Intersection of Opera and the Traditional African Performance: Transforming Orature and Musical Traditions in Henry Wassanyi Serukenya and Byron Kawadwa's Oluyimba Iwa Wankoko (Song of Wankoko)

Abstract

This article examines Oluyimba lwa Wankoko (1971) as a foundational example of Ugandan musical theatre/opera rooted in Baganda orature, performance idioms, and political history. Drawing on Luganda linguistic categories of composition and performance—okuyiiya, okuyimba, amazina, and ennyimba enganda—the article argues that Byron Kawadwa and Henry Wassanyi Serukenya created a distinctly Ugandan operatic form that cannot be understood through Western aesthetic frameworks. Using textual analysis of the original manuscripts, ethnographic interviews with surviving performers, and the musicological examination of solfa-notation and indigenous ensemble practices, the study demonstrates how the musical play synthesises instrumental extemporisation, call-and-response vocality, dance-music interdependence, and dramatic narrative. Set against the political turbulence of post-independence Uganda, Oluyimba lwa Wankoko emerges as both a cultural innovation and a vehicle for political critique, articulating Baganda philosophies of obuntubulamu, interrogating tyranny, and reimagining communal identity. The article further situates the work within a broader Ugandan operatic tradition alongside Mbabi Katana, Warugaba, and Mukiibi, while highlighting the FESTAC ’77 performance as a moment of cultural misrecognition and resistance. Ultimately, the study positions Oluyimba lwa Wankoko as a multivalent performance text that transforms indigenous aesthetics into a modern theatrical form capable of expressing political dissent and cultural memory.