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Flazia Ntare: Last queen of Ihangiro empire
2008-03-30 09:40:09
By Darius Mukiza
The gods are crying. The fort is destroyed. No one cares about it. The last queen of the Ihangiro Empire is poor, and her family is starving.
``I feel like crying too when I recall the good old days with my husband, King Sylvester Ntare. Yes, the gods are unhappy with the destroyed fort (ekikare),`` so begins Flazia Ntare, the last and 30th queen of the empire under King (Omukama) Sylvester Ntare. The departed king signified also the end of the empire.
Fifty-three-year old Flazia was among 30 wives of the third king after Mugundu Nyarubamba.
Other wives have long passed away, and she was the youngest of them all. She says the good old days went with her husband on October 10, 1964 when he died. Omukama Sylvester was buried the same month.
A mother of four, two daughters and two sons, Flazia sees the tide against her. She has to look after them because the oldest is 15 years old and the youngest seven. Prince Amos is 15 years old, Princess Happiness (14), Prince Aidan (13) and Princess Jose (7).
Prince Amos and Princess Happiness are students at different secondary schools while Prince Aidan and Princess Jose are pupils at Tukutuku Primary School in Muleba Town, Kagera Region.
While Prince Amos is in Kahama Secondary School her sister studies Form I at Kishoju Secondary School in Muleba District.
Kamachumu, Muleba, Biharamulo and Nshamba wards were all under the royal kingdom of Omukama Ntare, but since the fall of the last king 44 years ago anything to do with the empire remains history.
``During its heyday the kingdom attracted all its subjects who in turn could not do anything without the counsel of the royal court,`` remarks the queen who says she no longer has authority over Ihangiro Hayas.
She lives in abject poverty. Some days she goes with only a single meal, and school fees are her constant worry. What with raising 300,000/- per year! The house at the palace is also full of jiggers.
``My problems are seriously compounded by the misdeeds of some elder sons of the king who sold a big chunk of the land to speculators and developers.
Look, one of the king’s sons sold our land to Tanzania Assemblies God (TAG) which has constructed a chapel on it. Imagine the chapel is constructed within the premises of the fort. This is a big sin,`` she laments.
The queen does not know why former subjects of the kingdom, such as legislators give her low profile, although she is quick to blame even government officials in the vicinity who do not give her due recognition.
The dilapidated palace could be a tourist attraction if accorded attention.‚`` One time three white men came here and gave me some foreign currencies. They never came back.
Maybe it is because the palace is no longer attractive.‚``
Omukama Sylvester Ntare had fathered 31 children from his wives. There were 15 boys and 16 girls.
He also left behind a herd of 1,000 cows, but she does not know where they are, although she remembers that during his death some 100 cattle were slaughtered.
Two big trees remain as symbols of ancestral worship. ``The number of people worshipping under the tree has decreased but those who come with problems do get cured,`` she claims.
Queen Flazia is mad about the morals of young people. ‚How can a girl wear a pair of trousers and walk in the street?`` She asks aghast.
Anne John, a resident of Muleba town, sympathising with the plight of the queen has asked fellow Ihangiro Hayas to extend a hand in return for what the late king had done for them.
``For the purpose of history,`` says another resident Mark Rwehabula, it has reached a stage when Government should be requested to assist the queen, although it is still the responsibility of the Ihangiro people to help her.``
Presently the queen sells a Haya brew called `rubisi` earning her about 1,000/- a day.
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