Konjo people
The Konjo, BaKonzo (pl. Bakonzo, sing. Mukonzo), or Konzo, are a Bantu ethnic group located in the Rwenzori region of Southwest Uganda in districts that include; Kasese, Bundibugyo, Bunyangabu and Ntoroko districts.
Bakonzo | |
|---|---|
Rwenzururu flag | |
Traditional ware for Bakonzo | |
| Total population | |
| 1,464,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Rwenzori Mountains of southwest Uganda | |
| Uganda | 1,118,000 |
| DRC | 346,000 |
| Languages | |
| Konjo, English | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Nande people and other Bantu peoples | |
The Bankonzo are also known as the Bayiira or Banande or Abanyarwenzururu and they are composed of 14 Clans and different totems. (Ebihanda 14 ebyaba'yiira n'emitsiro).
They speak the Konjo language and practice traditional religions, Islam and Christianity. Konzo speakers also live on the Western slopes of the Rwenzori range in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Numbering 850,646 in the 2014 census, they live on the plains, hills and mountain sloping up to an altitude of 2,200 meters in the Rwenzori Mountains. Traditionally agriculturalists and animal husbanders, they farm yams, beans, sweet potatoes, peanuts, soy beans, potatoes, rice, wheat, cassava, coffee, bananas, Cocoa and cotton, while keeping goats, sheep, and poultry.