By John Thawite

THE National Political Commissar, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, has said he will fight Charles Wesley Mumbere and the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu (Rwenzu-uru kingdom) until he dies.

He equated him to Joseph Kony, the LRA commander, saying the Rwenzururu war which Mumbere led until 1982 killed many Bakonzo in 1960s, 70s and early 80s.

“If you are a rebel and you surrender, you should repent and not impose yourself on the people as their leader,” Kiyonga said.

“We are not going to allow people who committed atrocities against our people to come and impose themselves as kings.”

Kiyonga, who is also Bukonzo MP, was addressing a rally at Mpondwe Primary School. He said if he failed to defeat the Obusinga through court, he would resort to other means. He did not elaborate the other means.

Kiyonga warned against being taken as a cheap man.

“Being a national commissar is no simple position. If I had become a soldier, I would by now be a Lieute-nant General,” he said.

“I will fight Mumbere using the lowest and highest organs in the country,” he said.

He said he opposed the kingship because during the Rwenzururu war, the Bakonzo did not demand it.

“All documents which the Bakonzo and Bamba presented to the central government indicate that they wanted separate districts which they now have as Kasese and Bundibugyo,” he said.

Kiyonga said a kingdom would be an economic burden to the people and would suppress the other tribes in Kasese and Bundibugyo.

He equated the Rwenzur-uru war to the LRA, saying it killed fellow Bakonzo more than the Batoro.

Mumbere’s spokesman Godfrey Kabyanga said the Rwenzururu fighters killed in self-defence, adding that those killed were collaborators of the Toro kingdom.