In Uganda, the sacred tombs of Kasubi are no longer in danger. The director of UNESCO World Heritage, Lazare Eloundou Assomo, recommends, this Monday, August 28, the removal of the site from the list of threatened monuments. The sign, for Unesco, that the reconstruction was particularly effective for the mausoleum affected by a violent fire in 2010.
When in March 2010, the flames devour the mausoleum of the Kabakas, near Kampala, a whole section of the culture of the Kingdom of Buganda is disappearing. This circular hut, about thirty meters high, erected in 1881 is entirely built of wood and thatch. A know-how that the members of the 56 clans that make up the Kingdom have been passing on for several hundred years. The site is of particular importance to them since the remains of four sovereigns lie there. It is a place where their faith is celebrated but also a showcase of their culture.
13 years later, with the support of Unesco and Japan, the mausoleum was rebuilt. And the members of the kingdom’s communities will soon be able to celebrate their ancestors again and tourists will be able to visit an identically reconstructed place.
Lazare Eloundou Assomo, now director of UNESCO World Heritage, headed the Africa Unit of the organization’s World Heritage Center when the fire destroyed the tomb of the Bugandan kings in 2010. Joined by RFI, he explains why this renovation project must become a reference and the importance of preserving this place dear to the local populations and, more broadly, to the continent and to all humanity.
RFI : What does this heritage represent, for which you are asking to be removed from the list of cultural monuments of humanity in danger? ?
Lazare Eloundou Assomo: It is a very fine example of extraordinary plant architecture in Africa which is testimony to the human creative genius of the Ganda peoples in Uganda. Since almost the 13th century, they have been building, with a rather admirable and exceptional method, these monumental ensembles such as the tomb of the kings of Kasubu. From the structure to the roof, all the elements are made of plant materials and we arrive at structures that are quite high, which rise to almost 20, 30 meters in height. So it is a unique monumental ensemble in Africa which has been listed as a World Heritage Site since 2001, and which unfortunately burned down in 2010.
It took thirteen years to rebuild it in a sustainable way, reviving all the traditional design and maintenance techniques and passing this knowledge on to new generations. After thirteen years of work, we carried out a mission – which I led myself – to witness the reconstruction and we made this important recommendation for its removal from the list of World Heritage in Danger. This is a fine example and very positive news for the whole of Africa.
This site houses the remains of kings, important personalities for the communities. Are the tombs of the kings of Buganda also a structuring element of these communities?
Yes, because these tombs of Kasoubi are the place where the communities can continue to be in contact with their history, protect their kings and keep them alive because guards live on this site and maintain it every day.
This means that, once this structure has been completely rebuilt, all the populations have taken part and are united around it. It has been going on for centuries and that is what makes this site sacred and what makes the communities respect it. This royal tomb contributes to structuring the social, cultural and religious life of all the people of the kingdom of Buganda, in Uganda.
There is also a sustainability approach in this project. We don’t just rebuild a physical site, we build something else: a history, documents and we create know-how for the younger generations.
What was exceptional during these thirteen years of work was the fact that the communities were put at the center of the entire reconstruction strategy and that it was important for these communities to transmit this knowledge to all the younger generations. So we were impressed to see that the younger generations were committed to learning and becoming the guardians of this know-how and these rituals and which allows them to be the only ones today who can get their hands on this tomb to be able to maintain it every day in order to ensure that what happened in 2010, with this fire of destruction, does not happen again.
And besides, it’s not just the material know-how. There is also all the intangible know-how, especially with the rituals that are maintained and practiced there. We can also mention the way in which the decorations of this monumental ensemble are made, with a decoration technique, with tree bark. So this site today has succeeded in keeping and conserving, at the same time, this space of knowledge of the know-how of the peoples but also its culture represented by all the clans which constitute it.
Beyond reconstruction, there is also training of site teams in firefighting.
Absolutely, because you have to understand that what happened in 2010 when this site burned down happened because there was no water reservoir to be able to intervene immediately. It was important in this reconstruction strategy to ensure that a whole fire-fighting system was in place. So, we were able to accompany the Ugandan authorities to install, on this site, fire extinguishers, water lances which are used by the guards of this site who have been trained and who will be the first to intervene. We would thus avoid finding ourselves in the terrible situation that the people experienced in 2010, and which created terrible trauma in the community.
You were there in June, once the work – which lasted 13 years – was almost completed. This project is also the symbol that the work undertaken by Unesco with local communities is working. There is a pride in asking for the removal of the site from the list of threatened heritage.
Absolutely, because I was there a few weeks after that fire. I was able to read in the faces of both the communities that lived on this site, but also of the king of Buganda, an enormous trauma, an enormous sadness but also this desire to quickly rebuild.
With l’Unesco, we accompanied them every day and insisted that this reconstruction should not only be a physical reconstruction, but also a reconstruction that allows us to highlight all their know-how. This one is very rich, exceptional and unique in the world. So, we must continue to preserve it through the reconstruction of this royal tomb. This reconstruction also makes it possible to magnify the know-how in a certain way. The communities realize this and realize that this is the right thing to do. And so today we have a fine model of reconstruction that will allow other parts of Africa, other countries – if such situations arise – to draw inspiration from it.