page_title: Monarchies in Africa
section_title: Sub-national monarchies
hierarchical_section_title: Monarchies in Africa / Current monarchies / Sub-national monarchies
caption_attribution_description: English: The Emir of Kano on his throne before the September 2016 Durbar.
context_page_description: There are several monarchies in Africa, defined as either actually or nominally self-governing states, territories, or nations on the continent of Africa where supreme power resides with an individual who is recognized as the head of state. All are similar in that the sovereign inherits their office and typically keeps it until their death or until their abdication. However, only three are currently sovereign, while the remaining are sub-national monarchies. Two of these are constitutional monarchies, in which the sovereign is bound by laws and customs in the exercise of his or her powers, and one is an absolute monarchy, in which the sovereign rules without bounds. The sub-national monarchies are not sovereign, and exist within larger political associations. In addition to these, there are also three dependencies of two European monarchies.
  Another subnational monarchy in Africa is Buganda kingdom of Uganda. The kingdom was formed in Early 14th century with highly decentralized system. It is now a constitution monarchy with its King titled KABAKA and elected prime minister.
  The kingdom has a parliament called Lukiiko.
context_section_description: A series of sub-national polities exist as constituencies of a number of the 52 remaining sovereign states of Africa. Traditional authority is vested in the monarchs of these constituencies by virtue of customary law as a general rule, although some of them also enjoy either a constitutional or a statutory recognition of their titles in the states that play host to them. Such figures as the Nigerian traditional rulers and the Zulu King of South Africa typify the class.
caption: The Emir of Kano, Nigeria, Muhammadu Sanusi II, on his throne before the Durbar, September 2016
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