Excerpt from Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Kintu's mind lingered on the primal conflict that led to a soul splitting into twins. No matter how he looked at it, life was tragic. If the soul is at conflict even at this remotest level of existence, what chance do communities have? This made the Ganda custom of marrying female identical twins to the same man preposterous. It goes against their very nature, Kintu thought. Twins split because they cannot be one, why keep them as such in life? Besides, identical men did not marry the same woman.

But even as he raged against custom, Kintu knew that in the world of twins, things could be worse. There were people born as single souls only to bear twin personalities. More tragic were twins who changed their minds too late and arrived conjoined.

"Red ants," someone called and the men stood still.

"Lift your clothes up: these warriors seek out hairy regions first," Nnondo the headman called.

One by one, men jumped over the intricate ant processions.

"They are all over the place," someone called at the tail of the group.

The orderly convoy was abandoned. Luckily, they had come to the edge of the forest and soon broke out into the open. The men threw down their spears and loads, stomping and stripping.

Outside the forest, the vegetation changed dramatically. An expanse of elephant grass lay as far as the eye could see. A slight yellowing in the leaves indicated that the soil in this region was salty. The earth, previously a dark loam, inclined towards red. After the soft wet carpet of the forest bed, the ground was hard beneath their feet. The wind blew on top of the elephant grass and the leaves swayed like waves on a green lake. Kintu turned to his son Baale and told him it was time to return home.

From that point onwards, the party walked against the sun. They read its rhythm in the cast of their shadows and measured their energy against the cheerless posture of the vegetation.


Kintu married Nnakato first. He married Nnakato against counsel, against custom.

When he first whispered his desire to her, they were both young and Nnakato was shy. "You know you ought to court Babirye first," she had reprimanded wistfully.

Kintu shook his head, "It's you I want."

This implied difference between her and Babirye, the first in Nnakato's life, was so intoxicating that she failed to insist that Kintu court them both. Her parents, on hearing Kintu's proposal, initially rejected the idea of separating the twins. However, they then relented. If Kintu would not marry both girls, then he would wait until Babirye, the eldest twin, got married.

Kintu waited.

No man whispered to Babirye, not even in jest. Kintu's father died and Kintu became Ppookino. He then pressured the twins' parents to let him marry Nnakato. He claimed that as governor he was naked without a wife.

"True," the parents agreed. "However, as you know, our hands are tied. If you want our Nnakato, you must marry our Babirye first then come back for Nnakato later."

Kintu rejected the custom even though the twins were identical. The parents were perplexed, "They're one person. Surely if you want one, you want the other?"

Kintu claimed that the twins' eyes were different.

"I don't trust Babirye's eyes."

To support his views of Babirye he asked, "Why has no man married her?"

The parents, now cowering under Kintu's power, offered Babirye at half dowry, but Kintu still refused. Desperate, they offered her free on top of Nnakato, but Kintu would not have her. They resorted to threats.

"We don't wish you ill, Kintu. However, not only have you split our Babirye from her other half, you've humiliated her."

"If the girls didn't want to be separated in the first place, they should have not split into twins." Kintu was defiant.

From Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. By arrangement with Transit Books. Copyright © Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi 2017. All rights reserved.