I seek to investigate the drivers of the ongoing so-called tribal violence that started in 2012 in the Rwenzori, western Uganda. This fighting, which involves the societies of the Bakonzo, Bamba, Basongora and Banyabindi in Kasese, Bundibugyo and Ntoroko districts, has been explained as a consequence of ethnic and cultural differences, an explanation that I problematize. This explanation naturalizes these 'tribes' (ethnic groups) and ignores the history that created tribe as a political identity and the current political realities that reproduce this political identity and worsen the polarization of society. My project examines how the Ugandan state is responding to the historical legacy of the politicization of tribe and how this response is escalating the conflict. I will know my findings are valid if they are free from the faults identified the existing thematic and place-specific debates on the drivers of political violence in Africa, Uganda and the Rwenzori.