Is Buganda's sun rising or setting?

true On the occasion of marking 20 years of Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi’s coronation, Apollo Makubuya, the Buganda minister of justice and constitutional affairs, revisits the kingdom’s past and tells us what the future means for Buganda and Uganda.

The sun seemed to set on Buganda Kingdom when former president Dr. Milton Obote attacked the Lubiri in 1966 and ripped apart the 1962 Independence Constitution. When he confiscated Buganda’s land and assets and abolished kingdoms in Uganda in 1967, it looked like it was the end of the ancient kingdom.

In the dark days that followed, it was inconceivable that the kingdom would ever resurrect. Obote and his ilk were determined to obliterate its existence and history.

To achieve this goal, Obote pursued a republican and communist agenda to demonise the kingdom and its supporters. He imposed a long state of emergency in Buganda and detained and harassed anyone who supported the Kabaka.

He wickedly turned the Kabaka’s palace into an army barracks and the kingdom’s seat in Bulange into his army’s headquarters. He callously renamed it “Republic House”. The new occupants at Bulange quickly and mercilessly burnt all the valuable artefacts and records that they could find.

By 1971, when Idi Amin toppled him, Obote’s agenda against Buganda was almost complete and there was a view within the UPC cabal, that a good Muganda was a dead one.

The rise and fall of hope

When Amin overthrew Obote, Buganda celebrated wildly. However, many who thought it was a new dawn for the kingdom, actually missed the fact that Amin did not include the restoration of kingdoms in the 18 reasons he gave for his coup.

He used the euphoria to boost his popularity and within no time he, who had led the attack on the Lubiri five years before, mysteriously raised Buganda’s hopes with the return of Ssekabaka Mutesa II’s body for burial at Kasubi.

Soon after, Baganda elders were quick to present him memoranda, asking for the restoration of kingdoms and the return of Prince Ronald Mutebi, but that remained the least of his concerns.

Like Obote before him, Amin maintained the military occupation of the Kabaka’s Palace at Mengo and Buganda’s headquarters – grotesquely turning them into torture and murder chambers.

Buganda’s fortunes didn’t improve after Amin was overthrown in 1979. This is because the successive regimes of Prof. Yusuf Lule, Godfrey Binaisa and Paulo Muwanga had little or no time to ponder the restoration of Kingdoms in Uganda. Later, Obote returned to burst all hope.

Fight for kingdoms

It was only when armed rebellion started against Obote that talk of the restoration of kingdoms took on a more serious turn.

Guerrilla groups like the Uganda Freedom Movement (UFM) and the Federal Democratic Movement of Uganda (FEDEMU), led by Kayiira, put the restoration of Buganda Kingdom on top of their agenda.

But, unlike FEDEMU and UFM, the National Resistance Army (NRA) did not include the restoration of kingdoms in its ten-point programme.

There is talk that an agreement was struck in Kikunyu, Makulubita in the Luwero bushes for the restoration of the kingdom, although this remains unsubstantiated.

In fact, President Yoweri Museveni has vehemently denied this agreement but, and as everyone knows, Prince Ronald Mutebi, as he was then, was involved in mobilising people in the war zones in Buganda to support the NRA.

Elusive victory

The NRA/NRM won the war of liberation and promised the country a fundamental change in 1986.

However, it took almost eight years for the regime to allow the restoration of traditional leadership in Uganda. Even then, it is reported that there was stiff resistance by the army leadership in restoring the Kabakaship. It is said that Museveni prevailed over his junta to grudgingly have the Kabakaship restored in 1993.

At that point, many in Buganda saw the sun rising in the horizon. And when asked for views on the new constitution, they overwhelmingly demanded for the return of kingdoms and the restoration of a federal system of government.

However, when the new Constitution was promulgated in 1995, Buganda’s views on federalism and restoration of the kingdom, as it existed before the 1966 crisis, were discarded.

Instead, the new law provided for traditional or cultural leaders whose powers were restricted to cultural matters. These leaders were proscribed from exercising any administrative, legislative or executive powers of government or local government.

true
Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga in a Buganda meeting.

