confused with the Buganda
history of the origin of the Buganda Kingdom.
Indeed, the Kintu of the myth is not the Kintu of
the story of Buganda political origins based on
the ancient clan structure.
According to the Kintu Myth, the hero meets
Nambi, the daughter of Heaven, and after some
time marries her. They then migrate to Heaven
and, after a while, Kintu and Nambi return to the
Earth. They are confronted with many obstacles
once they arrive in the country that would become
Buganda.
The couple, along with other couples, soon dis-
covered that in the search for peace of mind, they
needed something more than supernatural powers.
Thus, Kintu emerged as a leader whose experi-
ences took him through difficult times, where he
confronted betrayal, violence, loneliness, solitude,
and poverty, but through it all, he displayed
courage, character, triumph, humility, generosity,
and sacrifice. These would become the values that
would characterize the Buganda spirit.
Kintu was able to face all kinds of disappoint-
ments and disasters because of his great strength
of character. It is said that, prior to his marriage
to Nambi, she had gone to Heaven to seek her
father’s approval for their marriage, and during
that time Kintu suffered greatly. For example,
Kintu had but one cow, which he did not know
how to milk, so he lived off her excreta. Adding
insult to injury, Kintu was robbed of that cow,
leaving him with only bark to eat. These living
conditions improved after Nambi’s father reim-
bursed him for the cow, giving him other equip-
ment so that he and his wife could enjoy a more
civilized life.
As reigning king of his capital in Magonga hill,
Kintu at one point decides to leave the capital for
a while, only to return and discover that his
deputy, Kisolo, has been “creative” in his absence.
Kisolo not only invents agriculture by domesticat-
ing wild bananas, but he also develops the prac-
tice of procreation by fathering a child with
Nambi. As a result, Kintu injures his deputy’s foot
with a spear and asks the chiefs to reprimand
Kisolo. Ambassadors are sent to arrest him.
Kisolo escapes into a brush area fearing that
Kintu’s intention was to kill him. Kisolo, bearing
the same relation to the common noun,nsolo,
meaning “wild animal,” remains in that brush,
according to the Buganda tradition. This part of
the myth of Kintu seems to relate to the end of pri-
mal innocence. Kisolo’s crime is his creativity
because he initiates culture, sex, and the eventual
death of Kintu as he curses the exiled king.
Kintu goes on to have children of his own
with Nambi, but her brother, Walumbe, whose
name comes from the word olumbe, meaning
“death,” murders Kintu’s children. Symbolically,
Kintu utters these words: “Let Death go on
killing my children if he must. I, man, will go on
begetting them, and never will he be able to
make an end of us.” This supports the belief in
many traditional African religions that men,
women, and children are mortal, but humankind
altogether is indestructible.Deonte James HollowellSeealsoAiwel; AkanKintuMythCycle 367