Mukasa and the Ssese Islands

The shrine islands of Mukasa, the Baganda lake god

The Ssese Islands are eighty four islands in the northwest of Lake Victoria, in Kalangala district in Uganda, and in Buganda tradition they are the islands of the gods.

The tradition is specific and it is still there. The Baganda recognise the balubaale, a body of powerful spirits understood as having been people whose exceptional qualities in life carried over into death, and the greatest of the lake is Mukasa. He is the guardian of Lake Victoria, associated with prosperity, fertility and healing rather than with fear, which is unusual for a deity in charge of water that kills fishermen every year.

His principal shrine is on Bubembe Island and it is still maintained. The temple was a conical reed hut, rebuilt at intervals on the orders of the kabaka, and the kings of Buganda came to the Ssese in person to pay tribute at the shrines here. Mukasa was held to speak his will to the priests directly, and later through mediums, and the medium did not enter the temple but had a hut of his own in front of it. Other balubaale have their ground here too, including Musisi, the spirit of earthquakes, on Bukasa.

Some accounts of Buganda's origins have Kintu, the first man and first kabaka, either coming from these islands or arriving in Buganda through them, which puts the Ssese at the beginning of the story of the kingdom rather than at its edge.

Practically, the islands are reached by ferry from Entebbe or Bukakata, Bugala is the main one, and they are forested, quiet and set up for visitors on a small scale.

Approach the shrines the way you would any working place of worship, because that is what they are. Ask, do not photograph without asking, and take a local guide. The tradition is not a ruin.