By John Kakande

THE provision in the Constitutional Amendment Bill for a directly-elected Katikkiro of Buganda, has generated a great deal of debate. Members of the Buganda Lukiiko at Mengo are divided, with some opposing the provision.

The Mengo leadership, however, insists that it is not totally opposed to a directly-elected Katikkiro. But Mengo says it wants a committee of clan leaders to vet candidates vying for the post of the Katikkiro.
The Bill (regional tier), now awaiting ratification by the district councils, provides that a regional government shall be led by a directly-elected chairperson.

The Bill does not explicitly state that a leader of the regional government in Buganda must be designated as Katikkiro, but it provides that a regional government will be free to ‘adopt its own name.’ It has been taken for granted that the Buganda regional assembly will be called Lukiiko and the regional leader designated as the Katikkiro. The truth is that Mengo has no obligation to turn the Buganda regional assembly into Lukiiko or to designate the regional leader as the Katikkiro. The regional assembly and government don’t even have to be based at Bulange.’

It took government and Mengo months to agree on the regional tier. Although Mengo says it has no problem with a directly-elected Katikkiro, many in the Kingdom, including in Lukiiko are apprehensive about the proposed regional government. In his article published in The New Vision on September 29, titled: ‘Can Buganda have an elected Katikkiro?’ Peter Mulira argued that “the proposed regional tier is a central government structure in the form of LC6, which cannot embrace a local cultural norm and to suggest that the Kabaka will hand-over Ddamula to an LC6 chairman will simply represent an empty act. It is a sham the Kabaka should not get involved in.” Some Buganda politicians including MP Ken Lukyamuzi have threatened to boycott Katikkiro elections.

Hullabaloo about an elected Katikkiro is surprising. The proposal for clan leaders to vet candidates for the position of the Katikkiro is ridiculous. The impression that has been created that the Katikkiro has always been handpicked by the Kabaka is utterly false and misleading.

The Katikkiro, by the time monarchies were abolished in 1967, was not handpicked by the Kabaka but elected by the Lukiiko .

The 1962 Constitution provided for the election of the Katikkiro and other Mengo ministers. It also gave powers to the Lukiiko to elect the Kabaka. Former Katikkiro Mayanja Nkangi, who got 68 votes, defeated two rivals – Masembe Kabali and C.M.S. Kisosonkole.

The newspapers at the time said there was tension inside and outside Bulange before the elections and that the Kabaka Yekka (KY) candidate was not Mayanja Nkangi, but Masembe-Kabali who was trounced.

I appreciate the fears of the Buganda clan leaders as well as people like Mulira and Lukyamuzi.

Under the Regional Tier Bill, a person is eligible for election as a regional government chairperson, if he is a citizen of Uganda “one whose parents or grandparents is or was a resident in the region and a member of the indigenous communities existing and residing within the borders of the region as at the first day of February 1926.”

This provision implies, among other things, that a person doesn’t necessarily have to be a Muganda to vie for the post of Katikkiro. Even a woman could, in principle, become a Katikkiro.

In July last year, I warned that fusing the kingdom structures and regional government was bound to create serious complications. I argued that the Buganda monarchy should remain a distinct institution with its Lukiiko and Katikkiro.

I stated that, under a multiparty system, it was dangerous to fuse a monarchical institution with a regional government that is elected and operates along partisan politics. Mengo rejected creation of a separate monarchical Lukiiko existing side by side with a directly-elected regional assembly and government.

I think Mengo never fully understood the implications of fusing the monarchical institution into the proposed regional government.

jkakande@newvision.co.ug