Why govt should pay the Buganda debt

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OPINION

By Baker Ssejjengo

In his Easter message, the Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, came out loud and bold on leadership and development.

The Kabaka started by decrying the recent deaths of Ugandans due to avoidable city floods. People should not be dying because of the incompetence and negligence of their leaders!

He further emphasised the need for hard work among his subjects, pointing out the revamped coffee industry that has seen many people smile again after some bumper harvests and accrued gains.

However, the Kabaka was more emphatic about the unfulfilled promises by the central government, especially concerning returned properties as per the agreement between the Kabaka of Buganda and the President in 2013.

It is on record that the government of Uganda owes Buganda kingdom the largest amount of money compared to other entities/institutions in the country. But year-on-year, it is increasingly becoming frustrating that government to allocate lots of money for compensation to other entities, but rarely to Buganda kingdom.

For instance, in the sh71 trillion budget for this financial year (2025/2026), government has allocated billions of shillings for compensations, but none of it is going to Buganda.

According to available records, government owes Buganda more than sh700b, most of which is in rent arrears on land and buildings occupied by government entities across the kingdom.

When government returned Buganda’s properties [1993 and 2013] that had been confiscated by the Obote and Amin regimes, the attorney general advised all government agencies and local governments occupying Kingdom properties to either pay rent or obtain leases.

Unfortunately, very few have heeded this advice, with many still utilising the said properties without paying a single coin. Entities such as district headquarters, sub-county headquarters, magistrate courts, military installations, police stations, among others, are pre-dominantly housed at Buganda Kingdom premises. On the other hand, even properties where the government is directly responsible for paying compensation have not been cleared!

This unfortunate trend ought to be sorted.

Buganda is not asking for this money to ‘eat’ it. But rather, this is one of the limited sources of income for the kingdom (since it doesn’t collect any taxes) that can be used to implement its strategic objectives.

Buganda has ably demonstrated that they are a well organised entity and can ably contribute to national development in all sectors. With limited resources, the kingdom provides education bursaries to more than 1,000 learners every year under the Kabaka Education Fund.

In health, the kingdom has been at the forefront of fighting against a number of diseases such as Sickle cell, Fistula and HIV/Aids through the annual Kabaka Birthday Run. In the past few years, the kingdom embarked on building Heath Centre IVs in every county, and the first one was launched this year in Ssingo. Many more are under construction.

On the agricultural front, Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga has been very instrumental in rejuvenating the coffee sector through the Emwanyi Terimba campaign that has seen many people register bumper harvests and meaningful gains. The kingdom has started distributing tractors to all counties to further support agriculture.

All these and more projects are pro-people and pro-development.

What Buganda wants from government is to get what rightly belongs to it. If the kingdom has managed to successfully execute the said projects with minimal resources, we believe more can be done if government paid what it owes.

President Museveni and his government did the noble thing and returned Buganda’s properties. The attorney general did his role and advised government agencies on how to proceed about the said properties.

It is, therefore, very crucial for responsible agencies to start prioritising this matter. As the young generation, we appreciate that the time is now for us to take the mantle of protecting and promoting Buganda’s interests.

As the electioneering period draws closer, our eyes and ears are open. We will support and work with those who have Buganda's interests at heart. We further urge all qualifying young people to take on leadership positions. The Kabaka dedicated his leadership to the youth; let us not fail him! 

The writer is the chairperson of Buganda Youth Council

bakerssejjengo8@gmail.com