By Steven Masiga
As we conclude the circumcision ceremony of 2024, until 2026, it is important to share some interesting information on how one becomes an Umushebi or traditional circumciser among the Bamasaba people.
Bamasaba people have practiced Imbalu for a period of approximately 300 years. Its origin is shrouded in various mysteries, including a punishment for criminal offenses and others suggesting it was a recommendation by the in-laws of the daughter as a panacea for ailments in the children she has sired. I will expound on these medical and sexuality theories of Imbalu later in the story.
The spirit to circumcise begins by attacking its victim in their teens, whom it has selected. The person will be afflicted by the spirit and emaciate or gradually lose weight due to a protracted illness without healing. Efforts may be undertaken to treat such a person using all known medications, especially after the Bushebi spirit has gripped him.
The would-be circumciser (Umushebi as locally known among the Bamasaba people) and the family may make desperate efforts to treat such a person using modern means like going to hospitals. After examination, the medics may say they see no sickness in the person.
In the interim, the person is losing weight and shape at an alarming rate and may even die if localized or traditional means are not employed with reasonable speed.
The community may be disturbed by the sickness of the child, who is destined to become a traditional surgeon, and may consult the “wise men” or women for guidance. It is at this point that solutions may be sought out.
The oracle or elder may guide that the child who has been afflicted by the sickness for a long time may be possessed by the spirit of his earlier descendants or ancestors, and that such an ancestor used to be a circumciser (traditional circumciser).
The elders will roughly construct two huts: one hut for the spirit of a diviner or witch doctor and the other for the spirit of the circumciser. Some cocks will be slaughtered to appease the spirits, and the person will become a circumciser or witch doctor depending on the guidance of the spirits.
If the spirits guide that one becomes a traditional circumciser, then other extra ceremonies will be conducted to ensure that he becomes well-versed in that line of circumcising others.
Usually, the spirit will come to a person at a tender age, preferably around 10 years old.
After this process has been concluded and confirmed that it is the spirit (Kumusambwa of Bushebi) or circumcision spirits, then the child will begin the process of circumcising others after a brief induction.
Many of the people who have been involved in botched circumcisions are not guided by the spirits of their descendants. Such persons should not embark on the task of circumcising people if they have no spiritual guidance; outcomes may be undesirable, as it happened in Mayuge.
The Bamasaba cultural leader, through the traditional circumcisers, has a way of ensuring that only the right person performs the task. Without spiritual guidance, nobody should dare engage in circumcision.
The Imbalu among Bamasaba people has a series of origins with a diversity of theories on its origin.
The first theory is that Imbalu or circumcision was a cultural punishment for supposedly “criminal” behavior. (I use the word “criminal” behavior reservedly because at that time, 300 years back, this tribe had no penal code or any written code to categorize adultery as criminal conduct.)
It was therefore stated that a man, perhaps in his mid-20s around the Mutoto area of Masabaland, was in the habit of sleeping with people’s wives. As a way of punishing him, they decided to circumcise him as a way of permanently deterring him from preying on other people’s wives. But alas, according to local legend, after healing, the man became too attractive to women, and instead, thousands of women were seen flocking to his home for sex. As a consequence, all men in the Mutoto area decided to circumcise themselves to enjoy sex, and hence the origin of massive circumcision in Masabaland, which should be somewhere around 250 to 300 years back.
The second theory is that circumcision among the Bamasaba was a precondition imposed by an alien girl (Umumya) who had wanted to get married to one of the children of Masaba. Apparently, the husband in question was Umusinde or uncircumcised, as other men in the community where the girl to be married came from. He submitted to the conditions laid down by the would-be wife and her family and thus got circumcised.
The third condition is that the brothers or in-laws of Nabarwa, supposedly the first wife of Bamasaba, when they visited their sister, realized that the children were sickly with all sorts of skin diseases. They prescribed circumcision as a panacea to overcome the conditions of the skin diseases.
And the last theory is that circumcision could have been copied from other tribes during the process of migrations, and the obedience theory is also suggested as another route responsible for the intrusion of Imbalu in Masabaland, where God said, “Oh, you people, hear my message,” and many listened to God or were or Habumbi and got circumcised.
Any body listening to God had to get circumcised.
During circumcision, the surgeons use special traditional stones to sharpen the knives to a blade point. The local sharpening stones are structured to make the knife very incisive, and such stones are also kept away from public view for cultural reasons.
During circumcision, a special makeshift tent is constructed to accommodate about 3 to 4 people: the candidate for Imbalu, a surgeon or Umushebi, and another, perhaps an uncle or so. The candidate, after circumcision, is given or shown traditional herbs locally known as Enguwa, which is sprinkled on the cut penis to accelerate quick healing. Again, such trees need to be protected through UNESCO and organizations. We need to preserve these special stones, herbs, and ensure that Imbalu is carried out in specially erected tents as it was before, to avoid people who are drunk from interfering with the special ceremony. Reasonable distance must be maintained during the time of circumcising a candidate. Too much crowding may impede the process and end up with wrong results. Surgeons need a lot of space to do their work during this final activity. The Umukuka III urges clan heads to ensure this is adhered to.
The Bamasaba go deep into the forests to look for such herbs, and efforts should be made to preserve such trees because they are very native.
