Azande crowns successor of King Gbudue after nearly 120 years

JUBA – The Azande tribe in South Sudan today will crown the successor of King Gbudue who died in a British custody after being held captive in 1905, nearly 120 years after the King’s demise, according to a statement by the Central Equatoria state Governor’s press office.

Gbudue (Gbudwe) or was the Azande King between 1870 and 1905. His real name was Mbio, which means “a kind of small antelope”, but he renamed himself “Gbudwe”, also known as Gbudue, meaning “to tear out a man’s intestines”.

Isolated, deserted by his warriors, and staring into the rifle barrels of a company of tough soldier, the old chief picked up a rifle and started shooting.

At least one Sudanese soldier fell wounded; then return fire hit Gbudwe in the arm and thigh. He dropped his rifle, and some soldiers ran up to take him prisoner, so he drew a pistol which he had been hiding behind his back and dropped three more of them.

Showing remarkable restraint, the soldiers grabbed him and took him alive, but soon Gbudwe was dead – he either starved himself to death or was murdered while in custody by his own grandson.

Either way, with his demise the era of Azande independence was finally over; their country was partitioned among the colonial powers, and their traditional warlike activities were forbidden.

Since then, his successor hasn’t been crowned.

In a statement, the Central Equatoria state government said Governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony left for Yambio where he was invited by the incoming Azande King to attend the crowning ceremony.

“Today,09^th February 2022,H.E Governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony together with the National Minister of Environment and Forestry, Hon. Josephine Napwon and his entourage left the State’s Capital-Juba following the invitation of the Azande kingdom to the leadership on the slated installation of the Azande king after more than 100 years,” the governor’s office said in the statement.