Three Pillars of Nkore Homes: Unpacking the Kingdom's Mandatory Household Items

 Going Down memory lane

In my native home village of Ibanda,Nkore Kingdom there were three major important must haves every household was mandated to have whether poor, average or rich and these were :-

1-A cups/plate rack(Akatandaro)

2-A granary (Ekitara)

3-A pit latrine(Ekiigo/Kamena)

These three possessions helped communities to mentain high level of hygiene and and food security and were simple to make and implement.

A cup/plates rack was usually set up using simple materials such as four hinged "Y" shaped logs dug in the earth with reeds acting as the surface where to dry the utensils. Those who were more styles up opted for a double decker cups/plates rack to accommodate more utensils. You would find one compartment was for strictly plates and cups then the lower section for saucepans. This cups/plates rack would be conviniently be built near the "outside" kitchen and the main house but far away from the pit latrine(Ekiigo/Kamena) for health reasons.

The Granary (Ekitara)

This acted as a storage facility to keep and store all seasonal harvest such as millet fingers,Corn,cassava dried beans etc. As the adage goes you have to keep some for the rainy day.

 This facility too was easy and cheap to build since all the materials were locally sourced such as wood logs,reeds, roofed with grass thatch or banana fibre with mud and wattle. The only science and logic behind it was it had to be be built raised and suspended some inches from the ground to avoid moisture contraction. And we would occasionally smear it with cow dung to keep away stubborn wevaels and rodents from nibbling on our harvests.

Pit latrine (Ekiigo/Kamena)

This was/is the most important place of convinience every house hold had to have/posess. 

Most youngsters especially those born in ubarn areas will not figure it out late alone understand it. I vividly remember my niece who asked me where the toilet was and I directed her a distance away,when she got into a "small house" in the middle of the banana plantation she came out running and panting saying that she was afraid of falling in the pit besides it was dark in there! Can't really remember how she solved the issue most probably she ran to the bush.  

People in villages still have these places of conviniences till today. A pit latrine (Ekiigo/ Kamena) was built some metres away from the main house and the kitchen area since it emitted a foul smell especially those which were not regularly cleaned and maintained. The distance from the house was implemented by the village health inspectors aka "abo O'buyonjo" regularly buttressed by chiefs. We had Mr. Agulupa and Mr. Mwittane who were no nosence when it came to implement these community services. Those who were lazy or stubborn to own one were subjected and forced to community service "Bulungi bwansi" such as to dig and mantain a shallow well,clean and slash a sub-county compound and clear the village paths as a punishment. After you are let to go,you build one by force!

We had one pit latrine digger who would exclusively dig all the pit latrines in the entire sub county called Mzee Ddungu. 

Ddungu was on high demand. To fix an appointment with Ddungu it would take you months. So,to get hold of him, you had to get in touch with him early enough to avoid embarrassment of going for community service. Ddungu was slow but sure and would work alone. He never wanted to have an assistant. You can imagine he go down many feet under ground,dig up a heap of soil,then climb up to dispose it on the surface by himself (and here I am talking about 20-30 feet underground). I think he wanted to take the money alone!

Unfortunately,Ddungu lost his dear life while at it and there was nobody to help out. He slipped and fell in the pit mid way as he carried a container of soil.