Part III
Songs about Leadership and Responsibility
Part III focuses on the themes of leadership and responsibility, particularly regarding the duties and methods of an effective leader. Here we discuss songs that criticize, praise, or otherwise explain Kiganda kingship and leadership at large by comparing exemplary contexts with preferable models of behavior. First, chapter 9 explores themes of advice and caution in the song “Unadvisable Kayemba” (“Kayemba Nantabuulirirwa”). This song acts as a lesson for leaders to heed the advice of others, detailing the conflict and hardship that can result otherwise, as demonstrated by the fate of the unadvisable King Kayemba (r. ca. 1690–1704). Chapter 10 discusses the themes of deliberation and animosity in the song “He Has a Lot on His Mind” (“Alina Bingi By’Alowooza”). Comparing the past with the present state of Buganda and its kingship, the song recounts the dissolution of the kingdom and the distress of contemporary politics. Chapter 11 focuses on the themes of punishment and mercy in the song “Gganga Had a Narrow Escape” (“Gganga Alula”), alternatively titled, “They Chopped Off His Fingers” (“Baamutemako Engalo”). “Gganga Had a Narrow Escape” regretfully recounts the story of a court musician who suffered a gruesome punishment for his misbehavior, lamenting his fate and wishes for a less severe penalty, simultaneously calling into question concepts such as justice and duty. Its alternate version, “They Chopped Off His Fingers,” describes the same story but emphasizes the way that conflict, violence, and retribution can have lasting effects on a group of people. The story of the punished musician in question explores the more unsavory, harsh, and difficult challenges of the kingship, while also avoiding a zero-sum evaluation of punishment and forgiveness. As the three songs demonstrate, contemplation, judgment, and decision are all responsibilities of the king, who must constantly work to embody the collective conscience and consider what is best for his people.
All three songs featured in part 3 detail the personas, responsibilities, and influence of Baganda kings as well as their images in the public eye. By outlining different demands of leadership, not only do these songs offer an in-depth understanding of a king’s duties, but they also serve as tools for upholding certain political standards. Their lyrics portray active, engaged, and busy kings, and in doing so, they dissect the precise components that constitute proper leadership. Whereas some of the featured songs celebrate outstanding examples of kingship, others denounce the failures and shortcomings of more faulty governance. The interpreters featured here apply each song’s content to the political leaders of today and compare historical accounts to more contemporary realities. In the context of twenty-first-century politicians like President Museveni, each song offers a multitude of varying, sometimes contradictory lessons and meanings that are applicable to the current times. Through the process of reinterpretation, not only do interpreters discover new potential meanings behind the songs’ lyrics, but they also come to view their contemporary surroundings in a completely new light. These interpreters use the songs as open dialogues on modern society, revealing the duties that political leaders have to their people and the responsibilities that all people have to their communities. In this way, they embrace an ongoing discourse between the past, present, and future, and they imbue the compositions with new life.