By Dr G.H. Kkolokolo ( Paris / France)
A lot of news is spreading like forest fire everywhere, especially abroad, regarding Buganda’s very much loved monarch, His Majesty Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II reported recovering in Namibia and very eagerly wanted back to his Kingdom where his long absence is a subject of very deep concern by the entire Bugandan population and that of the country on a whole. In his absence many things are taking place in his Kingdom and these issues are causing pain to the Kabaka in his Namibian sejourn. Just as they are a thorn in every Muganda’s flesh. Such issues articulate around the Kabaka’s personality; the affliction purposely created on the Baganda as a good number of them are unjustly and barbariously evicted from their bibanjas with residences pulled down with graders without notice; the cowardly action by some clan leaders acting without formal and official approval from the buganda relevant authority ; the continued detention and torture of Baganda youths in torture chambers; and the overall sentiment of worry and immediate concern as expressed by the targetted tribe of Buganda, etc….
Loose and irresponsible shallow talk about the Kabaka is drifting from his recovery programme to a possible deportation within Namibia. Deportation? What crime did he commit ? His immense popularity in the country or a programmed absence to give room to the desecration of his Kingdom and to the enslavement of his subjects?
Abroad, we hear talk about a secret project to evict the Baganda from many areas of Buganda and to camp them is make-shift centres after having taken away their land, much of it has of late been given to them by the Kabaka. Making the people of Buganda live like vagabonds in their Kingdom is a thing which will be totally unacceptable and it will be fought with bountiful energy and unstoppable vigour. In more or less the same way the entire nation is very strongly supportive of those poor humble citizens whose houses are being destroyed by NEMA graders on the pretext of giving room to a clean environment. By the way, is it really NEMA behind these operations around Kampala in areas such as Lubigi, Kasubi, etc. or it’s a batch of greedy people who will one day take over those places and use the tax-payer’s money to set up commercials and other types of enterprises? Has anybody a right to pull down someone’s residence without first giving an explanation and a compensation for removal and eventual settlement in good due time elsewhere ? To fight any kind of injustice pertaining to this type of open crime the
population has a full right to oppose, by any means at hand, any such operation wherever it is being carried out.
Fellow Ugandans, please, don’t accept losing your house in such a very dirty silly operation. The whole idea behind is just greed. It’s only the poor people who are subjected to such injustice. Because they have no defence.
Businesses and enterprises belonging to any big shot haven’t been touched and they are safely kept purely intact although they are situated in those same wetlands. There is also tribalism at work. The authorities are reportedly harbouring the intention of reducing the number of Baganda and other aimable natives from Kampala Metroplitan area and bring in their people who will be a pond of special loyalty towards the strangthening of the regime and all its atrocities which are now very sharply condemned in all corners of the globe. The world is very bitterly and vehemently opposed to the ill-treatment given to the innocent youths imprisoned without trial in inhumane conditions. Some of these young compatriots have been in prison for two / three / four years. The regime fears a legal argument that will submit to a no case to answer…. And they have no way of avoiding it. That’s why they very systematically send these innocent youths to a military tribunal. Very silly cowardly act! Fear factor has always led the regime to political errors which they will continue to regret just as they now continually regret having politically enabled Mityana Municipality MP, Oweekitiibwa Hon Francis Butebi Zaake, to shape a very brilliant political career which has turned him into one of the most feared Ugandan politicians in Parliament…
And recently they unjustly arrested blogger Faustine Masaaba, only to witness a big current drifting away from NRM all over Bugishu and the eastern region. On Uganda’s political chase-board Masaaba might be comparable to a pawn threatening a self-styled absolute king. These pro-people politicians are indeed a big threat somewhere and the regime itself has to fear them.Just as in the same way it’s worried of the impact created by the Kabaka’s profile whether in good health in Uganda or in bad health abroad. Many other things are going on to underrate his authority. There was, for example, a meeting organized between some Buganda clan heads and the President at State House. Of course State House was veryè happy to receive these Baganda elders and good packs of money were given to them, in addition from land near the Bulange, Buganda’s administrative seat. What surprises is the fact that these elders went there without any ground knowledge of the Katikkiro and without any serious backing from Buganda. Of course Museveni promised to help them travel to Namibia to see the Kabaka. But now a few questions need solid answers from those elders. One, have they any right to meet the President without getting any greenlight from either the Kabaka himself or his Prime Minister ? What was the point of asking for land in Buganda from Museveni when all land in Buganda is nominally, under tradition, a thing which is concretely in the hands of the Kabaka ? Buganda’s land, including the disputed part of the remaining 9.000 square miles wrongly held by the state, is supposed to be under the authority of the Kabaka. Nobody can distribute this land without any knowledge of the Kabaka or his Katikkiro. So, through these elders, an opening is now clear for open interference with the Kabaka’s traditional authority over the Buganda clan system and over the position of the Kabaka and his successors in his Kingdom. Money and other influences extended to the elders could one day prove to be detrimental to the kabakaship and to the kingdom.It’s now the big time for the elders to reflect very deeply on their true traditional rôle which places them under the full authority of the Kabaka. The very same kind of admonition can be proposed to the Buganda royals to desist from any kind of unwanted influence that may at times tend to push them toward any realms that marginalize and create insults etc against the person of the Kabaka. The Kabaka is very far above Buganda royalty because he’s the embodiment of Buganda Kingdom in all and in every aspect relating to the kingdom’s origins, its present status, and its future aspiration. Without a kabaka there is no Buganda Kingdom and there is no Buganda as such in all its historical, cultural, and developmental axis. Buganda royals and clan heads must be on the alert for suspicious manœuvres probably soon in the offing.
