Mass circumcision is being advertised to tourists in a remote area of ​​Uganda, and some are furiously protesting

NEAR MOUNT ELGON, Uganda — Dancers moved their hips to the rhythm of drummers who led the group, heralding the beginning of mass circumcision among the Bamasaaba people of Uganda’s mountainous eastern province.

But the street partying was a cover for a dispute that was brewing behind the scenes, as some residents questioned their king about the public performance of the Imbalu ritual, the ritual circumcision of thousands of boys that takes place every two years in this remote community on the Ugandan border with Kenya.

Could it be turned into a carnival, staged for the eyes of foreigners? Or should it remain a sacred ceremony, where families quietly prepare their sons to bravely face the knife?

The king, known as Umukuuka, made his way ahead of the grand opening on Aug. 3 at a park in the town of Mbale, arguing for a traditional festival that would also look attractive to visitors. Imbalu organizers have received more than $120,000 in financial support from the Ugandan government and a corporate sponsor.

In an interview with AP, Umukuuka said organising a modern-day Imbal was a challenge and defended the decision to market the ritual as a tourism event, in line with Uganda’s national development plan.

“Everything changes as the population grows. People may not be able to keep up with the cultural processes,” he said, citing economic hardships and commercialization that he said are weakening the communal aspect of the Imbalu. “But we fight through the clan system, which (the Imbalu) remains intact.”

But the Ugandan government’s intervention has raised eyebrows among many Bamasaaba and underscored unease about the most important ceremony for the four-million-strong ethnic Ugandan group. Some who spoke to the AP said they believe Umukuuka, in his first year in office, is trivializing Imbalu by exposing it to outside interests.

“Our leadership has been usurped” by national political leaders, said Wasukira Mashate, an elder who is the custodian of Bamasaaba cultural assets, arguing that Umukuuka is not listening to the advice of clan leaders with true spiritual authority.

“I don’t think they played any role” in Imbal, he said, speaking of the clan leaders. “It was for our own cultural benefit, but now it’s becoming a national event because the Ugandan government has taken it over.”

During the ceremonial inauguration, an angry crowd gathered outside the totemic shrine of the clan that historically started the Imbalu by cutting down the first candidates. The clan members pointed out a young mixed-breed bull tied to the grass as an insult, saying that only a local breed would suffice as a suitable offering to the gods.

“This cow is exotic. We are Bamasaaba and he brought us a white animal,” Kareem Masaba said, speaking of Umukuuka. “He insulted us. His predecessors used to come to the temple and participate in the rituals, but this man does not want to come here. He does not respect us.”

The dispute over the sacrificial animal delayed the inauguration until late afternoon as the anger of the men armed with machetes, sharp sticks and other primitive weapons grew. Umukuuka, seated nearby in a tent among dignitaries from elsewhere in Africa, did not budge. The clan members responded by refusing to present the first group of initiates to Umukuuka, a former forest officer whose real name is Jude Mudoma.

Mass circumcisions will last until the end of 2024.

The tribal initiation of boys into adulthood has long been controversial in African countries such as South Africa, where incidents of botched, fatal circumcisions among Xhosa-speakers have inspired campaigns for safe clinical circumcision. Among the Bamasaaba, whose method of cutting is equally brutal, there have been no calls to end the practice. Stronger advocates see Imbalu as more important than ever in the face of widespread infant circumcision in hospital settings. They argue that boys who are not tribally initiated risk a lifetime of social delinquency.

Tribal circumcision is performed by a traditional surgeon, using a knife, usually made of melted nails. Bamasaaba, the capital of Uganda, Kampala, is known to hunt down Imbalu cheaters, whom they then forcibly cut into pieces. The bodies of uncircumcised men may be desecrated before burial.

Circumcision “helps us be strong,” said Peter Gusolo, a traditional surgeon, gesturing to express his people’s supposed sexual prowess. Those who resist circumcision will be circumcised “even if (they) die,” he said. “We circumcise you at night. We bury you in the morning.”

He added: “We cannot bury you in the land of Bamasaab without (circumcision). No, no, no. This is written in the constitution of Bamasaab culture. … It is a curse if you bury people in the land who are not circumcised.”