CORONATION ACCOUNT OF KING ATOROBA OF THE AZANDE KINGDOM

This essay was written by Isaac Waanzi Hillary, who attended the coronation of His Majesty, King Atoroba Peni Rikito Gbudue in Yambio, the capital of Western Equatoria State, on 9 February 2022. He observed and photographed most of the processes, procedures, and rituals as they were performed at the tomb of King Gbudue. He later had the privilege to interview a prominent member of the royal family and an elder about the coronation. Hillary is an ethnic Zande and an anthropology student at Central European University. He has written essays on Azande culture and custom for his blog Worondimo, and published a guest blog for Invisible Children and an article for Civil Wars journal.