President Yoweri Museveni has urged kingdoms and traditional institutions to focus on unity for prosperity and strategic security, saying any institution that opposes such will be fought.

According to the President, kingdoms and traditional institutions should be at the forefront of mobilising the people to cause socio-economic transformation of the people.

The President made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting with Rwenzururu King (Omusinga) Charles Wesley Mumbere and his wife, Nyabaghole Agnes Ithungu Asimawe, at State House, Entebbe. The revelations are contained in a statement issued by the President's media team on Wednesday evening.

“These institutions [kingdoms/traditional] are good if they are handled well. When I met Kabaka [Muwenda] Mutebi [of Buganda] in London in 1981, I told him that I will support kingdoms if they focus on unity for prosperity and unity for strategic security. So, if your kingdoms can support that, then we shall support them. If they oppose it, we shall fight them,” Museveni said.

He informed the Omusinga, who moved with some of his cabinet members, that the Government restored Kingdoms to allow traditional leaders to mobilise and cause socio-economic transformation of the people through, among others universal education and ensuring that everybody joins the money economy.

Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere speaks during the meeting at State House Entebbe

He added that his government cannot make any mistake of abandoning its historical mission.

“I’m very glad to see that the Kingdom [Rwenzururu] now has taken a new path and I congratulate you because we didn’t have to have an irreversible showdown because there’s no way we can abandon the principles of the NRM,” Museveni added.

Call for oneness

About culture and heritage, President Museveni called upon traditional leaders to emphasize the oneness of the kingdoms other than their differences because most of the people are interlinked.

“When I am in many of these areas, I don’t need a translator, I can hear everything directly. And besides, we have [Ki]swahili, which is a Bantu language, which unites not only East Africa but also in Congo and its part of our heritage,” Museveni said.

Background

The Omusinga was arrested on November 27, 2016, with 220 others when the army and the police jointly raided his Buhikira palace in Kasese town in what the then commander of 2nd Division, Lt. Gen. Peter Elweru said was aimed at stopping acts of terrorism.  

Despite being granted bail in February 2017, the Omusinga, his former prime minister and six juveniles continued to report to the International Crimes Division of the High Court at Kololo on a monthly basis and their movements were restricted only to Kampala, Wakiso and Jinja districts.

The Omusinga and his group were charged with over 40 counts, including terrorism, treason, murder, being found in possession of illegal firearms which are a monopoly of the armed forces, and, attempted murder.

However, early this year, the Omusinga and his co-accused applied for amnesty. On June 13, 2023, the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped all the charges against the king and all his co-accused saying the state had lost interest in the case.

The Amnesty Commission has since issued certificates of amnesty to 138 former Rwenzururu Kingdom royal guards with a strong warning to them to guard against committing fresh criminal acts.

Government to construct kingdom palace

President Museveni assured the kingdom that the Government will in the new financial year embark on the work of constructing the Kingdom palace in Kasese and also improve monthly allowances given to the kingdoms.

“The reason why politicians refused to increase allowances for Kingdoms was that some of them make a mistake of taking sides in politics. And this is of course very dangerous,” Museveni said.

The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for ICT and National Guidance Godfrey Kabbyanga Baluku, deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuuzi and several ministers from the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu.