How to defuse Bakonzo,Bamba differences

Jul 22, 2012

In my Tuesday commentary on the Bakonzo-Bamba clashes, I dissected the Bamba, Bakonzo conflict and identified the factors causing the clashes. They included:

By Swizen Kyomuhendo

In my Tuesday commentary on the Bakonzo-Bamba clashes, I dissected the Bamba, Bakonzo conflict and identified the factors causing the clashes. They included:

Long standing disrespect of the cultural sovereignty of the Bamba and other diverse nationalities in Bundibugyo by the Bakonzo and their Rwenzururu Cultural Institution;

Recent calculated moves by His Majesty Mumbere to annex the entire Rwenzori region, hoisting fl ags, planting trees and building shrines;

 A new scramble and partition of Uganda among cultural kings to expand their geopolitical spaces and opportunities for levying loyalties from natural resources to sustain kingdom activities, totally based on economic selfinterest;

Incapacity of local district leadership to envision the economic intentions underlying the Obusinga expansionist drive; and their preoccupation with how to win Bakonzo votes come the next election;

Unresolved quest for a separate Bughendera district, to be curved out of Bundibugyo; an agitation that has taken tribal lines and has overshadowed genuine arguments to increase accessibility and services to people;

Misunderstanding of the linkage, or the lack of it, between Rwenzururu as a defunct armed rebellion by Bamba and Bakonzo during the 1960s and the current Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu as a kingdom.

As a result, the Bamba, Babwisi and other nationalities have made suggestions towards restoration of peace and tranquility.

First His Majesty Mumbere should not impose or compel his Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu on them. He should dismantle the shrine he constructed in Bwamba County and to avoid future clashes, he should consider the recent visit to Bundibugyo as king to be his last.

Let me make a few suggestions that might not necessarily refl ect the collective position of the Bamba and other anti- Obusinga groups.

First, King Mumbere should recognize the cultural sovereignty of other nationalities in the Rwenzori region. I do not foresee a possibility of the Bamba and other nationalities recognizing him as their King. 

This way Mumbere will guarantee peaceful co-existence of his subjects in Bundibugyo and elsewhere. Not all the places where the king’s subjects exist become part of his kingdom. If this were the case, Bundibugyo, like other multi-ethnic communities, would have hundreds of flags and shrines of different kings.

For the case of the land where Mumbere has constructed a shine, symbolic of authority, he could construct a decent house, like many of us have done in different parts of this country. 

Mumbere was born in Bundibugyo and the land on which the contested shine stands is his grandparents’ land.

In Buziga in Kampala where I live, the King of Tooro also has a home. All of us, including King Oyo, in a sense, become Basajja ba Kabaka while in

Buganda. Some of us have certificates and respectfully attend various kingdom functions. But we do not hoist our flags everywhere.

The scramble for economic fortunes or loyalties from natural resources by cultural institutions is partly a creation of the Government. The Government has a role to play to offer further guidance to the country regarding kingdoms or cultural institutions. The proliferation of numerous kingdoms could turn ugly unless properly regulated.

The old kingdoms such as Buganda have some resources to offer to their subjects. The recently mushrooming kingdoms are struggling.

Soon the Bamba and Babwisi in Bundibugyo and numerous other groups in Uganda will form kingdoms. Already the Sabaruli, Sabanyala, Sabamooli and others have emerged and all will demand loyalties from Local Governments, private companies and the Central Government. 

Since these are public funds, the Government will also demand accountability and value for money audit and many kings will face the Anti- Corruption Court.

In the case of Mupalya, the surviving Rwenzururu veteran who would have given the protagonists more light and guidance, I suggest he takes time to recollect his mind and advise the new generation well.

Some of the kingdom supporters insist that the three leaders of the Rwenzururu uprising in the 1960s agreed to form a kingdom with Mukirani, father to Mumbere, as their head. Unfortunately, both Mukirani and Kawamara passed on.

No document or other kind of evidence has been shared to show that such understanding was ever reached.

The Bamba know that the late Kawamara was apt, purposeful and highly motivated to preserve the separate identity of his people; he could never allow his people to get out of the jaws of the Tooro oligarchy only to hand them over to the Bakonzo kingdom. 

Those insinuating that a metamorphosis of the Rwenzururu uprising into a kingdom was agreed upon, with a Mukonjo as the king, are simply being disrespectful of the late Kawamara.

Back to Bundibugyo, I hope the current local district leadership will stand above parochial political interests and obscurantism. Leaders have a cardinal role to properly guide their people, to have a vision, and to protect the common good.

Communities should be mobilized to engage with their leaders to understand the Obusinga Question, and to make informed choices. The youth should not be confused into believing that everyone will reap fortunes from a cultural institution such as Obusinga. It is not wise to build institutions based on deceit.

The press has also alluded to some individuals in Bundibugyo taking advantage of the simmering confl ict to gain political points during the next general election.

This is simply diversionary. Except perhaps in Bughendera County which has the majority as Bakonzo and, by default, sworn subjects of Obusinga, being pro-Obusinga or anti-Obusinga in Bundibugyo brings no comparative advantage to any aspirant.

In fact, the contestants that won the previous elections were not those that had positioned themselves as pro-Obusinga candidates. The people of Bundibugyo have matured quite considerably, are able to discern issues, and demand accountability, if the last election offers any lessons to prospective 2016 candidates.

Lastly, I challenge and also invite my colleagues in Bundibugyo, Kasese and elsewhere for further intellectual engagement. Threats to each other are a sign of ideological bankruptcy.

Let us reason maturely in the discourses surrounding Obusinga in Bundibugyo and be truthful in this engagement. We can sustainably co-exist as a unit while respecting diversity in culture, sect, and gender and so on.

On a personal note, I hope sanity returns quickly so that my Mukonzo house help reconsiders her job and my Mukiga wife enjoys a quiet slumber. It is not their crime to live with me.

As for my case, I am simply immune to threats from anonymous cowards. We can as well meet in heaven or hell. Most probably we may not even meet since we could end up in different places.

Over to my colleagues, the sworn subjects of Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu.

 

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