Why former Mengo prime ministers should apologise

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OPINION

By Ssalongo Muwada Namwanja, Masuliita

As Baganda and supporters of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, we were disturbed and disappointed by the much-respected prominent figures in Buganda kingdom, including former prime ministers, clan leaders and elders. These visited one of the candidates in the race, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, the president of the National Unity Platform (NUP) at the beginning of the 2025/2026 presidential campaigns.

The visit to Kyagulanyi’s home in Magere, Wakiso district, on September 28, 2025, was calculated to boost his political agenda and the next day, he launched his presidential campaign programme in Busoga.  The delegation was headed by former Katikkiro, Joseph Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogere, Dan Muliika, who has been a strong critic of the NRM government, and former cabinet minister Israel Mayengo and the head of the Mbogo (buffalo) clan, Kayiira Gajuule, among others.

Mulwanyamuli, on behalf of the delegation, handed to Kyagulanyi a symbolic shield with the Uganda emblem and a spear, in a way endorsing him on behalf of the people of Buganda, as their candidate and their next President.

This was a big blunder and annoying. First, these respected elders presented themselves as representing the Kingdom, and this would be interpreted as openly calling the people of Buganda to rally behind Kyagulanyi. It hurt us as NRM supporters seeing these prominent elders dining with a candidate, who later boasted on his X (Formerly Twitter) account that the visit had energised him as he moved to launch his campaign.

This was a big blunder and a betrayal of the kingdom lovers and loyalists, whether supporters of NUP or NRM. It was also portrayed as if our kingdom had officially entered the political race. Politically, our elders betrayed our respect for them, the trust and loyalty we had for them, yet they did not represent the Buganda kingdom administration at all. 

Out of this visit, Kyagulanyi anticipated that he would reap big from this endorsement.

The people of Buganda ignored these elders, and President Museveni beat NUP in Buganda and went ahead to win the election with a big margin.

What lesson do we learn from this? First, we must commend our voters in Buganda for ignoring the elders and forming their own opinion and voting for the NRM.

During elections leading to independence, a group of Baganda politicians influenced the Kabaka, Sir Edward Mutesa, to make an alliance with the Uganda People’s Congress led by Dr Milton Obote and defeated the Democratic Party led by Ben Kiwanuka. Although the Kabaka was appointed President, Obote later turned against him, attacked Lubiri, forcing him into exile. The Kabaka advisors regretted the move to form an alliance with Obote, who had a hidden agenda.

This cost us as Buganda because Obote abolished the monarchies in Uganda, and it was after 20 years that President Museveni reinstated cultural institutions. 

Surprisingly, it was a Muganda, Godfrey Binaisa, who was Obote’s attorney general, who changed the 1966 constitution that abolished kingdoms. We also know that when Idi Amin overthrew Obote, he agreed to return Mutesa’s body, but some Baganda elders caused a lot of confusion, as Amin, who allowed them, was not involved. We must remember that from the beginning, President Museveni desired to fulfil his pledge to return the Kabaka, although some members of his military high command, including some Baganda, opposed the idea.

But Gen. Museveni insisted because he saw that the people of Buganda who had helped him in winning the bush war had a strong love for Kabakaship.

It was Gen. Museveni who also agreed to return most of the Buganda kingdom property that was in the hands of the central government, including Lubiri palace and Bulange, the official administrative seat of Mengo.

During the 1996 elections, some Bganda who had served in the Movement government, led by Paul Ssemogerere, turned around and contested against Museveni. In addition, they tried to negatively taint President Museveni as anti-Buganda.

Again, in the 2001 election, some elders from Mengo came up and openly supported the opposition, which sharply divided and confused the Baganda who were loyal to the Kabaka.

Some elders with their own interests mobilised people to support Nasser Ntege Ssebaggala and later Dr Kizza Besigye. The confusion it created compelled the Kabaka to sack Katikkiro Dan Muliika because of his open criticism of the NRM government and his allegiance towards the opposition.

It was again surprising that some Baganda youths protested against the Kabaka for sacking Muliika and staged a demonstration at Bulange. We must learn from history to avoid such people who mislead us. That is why many of us were disturbed by the elders' move, including Mulwanyamuli and Muliika, who had already made similar blunders.

Buganda, as a region, is core to the NRM’s coming to power and its success, and must avoid making mistakes that can depict us as against the ruling government. 

Such elders and others with similar sentiments should change and retire from active politics and restrict themselves to cultural matters only. These elders normally front reasons like the NRM’s failure to grant Buganda a federo system of government, but these demands are now outdated in the current era. Their approach to these demands is wrong; they must instead work with the ruling government and form lobby groups to front their demands instead of identifying with groups that insult the President.

The former Katikkiros should also stop pretending to influence the people of Buganda on critical matters, especially during campaigns.

They should leave these matters to the current Katikiro, Charles Peter Mayiga, the Kabaka mandated to speak for the Kingdom. They lived their time and were retired; they should avoid trying to influence critical matters on behalf of the kingdom.

Kyagulanyi promised people a new promised land, and some believed him. People like Ntege Ssebaggala, Dr Kizza Besigye, Gen. David Sejusa, and Amama Mbabazi got big support from Buganda because they promised heaven and earth, but they failed, and some, like Mbabazi, returned to the  NRM, leaving them disappointed.

We highly commend Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga for remaining aloof in politics that divides the people and for carefully choosing his statements during the political campaigns.

That is why I appeal to Gen. Museveni to change his position about Buganda. The Mengo administration, under Katikkiro Mayiga, is positive and has kept away from elective politics. We, the NRM supporters, are happy that Mayiga did not endorse the elders’ endorsement of NUP.

Mayiga has instead been emphasising development matters, especially growing coffee under his programme, Emmwanyi Terimba, which is also a government programme that is fully financed by President Museveni.

Finally, we should assess the impact of a group of Bataka, who are mainly chiefs, clan leaders and some royal members, who approached President Museveni asking for land and an office.

The president agreed to their request and brought them land at Bulange and dedicated billions of money to build them a complex for their offices.

In return, we anticipated that they would come out during the last campaigns to throw their weight behind the NRM. They did not. Nowhere did we see any of them issuing a statement in support. Now, what impact did they bring to the NRM? First, they act independently of the Kabaka, and to us, this is being disloyal to the Kabaka and the kingdom.

Our interest as NRM supporters is to see the Kabaka in a good working relationship with the ruling NRM, not a few Bataka who aim at weakening the throne.

We are, therefore, appealing to the President to change his strategy as we move towards 2031. We need him to revive his relationship with the Kabaka because the people of Buganda love him, and this will give us a comfortable lead, instead of promoting cliques that undermine the Kabaka’s authority.

The Kabaka and his administration at Mengo are still influential on the people of Buganda. The kingdom has come up with various programmes that are benefiting ordinary people in the fields of healthcare, agriculture and others. As NRM supporters, we long to see support from the central government going straight to Kabaka.

The writer is NRM supporter from Masulita