The cloud on the sun

In the place of federalism, districts of Buganda or others were given the option to co-operate by way of a charter. Buganda was not happy; the kingdom restored was rather byoya bya nswa! The Buganda Lukiiko passed a resolution rejecting the new Constitution.

In 2004/5, when the Constitution was to be revised, the Katikkiro, Joseph Mulwanyamuli Semwogerere, marshalled thousands of Buganda supporters to tender Buganda’s constitutional aspirations.

But instead, what came out was the regional governments law which was initially welcomed but, on closer scrutiny, was later roundly rejected.

So, a decade after its rebirth, Buganda’s sun was out but a dark cloud was preventing it from shining.

Animosity

And the clouds did not thin out. They became ominously thicker as the seat of the Kabaka and the Mengo protagonists came under constant threat and branding as liars, opportunists and political lepers. For example, in 2007, Buganda’s demand for federalism and the return of confiscated land and assets was a basis of a fierce tug of war and discord between the Central Government and the kingdom of Buganda.

At the height of the animosity surrounding the controversial Land Bill, the Central Government arrested and detained three kingdom officials, including the current Katikkiro, Charles Peter Mayiga.

In addition, a nouveau cultural-cum-political club of kings was created in Buruli and Bugerere to challenge the Kabaka’s authority. This led to the refusal of the Kabaka to visit Buruli and Bugerere.

What followed were the 2009 riots, the closure of the Buganda Kingdom radio station CBS and the arrest of over 500 people, who were detained for three years until they were acquitted of charges ranging from assault to terrorism.

New era but mistrust

Today, the tension between the Central Government and the kingdom of Buganda has somewhat subsided, but there remains a deep mistrust. Buganda nationalism has met reluctance from the Government.

The question is how long will this impasse last? And, what does the future hold for Buganda and Uganda? Will there ever be a congruence of minds or a civic resolution in our lifetime?

The answer lies in the fact that the future of Uganda and that of Buganda are uniquely, even inextricably, interlinked. It is impossible to see one advance without the other. Yet there is no serious and purposeful attempt to have dialogue to resolve the thorny issues. In my view, this dialogue should be chaired by a disinterested party.

Why need for dialogue

History shows that Uganda is a fragile union hurriedly forged by the British before the winds of decolonisation swept over Africa. Its economic and political stability hinges on a need to find a workable alliance between its constituent parts. Agreement on this point has been elusive in the last 50 years.

Past efforts to forcefully impose unity by Obote and others have had disastrous consequences. Clearly, dictatorship on these issues has neither worked in the past, nor will it work in the future.

Way forward

The issues raised by the kingdom of Buganda must be seen and addressed, not just from a political point of view, but also fundamentally, from a constitutional and human rights perspective.

We are talking about constitutionally-guaranteed rights to self-determination; to property; to freedom of movement; to freedom of assembly; to freedom of association and the right of people to be governed through their will and consent. The Government has a constitutional duty to ensure that these concerns are addressed in a fair and sincere manner.

Buganda also needs to take a deep look inward and to think about how best it can unlock its full potential in both political and economic terms.

It needs to convert the love and energy of its people into political and economic capital.

As Prof M. Mamdani has previously pointed out, Buganda needs to discard the mindset of a victimised minority and assume one of a major actor in both political and economic terms. Its full emancipation will require not only an innovative exploitation of its vast human and natural resources, but also a careful streamlining of its administration to make it more efficient and business like.

Besides this, the kingdom will need to address the many disputes within its clan structures particularly their composition and leadership. Intra-clan disputes, when combined with attempted breakaways by certain ethnic groups, will threaten the very foundation and future of the kingdom.

Buganda also needs to reach out and actively engage with other Ugandans on matters of national interest. This will reduce the resentment and suspicions that have piled over the years.

It appears the new leadership at Mengo is well poised to confront these issues. There is every indication that Buganda’s sun is steadily rising and that its best days lie ahead and not behind.

The only catch is that Buganda’s sun will continue to rise only when Uganda’s sun is rising. Unfortunately, as long as the politics at the centre runs out of control, the dark clouds will remain to obstruct the sunshine.

RELATED

As it happened: Buganda 20th coronation event