Sezibwa Falls, the Twins Born as Rivers
In Uganda, people say a woman gave birth to twins who weren't babies but streams of water, and they became a sacred waterfall.
What was reported
Sezibwa Falls is a small waterfall east of Kampala, on land sacred to the Baganda. The legend is that long ago a woman gave birth to twins, Sezibwa and Bwanda, who were born not as children but as two streams of water, which flowed away and became the river and its falls.
People still come to the falls to pray, to ask for children, for luck and for good harvests, leaving coffee beans and other offerings. Kings of Buganda have visited it to pay their respects.
Explanations offered
The legend is part of Baganda religion and is still respected. The falls themselves are an ordinary rocky cascade on the Sezibwa River.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Mukono, Central Region, Uganda
- Witnesses
- Buganda tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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