Manoeuvre number one, that’s the very big rumour and exaggeration on the Kabaka’s state of health. This talk privileges a Kabaka suffering from an acute mental derangement. Clumsy minds seize the occasion to almost call for his replacement. A very silly proposal !! If Kabaka Mutebi II is mentally ill it’s because he is very strongly affected by many sad happenings in his kingdom, just like any person in Buganda is equally affected. Mutebi has already shown how the Kabakaship is denied power to act. Crucial matters bring worry to the Kabaka, namely the incessant detentions of young Baganda, land matters (including unpunished grabbing), the regular spoliation taking place at Buganda’s royal tombs and shrines, the eviction of his subjects from their land, the dire economic conditions in which his subjects live, political uncertainty, the threat to take over the royal palace at Mmengo and the neighbouring Kabaka’s lake, the now quasi-impossible negotiation on Buganda’s 9.000 square miles of land which the British handed back to the Kabaka at independence and which have systematically been seized by the various regimes that have taken power since independence, ETC… Therefore any sensible person in Buganda has just got to pray for the Kabaka to get to full recovery. In these moments the Kabaka needs prayer and not any kind of shallow cheap talk inspiring from immature reasonging that draws argument from a senseless imbizo. Manoeuvre number two, this concerns a proposal to initiate a policy of imposing an elected Kabaka on Buganda!
This is very contrary to the very much effective tradition of ensuring a very popular and peaceful transition from Kabaka to Kabaka through a hereditary succession. Nobody must accept a politically elected Kabaka. A Kabaka is succeeded by a son who is apparently elected through the norms recommended by tradition. The lineage must be correctly followed and maintained. A Kabaka elected via norms pertaining to political manœuvres will cater less for the responsibilities tied to his position. Such a Kabaka will be an insult to Ganda tradition and will look very cheap as a mupakasi owing loyalty and service to an ordinary boss. And he will not be easily accessible to people. Tradition must be respected and it’s the duty of the ruling authorities to give an example tending to this respect. The constitution must respect and protect all traditional trends pegged to the Kabakaship.
The independence constitution ( 1962 ) specified very clearly the position of the Kabaka in his Kingdom with a clause that singled out an important aspect, that was the fact that in the Kabaka’s kingdom no person should take precedence over the Kabaka. This globally drove to the protection of Buganda’s traditional institutions such as land, etc… And the people must benefit from this by feeling that they are amply well-protected together with their property. What’s going on now under the so-called environment cleansing operations by NEMA is total crime!
Pulling to the ground a person’s residence at probably no notice and telling that person to move away and relocate elsewhere is just pure idiocy ! Have these people been given any financial means to relocate and to establish new homes ? Isn’t this a very great sense of shame to Africa where marginalization at times continues to stand above ordinary common sense ? As Ugandans, these people have a right to a subsidy to help them reduce much of their pain in the wake of the NEMA exercise. Tax-payer’s money ( and these people have also been regular tax-payers) can be correctly spent on this exercise. Some of the billions of shillings promised to the clan leaders would find a very meaningful sense in coming to the aid of these people. And hats off to all those Ugandans in the country and in the diaspora who are solidly coming in aid to these humble people who now need all of us to their rescue, protection, defence, and solidarity. No and no to the continued injustice against our beloved poor citizens. To hell with any dirty policy that tends to so openly marginalize our fellow Ugandans. NEMA and others, please, kindly
do revise the moral codes attached to your responsibility in order to act with the expected maturity.
Well, the Kabaka is in Namibia whether on recovery / on treatment / or in an imposed exile as some noises say,
what matters most in these moments is the respect the Kabaka and his people must receive.No NEMA destructive
activity must go on in the absence of the Kabaka who must be formally and officially briefed on why his subjects
are subjected to such very painful operations done at almost a very short notice (or even no notice ) and in total
absence of any financial aid to compensate for the big losses incurred in the exercise. NEMA must also give good
reasons as to why many places in Buganda are being quarried for soil / sand / papyrus, etc… And does Buganda
get any financial benefits out of these activities ? It’s in the same manner that some departments in Mmengo itself
should stand up and give an explanation on the regularly reported sale of Buganda’s property, including land at
a number of cultural sites such as royal tombs and shrines, etc.. I’m sure these are among the very many things
which have brought about worry and pain to the Kabaka since they are also a thorn in the heart of any person in
Buganda.
Pray for the Kabaka, for his Kingdom, and for the country. Fight anything senselessly detrimental to Kabaka
Mutebi’s very excellent image and super high profile that fetches a lot of honour and glory for the country.
Ugandans-At-Heart 