2026 elections: Rwenzururu Kingdom distances self from politics
Baritazale said time and again that the king and the entire institution are non-partisan, as put right by the constitution
OBR premier, Benson Kule Baritazale. (Courtesy)
By Samuel Amanyire
Journalists @New Vision
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The Rwenzururu Kingdom aka Obusinga Bwa’ Rwenzururu (OBR), warned politicians intending to take part in the 2026 general election against using the institution's name or that of King Charles Wesley Mumbere to win voters' hearts.
Speaking to New Vision Online on May 29, 2025, at one of the Kingdom's offices situated in Kasese municipality OBR premier, Benson Kule Baritazale, said those who do so risk facing the courts of law.
"Time and again we have told you that the king and the entire institution are non-partisan as put right by our constitution," Baritazale said.
Baritazale, who added that the kingdom does not stop its subjects or servants from participating in active politics, urged them to formally declare their interests to the leadership of the OBR institution. He urged the kingdom workers to resign before engaging in active politics.
"Even when we set you free to participate in politics, it is against the law if you mention the king's or institution's name during open campaigns," he said.
How politics previously messed the OBR
It is on record that politics is among the issues that led to the 2016 deadly clash between the former OBR royal guards and security operatives, a matter that resulted in the loss of over 100 lives, imprisonment of the king and some of his subjects for close to eight years.
According to ICT state minister Godfrey Kabbyanga, who also once served in the kingdom, some of the then officials in the kingdom picked interest in participating in politics, divided themselves into several camps whose intentions were unknown to each other, then fabricated theories and propaganda about the king and the institution, hence causing tensions.
Re-branded kingdom
Shortly after his release from prison in 2023, Mumbere, with the aid of other leaders, came up with five pillars to build on and cause the necessary development in the entire locality. These include peace, unity, reconciliation, mindset change and socioeconomic transformation.