Kintu Myth Cycle

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 narrative 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 discovered that in the search for peace of mind, they needed something more than supernatural powers. Thus, Kintu emerged as a leader whose experiences 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 disappointments 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 reimbursed him for the cow, giving him other equipment 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 domesticating wild bananas, but he also develops the practice 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 primal innocence. Kisolo's crime is his creativity because he initiates culture, sex, and the eventual death of Kintu as he curses the exiled king.

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