Kitara[b] (sometimes spelt as Kittara[15] or Kitwara,[16][3] also known as the Chwezi Empire[5]) was an ancient[c] legendary state that covered significant parts of western Uganda and is regularly mentioned in the oral traditions of the Banyoro, Batooro and Banyankole.

Ruth Alice Fisher wrote that Kakama Twale became the first king of Kitara as willed by Ruhanga.

[32]: 87 [34] In Nyakatura's account, there was a notable population increase during Kazooba's reign, and he was loved by his subjects so much that he was deified after his death and succession by Nyamuhanga.

[7]: 17 [27]: 84 [33]: 15–16 [3]: 129  All accounts state that Bukuku was killed by his grandson, Karubumbi,[e] over a dispute about watering some cattle, then he proclaimed himself king, thus founding the Chwezi dynasty.

[7]: 17 [27]: 89 Because the rebellious chiefs refused to submit to Karubumbi, he led a series of campaigns to regain the lands of Isaza.

[27]: 90 [4]: 22 [3]: 141 [33]: 19  Places that Karubumbi was said to have annexed include Buruli, Karagwe, Sukuma, Rwanda, Busoga, Ankole, Tooro, Bunyara, Busongora, Bulega, Bukidi, Buganda and Madi, although accounts often disagree on the chronology of these campaigns and expeditions.

[29]: 159 [35]: 69–70  Unlike other authors, K. W., John Beattie, Nyakatura and Dunbar wrote that Mulindwa ruled as a deputy/regent during this time.

[3]: 195–196 [4]: 37–38 [27]: 104–105  Fisher wrote that Mugasa, Wamara's uncle and chief of the Sese Islands, rebelled against him, although the uprising was quickly squashed.

[27]: 102  Fisher and Dunbar then wrote that Bihogo, Mugenyi's rare ox which gave fragrance to whatever water she drank, had a fit and died, and that Wamara ordered witch doctors to dissect her.

[7]: 19 [27]: 105–106  Nyakatura, Beattie, Apuuli wrote that Wamara, troubled by misfortunes, summoned his witch doctors to explain the meaning of them, who then slaughtered some bull calves for divination.

Nyakoka made a blood pact with either Mulindwa (according to Nyakatura, Beattie and Apuuli) or Mugenyi (according to Fisher and Dunbar).

The Bahuma lacked major political importance and have never been kings in Kitara, as the Tutsi and Hima have in other Great Lakes kingdoms to the south.

Nyakatura additionally mentions Kanyabugoma (a messenger sent by the Chwezi) and Mugungu arriving after Nyakoka to relay the same information.

The Empaako praise names that every Munyoro is given after birth are still found in Acholi, where they are called "Pak", meaning 'praise'.

M. S. M. Kiwanuka suggests that the extent of Kitara implied by writers like Roland Oliver, Merrick Posnansky and A. R. Dunbar have been influenced by nationalism: Hitherto, conclusions reached by writers such as those cited above on the history of the Empire of Bunyoro-Kitara, have been based largely on the traditions of Bunyoro, which besides being never subjected to any critical examination, are unfortunately coloured by nationalist sentiments.

Maps have been drawn to show the vastness of the Empire but no one for instance has asked when Bunyoro extended her influence to Equatoria.

[41]: 30 John E. G. Sutton writes that according to archaeological evidence, some earthwork sites said to be in Kitara can be interpreted as separate capitals: There is in fact a reasonable case for interpreting each of the big earthwork sites — Kibengo, Munsa and Bigo — as a capital for those who controlled the grasslands of those districts.

In this way Kitara can perhaps be still imagined not as a single united kingdom but as a vaguer system of political organization and economic exploitation of this region some six or seven centuries ago.

[42]: 58 [43]: 107 Godfrey N. Uzoigwe calls Kitara "loosely-organized": These traditions inform us in masterful and amazing detail – in spite of several lacunae – how their ancestors founded the first state system in the lake region and later converted it into a large, albeit loosely-organized ‘empire,’ that extended beyond the region.