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Thirty-one years ago, this week there were big celebrations in Buganda. It is when Ronald Mutebi was crowned 39th Kabaka on July 31, 1993 and his kingdom was reborn.

Also, this week, it was 39 years since President Apollo Milton was toppled for the second time by the army on July 27, 1985.

The overthrow of Obote greatly contributed to the enthronement of Mutebi. Had he stayed in power, Mutebi would not be Kabaka of Buganda in Uganda. The Buganda Kingdom would not be a functioning cultural institution that impacts Uganda’s politics today.

Before his coronation, Mutebi was living in Britain having been taken there at the age of 11 after his father Kabaka Edward Mutesa was forced into exile by Obote in a power struggle.

At Independence, Mutesa and Obote were allies as they took over the affairs of Uganda after the end of colonial rule as President and Prime Minster respectively.

Obote had worked out his way into an alliance with the Kabaka with his party Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) and Buganda’s Kabaka Yekka (KY), which formed government in 1962.

The 1962 Constitution recognised the special status of Buganda in Uganda and elevated it to create a state within a state. This was later to become a source of conflict between the Buganda Kingdom and the Uganda government.

The first constitution amendment in 1963 paved the way for the election of Mutesa as a ceremonial president. Obote, the executive prime minister was head of state. He, however, wooed the KY MPs to cross to UPC, killing the alliance and in the ensuing political manoeuvres dismissed the President, abrogated the Constitution, and assumed the post of executive president, triggering the 1966 crisis. This was a coup of sorts – the Prime Minister had toppled the President.

By sacking Mutesa, Obote had in effect launched a war against Buganda and its people. Their bid to protest and resist was met with heavy firepower.

Government forces raided Lubiri (Kabaka’s Palace) in Kampala, killed hundreds, arrested thousands and declared a state of emergency in Buganda.

This gave rise to bad relations between Buganda and the central government. From then, the Baganda were apprehensive of the Government and feared it had bad intentions, including whipping out the kingdom. The feeling still exists today.

The Kabaka narrowly escaped and found his way to Britain through Rwanda. He died in 1969 under suspicious circumstances, as a loner and away from his kingdom, which angered the Baganda. Their Kabaka had not only been exiled, but humiliated and treated as a commoner, a sacrilege in a kingdom built around the 14th century and became the nucleus that birthed Uganda.

At the time his father was forced into exile, Mutebi was 11 years old. He was taken to Britain where attended school, as he grew the hope of succeeding his father was dim. The politics back in Uganda didn’t offer any prospects of restoring the kingdoms, especially Buganda. Obote and his UPC had declared Uganda a republic in the 1967 Constitution annulling kingdoms in the process. It was a closed matter.

There was a glimmer of hope in 1971 when Obote was toppled by the army and then Maj. Gen. Idi Amin took over as President. To court the Baganda, in about two months in power, he organised the repatriation of Mutesa’s body and accorded him a decent burial befitting a Kabaka and also a former President. It was a grand national ceremony — state, religious and cultural rituals were performed and he was interred in Kasubi Royal Tombs. The Baganda grieved, but forgave Amin who had led the troops that stormed the palace.

Then Prince Mutebi attended the burial and was photographed with Amin, who was not ready to allow the return of kingdoms. He even declared Uganda under his reign as the ‘Second Republic’ a firm statement against kingdoms and their heads.

Mutebi returned in August 1974, for the burial of his mother. Later in 1985, he was in Luwero Triangle, a war zone, under the control of the National Resistance Army (NRA) led by Yoweri Museveni, now President of Uganda.

Museveni and his group of fighters launched a war against the Government on February 6, 1981 after the controversial 1980 elections.

The polls allowed the return of Obote to power. Buganda’s memories of how he mistreated their Kabaka and the kingdom were still fresh. They feared the worst so they joined the war.

Also, Mutebi supported the war efforts mobilising the Baganda to enroll. He had assurance from Museveni that the Buganda Kingdom would be restored. After the war in 1986, he returned to Uganda.

On April 3, 1992 the Army Council, then a powerful decision-making body on the direction of politics in the country agreed to the proposal to restore kingdoms. Several were opposed to it, especially the return of the Buganda Kingdom.

They cited Buganda as a protagonist in the 1966 crisis which reverberates throughout Uganda’s history. Arguing that kingdoms would be a prelude to the repeat of past mistakes, they said no. But President Museveni prevailed, kingdoms were restored and Mutebi was crowned in 1993.

The ceremony confirmed that though Obote abolished the kingdoms and desecrated Buganda, the culture and traditions were not erased. At Naggalabi, Budo all rites to crown the Kabaka came to life as was in ancient times.

Had Obote remained in power, it is unlikely that Mutebi would be Kabaka today.

If Buganda had not pressed for the restoration of the kingdom, no other cultural institution would have been revived. Also, communities that didn’t have such institutions would not have them today.

X: @dmukholi1