When you search for the history of the kingdom said to belong to the Abazigaba, here is what you get: “It is a kingdom in Rwanda inhabited by the Abazigaba people, led by their king, Kabeja.” This story claims that when Kigwa descended from heaven, he encountered people in Mubari who were initially afraid of the newcomers. However, the newcomers reassured them, saying, Don't be afraid. We are humans. We come from heaven. We are peaceful visitors, and we want to live with you as good neighbors. We hope you will be hospitable to us. The King of Mubari welcomed the visitors, urging his people to extend hospitality to them. The locals called them Ibimanuka (descendants), and Sabizeze was named Kigwa (Fallen). The newcomers referred to the locals as Abasangwabutaka (Found on the Land), but the actual name of the people of Mubari was Abazigaba. The Ibimanuka supposedly lived with Kabeja and his people for a long time, teaching them many things, including the various uses of fire they had brought from heaven, which fascinated the locals. This well-crafted story of good visitors and good hosts, designed to distort the true history, is the one that established the first kingdom of the said “Basangwabutaka” kingdom, that in reality was not there. It is recorded that there were no other people when Sabizeze came to Rwanda. Writing about his journey across the Great Lakes region of Africa, Bishop Julien-Louis-Edouard-Marie Gorju, one of the first Europeans to travel to Burundi through Uganda and Rwanda said that Rwanda was a dark forest prior to the arrival of Sabizeze and his companions. The book of Bishop Julien-Louis-Edouard-Marie Gorju Zigzag à travers le Grand Lacs, was written in 1924, before the distortion of oral tradition became the motto for western scholars. That is why in his writings he mentions that there was no other human being in Rwanda. We think that the idea of forging the Abasangwabutaka or the natives was not born yet or was still in infancy. Sabizeze could not have met Kabeja in Mubari, while he was not alive yet. The oral history tells us that it is a descendent of Sabizeze called Kazi, the father of Gihanga who married Nyirarukangaga, the daughter of Kabeja. Making false the assertion that Sabizeze met Kabeja in Mubari. Let’s remember that Kazi was the son of Muntu, the son of Kizira, the son of Gisa, the son of Nyeranda, the son of Merano, the son of Kobo, the son of Kijuru, the son of Sabizeze. Kabeja, whose daughter Nyirarukangaga was married to Kazi lived almost six generations after the actual arrival of Sabizeze in Mazinga, and made it clear that there was no Kabeja at his arrival. If Kabeja was not there,there would also be no kingdom. Apart from the existence of Kabeja and his kingdom before the arrival of Sabizeze, calling his kingdom a kingdom of Abazigaba was also another distortion of the history of Rwanda. First Kabeja was an Umusinga and not Umuzigaba, meaning that he could not be a king of Abazigaba Kingdom, when he was not an Umuzigaba. How can he be an Umuzigaba, when the Bazigaba were not yet in existence? The genealogy of Kabeja tells us that he was an Umusinga. Kabeja was the son of Gasinga Gasinga of Gahutu Gahutu of Serwega Serwega of Mututsi Mututsi of Sabiyogera. How can you tell me that Kabeja lived in Mubari before the arrival of Sabizeze after seeing this genealogy? How can Kabeja be an Umuzigaba while the bazigaba were not yet born. Let us look briefly at the birth of Abazigaba. Oral history tells us that Gihanga the Founding Father had a daughter named Nyirarucyaba. One day, Nyamususa, who was the mother of Nyirarucyaba had a quarrel with Nyirampirangwe, another wife of Gihanga. In their fight, Nyirararucyaba came to the rescue of her mother and accidentally killed Nyirampirangwe. Fearing her father’s reaction, Nyirarucyaba fled to the Kabuye forest, where she met a man called Gahu. Gahu married there Nyirarucyaba. In Kabuye where she lived, she heard bad news that her father was sick. Nyirarucyaba bought with her milk which she gave to her father to help with his sickness. After a few days Gihanga recovered. After his recovery, he asked her to go back to Kabuye and bring her husband and his cows. Gahu was then brought to Gihanga’s residence in Nyamirembe with his cows. Gihanga was happy to get cows from Gahu and to thank him for his good action, Gihanga changed his name from Gahu to Kazigaba, which means the one who gives cows. Gihanga also thanked Nyirarucyaba by allowing her descendents to be called Abacyaba. However some children of Nyirarucyaba and Gahu refused to bear the name of their mother. They prefered to be named after their father and were called Abazigaba instead. That is in brief how the Bazigaba were born. How then can you tell us that Kabeja could be an Umuzigaba when he is the father of Rurenge, the father of Jeni, who is the father of Nyamususa, the mother of Nyirarucyaba and the maternal grandmother of Abazigaba? It is impossible. Oral history calls him Umusinga and some elders we discussed with including Elder Lyumugabe Gervain, Former Chief of Nyagatare during the reign of King Mutara Rudahigwa and Yuhi Musinga, Elder Rudasimburwa Charles from Minembwe and Elder Artist Kalisa Rugano remember very well that Kabeja was referred to as Umukuru mu basinga translated the oldest of the Abasinga. It is very clear that the Kingdom of Abazigaba, that existed before the arrival of Sabizeze and his companion, and its King Kabeja was not in the Rwandan oral history but was purposely crafted by colonial scholars to fit their objective of divide and rule.
