Lwembe is the greatest of the Nyakyusa divine kings and the founding hero of the chiefly lines of the lower valley. Primarily a ritual figure rather than a wielder of secular power, he commands rain and the fertility of land and people, and his living heir bore his name and his vitality. His cult centred on the grove of Lubaga, where a great python was held to be his manifestation; a priest kept a night vigil there, sheltering in a wicker cage, and was licked by the serpent. When the powers of the reigning Lwembe were seen to fail he was, by tradition, put to death so that his vitality should not be carried into the grave. He is counted among the four divine brothers who came from Ukinga.