The clans of Buganda: an introduction

Buganda society is organized into clans, ebika, and clan membership passes from father to child. Each clan has a primary totem, the omuziro, and a secondary totem, the akabbiro; members traditionally neither eat nor harm their totem. The clan system governs much of social life as documented by Roscoe (1911): personal names identify a person’s clan, and marriage within one’s own clan is traditionally prohibited. Dozens of clans are recognized in Buganda today, each with its own history, seat, and leadership under the Kabaka. These pages will grow, clan by clan, as sources are reviewed and community knowledge is contributed.