The Rwenzururu Omusinga (king), Charles Wesley Mumbere, has advised the rebel Allied Democratic Front (ADF) militants to surrender to the governments of either Uganda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to avoid further bloodshed. 

The Omusinga was on November 22, 2023, addressing hundreds of his subjects at Kyanzi ward, Mpondwe-Lhubiriha town council playground in Kasese District, where he launched a tour of the kingdom since his home-coming on October 4, 2023, after nearly seven years of incarceration in Kampala. 

The town council lies on the Uganda-DRC border. 

He was accompanied by the Rwenzururu Nyabaghole, (queen) Agnes Ithungu Asimawe, who said the king’s release was by the power of God. 

“We never knew that this reunion would happen,” she said. 

Omusinga and Queen Ithungu at the nursing school.

She urged the subjects, especially the women, to join hands with her in reviving the Rwenzururu cultural heritage, which she said was under threat by copied practices. 

'No excuse to continue fighting' 

“I’m perturbed by repeated brutality the ADF has continued to commit against our innocent brothers in Ugandan and the DRC,” Mumbere said. 

He asked the rebels to take advantage of the current amnesty to abandon rebellion. 

“If there are any Bakonzo in the ADF, I urge them to heed my advice,” he said. 

Mumbere said in the past, the Bakonzo in the ADF used to claim they were fighting to demand the Rwenzururu kingdom, the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu (OBR). 

“Therefore there is no excuse for them to continue fighting because the OBR was recognised,” he said, asking them to stop “killing their very own Ugandan and Congolese brothers and sisters. 

He lauded President Museveni’s government for restoring cultural and traditional institutions. 

“We shall use our position to lobby the government for better health services and opportunities,” he said. 

Mumbere noted that when a rebel group is aiming at taking over state power, it serves no purpose to attack and kill the very people the group aspires to rule. 

“If the rebels have no purpose for their continued armed attacks on our people on either side of the border, they should surrender,” he said. 

The king also asked both the Uganda and DRC governments to intensify efforts along the common border to safeguard people’s lives and their property, including securing health facilities and schools. 

“This cross-border protection should be day and night to prevent a repeat of that horrible attack,” he said. 

The Omusinga repeated his condolences to the families that lost loved ones and fellow community members in the horrific ADF attack on Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Secondary School in Nyabugando ward in une 2023. 

During the public rally, Omusinga also cautioned collaborators, adding that he also expressed sympathy over the murder of two British tourists and their driver in Queen Elizabeth National Park last month. 

Earlier the Kasese RDC, Lt (rtd) Joe Walusimbi, had implored the king to “help” government “to end the ADF,” but warned that some traitors, locally known as Bakolikoli, were working hard to fail the kingdom rebranding agenda of reconciliation, unity-in-diversity, peace, mind-set change and cultural and socio-economic transformation. 

Mumbere also sympathised with his subjects and the central government upon the loss of lives during the November 2016 clashes between the kingdom and government security agencies that culminated in his arrest with scores of his subjects. 

“It was not necessary to clash because we had no intention to fight government,” he said. 

He revealed that had he not called the overall commander of the operation, Peter Elwelu, to cease fire, more lives would have been lost. 

He reiterated his homecoming and coronation messages of reconciliation, unity in diversity, cultural and socio-economic transformation, peace, and mindset change. 

“We shall work together with security agencies to uproot the cross-border insecurity,” he said. 

Mumbere encouraged more inter-ethnic marriages in the kingdom as part of promoting more unity in diversity. 

He asked government to fulfil its pledge to upgrade Kasese Aerodrome into an international airport. 

Earlier, the Omusinga and the queen visited Bwera School of Nursing and Midwifery where he joined students for photos after their drama group braved a downpour to welcome the royal with traditional dances. 

He also asked government to elevate Bwera District Hospital to regional referral status and equip it to meet the rising medical demands in the area. 

Earlier, the hospital administrator, Clarence Mumbahya, had reported that the decades-old hospital was serving more patients than originally intended. 

Mumbahya also said the hospital lacked an ambulance to ease the transportation of patients. 

The Kasese district chairperson, Erifaz Muhindi, called for collaborated efforts for the development of the kingdom, cautioning against selfish elements. 

Florence Kabugho, the Kasese Woman MP, saluted the Omusinga for clearing her plans to have a monument of the first Rwenzururu king, Isaya Mukirania, erected at the Kasese main roundabout in recognition of the late King’s contributions.