Kiganda, Muramvya

Kiganda is in the south of Muramvya Province, southeast of the provincial capital, Muramvya. It is on the RP31 road which runs north from Mwaro Province into Muramvya Province and continues north from Kiganda to join the RN2 highway at Nkonyovu. It contains a hospital, a football field and a church, and the historical site of the Treaty of Kiganda.^[1]

The Köppen climate classification is Cwb : Subtropical highland climate or temperate oceanic climate with dry winters.^[2]

Before the colonial era, each king or clan of Burundi had his own capital, with a palace surrounded by homes, places of worship and store houses. The main capitals were in the present Muramvya Province at Mbuye, Muramvya, Bukeye and Kiganda.^[3]

From 1881 the state of Ingoma Y'Uburundi was attacked by the European colonial powers. At the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 "Urundi" was ceded to the Germans. In 1895 the Germans entered Burundi from Rwanda, but were defeated in the battles of Ruvubu (1896) and Uzige and Muyaga (1898). In June 1899 at the Battle of Ndaga, Captain Robert von Bering used Mexican machine guns to decisively defeat the Barundi. Later that year, in the Second Battle of Muyaga the Germans were forced to retreat to Tanganyika.^[4]

After further fighting, the Germans proposed a treaty to Mwezi IV of Burundi (Mwezi Gisabo), which was signed in Kiganda on 6 June 1903. The Treaty of Kiganda acknowledged the independence of Ingoma y’Uburundi, while making concessions to the Germans including the military station of Usumbura and the Catholic mission of Mugera.^[4] The place where the treaty was signed is now a tourist site.^[5]