The chiefdoms

Until the 19^th century, Busoga was divided into chiefdoms and these were ruled independently by chiefs. Five of these chiefs migrated into Busoga from Bunyoro and their titles are Zibondo of Bulamogi, Gabula of Bugabula,Ngobi of Kigulu, Tabingwa of Luuka and Nkono of Bukono. The other tribal chiefs are Wakooli of Bukooli, Ntembe of Butembe, Menha of Bugweri, Kisiki of Busiki, Luba of Bunha and Nanhumba of Bunhole.

The chiefs often fought amongst themselves and these fights were often influenced by the neighboring kingdoms; Bunyoro and Buganda. Bunyoro and Buganda often supplied arms and armies to Busoga chiefs.

The arrival of the British

When the British arrived in Uganda and established colonial rule, they persuaded the Busoga chiefs to unite and form a federation. These efforts resulted into the formation of the Busoga Royal Council (Lukiiko) which comprised of the eleven chiefs.

The head of the Lukiiko was viewed as the central administrator of Busoga and the first to take this title was Chief Yosia Nadiope of Bugabula in 1906. Yosia Nadiope died in 1913 and was succeeded in by chief of Bulamogi Ezekiel Tenywa Wako in 1919.

During this time, the administrator had several titles including "Chairman" and "President" but the Lukiiko was not impressed by any of these. Eventually the Lukiiko agreed that the elected administrator would assume the title of a king, hence the coinage of the title "Isebantu, Kyabazinga" which means "Father of the people".

Chief Ezekiel Tenywa Wako was installed as the first Kyabazinga of Busoga on 11^th Feb, 1939 and he held the title until 1949 when he retired. By this time the Lukiiko had expanded to include elected representatives from Busoga's 55 sub-counties

With the retirement of Ezekiel Tenywa Wako, the Lukiiko resolved that the Kyabazinga should be elected from the 5 lineages that originated from Bunyoro and in the next election Chief William Wilberforce Nadiope Kadhumbula of Bugabula as elected as the Kyabazinga of Busoga.

William Wilberforce Nadiope Kadhumbula served for two terms of 3 years each and was succeeded by Henry Wako Muloki served until 1966. In 1966 monarchies were abolished in Uganda and all traditional rulers were dethroned. Monarchies were later restored and Henry Wako Muloki was reinstated as Kyabazinga of Busoga. Kyabazinga Henry Wako Muloki died in 2008 and was later succeeded by William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Nadiope, Gabula of Bugabula in 2014. William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Nadiope IV is the Kyabazinga of Busoga kingdom