Kagera Region

The region derives its name from the Kagera River.

Kagera borders Uganda to the north, Rwanda and Burundi to the west, and the Tanzanian regions Kigoma to the south and Geita to the east. The Kagera River forms the region's border with Rwanda. The region lies in the middle of 30°25' and 32°40' east, and 1°00' and 2°45' south. The total area is 35,686 square kilometres (13,778 sq mi), of which 25,513 square kilometres (9,851 sq mi) is land, and 27 percent, 10,173 square kilometres (3,928 sq mi) is water. Much of the water Victoria, as well as lakes Ikimba, Burigi, Ngono and the Kagera River. Kagera is Tanzania's fifteenth-largest region and accounts for approximately 3.3 percent of Tanzania's land area of 885,800 square kilometres (342,000 sq mi). The regional capital Bukoba is about 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) from Dar es Salaam.^[5]

During the colonial period, the region was called West Lake, it was part of Lake Province, which included the Geita, Mwanza, Shinyanga, Tabora, Simiyu, and Mara, regions. After independence Lake Province was broken up, with Kagera and part of Geita becoming the West Lake Region. Following the Kagera War in 1979, the West Lake Region was renamed the Kagera Region.^[5]

For a period of about five centuries, Kagera was home to nine different kingdoms with highly hierarchical societies. Before European colonialism, coffee was a traditional crop in the area, used for its stimulant properties and in local cultural rituals. During colonial times, coffee was a cash crop. Bananas were a staple food in the region. Although there was a gender-based division of labour in the traditional Bahaya society, women at the time were not thought to be inferior to men. In fact women commanded special respect in all traditional rituals. For example, upon the death of a family head (Nyin'enju), inheritance rituals were followed, the "Main Inheritor" (Omusika) had to have a female counterpart selected from among his sisters to share his authority. Similarly, upon the death of a reigning king, during the crowning of the next king, there had to be a "sister to the nation" (Kinyany'engoma) who was also selected from among his sisters.

The kings lived in elaborate palaces and were respected as the direct link to gods of their kingdoms. The authority of the nine kingdoms (Kihanja, Karagwe, Kiziba, Misenye, Bugabo, Kyamtwara, Ihangiro, Bukara and Biharamulo) was diminished when Germans colonised Tanzania in 1885 and supported the Haya, the ethnic group of Bukoba and Muleba Districts over the other districts. However, the local kings held on to power. The demise of these kingdoms came after Tanzania gained its independence and president Nyerere considered them detrimental to national unity.

There was a chief called Omukama (the word meant a king or chief) who could be born with that authority. Some prominent chiefs in Kagera include Kyamukuma, who was the last^{[clarification needed]} chief in Misenye (currently Missenyi District).^[10] Other chiefs included Rumanyika of Karagwe, Ruhinda, Kahigi and other inferior chiefs. Kahigi is among the chiefs who waived their territories by collaborating with German colonialists.

Cultural tours are available for tourists visiting Kagera and can be accessed from the region's capital of Bukoba. These tours include visits to the region's national parks/nature reserves etc.

During German rule Dr. M. Zupitza, then serving as the local medical officer, encountered a plague outbreak in Kiziba (1897–1898). In cooperation with Dr. Robert Koch, he confirmed that the cause was the same bacteria as the outbreak in Bombay.

When authority was transferred to the British after World War I, Kagera was opened to Lutheran missionary activity. Other Christian denominations including the Roman Catholic arrived later. Their legacy is in the many churches in the region.

The attempted annexation of Kagera by Uganda in 1979 triggered the Uganda–Tanzania War.

Agriculture is the main economic activity, the primary crops being pulses. With Cereals the most frequent crop, at (42.8% of the total area planted with annuals), followed by root and tubers with (17.8%), (2.9%), cash crops (2.1%), and fruits and vegetables with (1.0%). The major cash crops were cotton. Cereal crop output in the area is dominated by maize, with 302,529 households in the region growing maize during the brief wet season. This made up about 93.8% of all households that raised crops during the season.^[6]

Food crop sales accounted for 54.0% of smallholder households' total cash income in the Kagera Region, with cash crop sales (18.9%), other sporadic income (8.7%), fishing (4.3%), and wages/salaries (4.3%). Small businesses were the primary source of income for only 3.4% of smallholder households, followed by the sale of livestock (2.5%), cash remittances (2.0%), sales of forest products (0.7%), and sales of animal products (0.6%).^[6]

Kagera is also one of the largest coffee producers in the country. Muleba with 26%), Karagwe 23%), Ngara 10%), Biharamulo 1%), and Bukoba Urban 1%) were the other coffee-producing areas, with Bukoba Rural having the highest area 39%). (Map 3.33). However, Ngara (1.23 ha) had the greatest average amount of land planted with coffee per household, followed by Karagwe(0.32 ha), Biharamulo (0.22 ha), Muleba (0.21 ha), Bukoba Rural (0.21 ha), and Bukoba Urban (0.21 ha) (0.18 ha).^[6]

• Ali Mufuruki, business man and motivational speaker
• Claver Kamanya, athlete and medalist 400m
• Anna Tibaijuka, politician
• Laurean Rugambwa, Catholic cardinal
• Saida Karoli, musician
• Josiah Kibira, filmmaker
• Justinian Rweyemamu, scholar and economist

James Kamala, Journalist