Baganda politicians reacted wildly to the Wild Committee
<b>Peter Mulira</b><br><br>The opening of the 40th session of the Uganda Legislative Council (Legco) on February 22, 1960, was momentous. in his address and speaking with the full authority of the Colonial Secretary, the governor, Sir Frederick Crawford, announced that for the first time the Legc
A learned friend With a historical perspective
Peter Mulira
The opening of the 40th session of the Uganda Legislative Council (Legco) on February 22, 1960, was momentous. in his address and speaking with the full authority of the Colonial Secretary, the governor, Sir Frederick Crawford, announced that for the first time the Legco would have a majority of elected members after the next elections.
The governor’s pronouncements which represented the government’s reaction to recommendations made by the Wild Committee which had been appointed earlier in 1959 with a brief to consider future constitutional developments for the country also included the announcement that the government would set up a commission to study the future form of government and the relationship between the different parts of the country with the centre.
The composition of the thirteen-member committee in itself reflected the increasing role of the African members of the Legco elected in the first direct elections in 1958 seven of whom were appointed to the committee out of the nine African members and also for the first time a committee of such a nature had a majority of Africans. Erisa Kironde and Balamu Mukasa being the only unelected African members.
Unfortunately, the governor’s speech did not please the African leadership with Ben Kiwanuka the leader of the Democratic Party issuing a statement immediately in which he criticised Britain’s attitude towards Uganda’s political advancement while Mayanja Nkangi the President of the United Party described the Wild Committee as a failure and waste of money. Significantly and as a sign of things to come, Milton Obote for the Uganda National Congress and George Magezi of the United People’s Party who had themselves been members of the committee issued a joint statement criticising the speech and two months later their parties united to form the Uganda People’s Congress with Obote as president.
In a way, the politicians overreacted to the governor’s speech because when the committee was appointed it was made clear that its terms of reference were confined to recommending how a common elected roll may be introduced, how many seats there would be and the future size of the Legco but the issue of advancement to independence was never on the agenda as such.
What the politicians had wanted to see, however, was what in colonial jargon was known as responsible government similar to what Ghana got from Britain in 1951 when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was first elected prime minister to head an executive with real powers and answerable to the legislature as opposed to the traditional colonial executive which was only advisory to the governor who appointed its members.
Amidst this outcry, the government commenced with preparations for the elections by bringing into force the amended Election Ordinance which applied to all parts of the country and also announced the opening date for registration in Buganda to be August 22, 1960, although the Buganda Lukiiko had announced a boycott of the elections.
The government's action set in motion a conflict in Buganda between those who wanted to press forward with the elections and the supporters of the boycott and the conflict proved to be serious enough as to force the government to site registration centres in Mengo district mainly in police stations but the process progressed unimpeded outside Buganda.
In an earlier development the Buganda Lukiiko had passed a resolution terminating Buganda’s agreement with Britain which meant that the kingdom was theoretically independent and a motion was actually tabled to appoint a committee to negotiate a future federal relationship with other tribes although no one took these measures seriously apart from their promoters. In refusing to give Buganda’s views to the Wild Committee the Lukiiko held that the committee’s terms of reference dealt with matters on which the Lukiiko had already passed resolutions rejecting them. From this point it was clear that Buganda’s position was going to be a thorny issue in the period leading to independence and, as it turned out, thereafter.
The situation eventually got nasty and at one seating of the Lukiiko a resolution was moved expelling seven or so members who had allegedly registered including among them, Ben Kiwanuka and Abu Mayanja both of whom were not in the house at the time but those who were present were escorted out of the chamber by police.
Although the resolution was later retracted and the speaker actually made an apology to the affected members many people were disturbed by the influence of members in the public gallery on the members’ action, something which happened again in 1966 when the Lukiiko purportedly passed a resolution throwing out the central government from Buganda soil with disastrous results.
All this meant that the period preceding the elections in the central region was highly charged with anybody who did not support the Lukiiko’s stand on the issues of the day being labelled anti-Kabaka and although the governor in his wisdom advised the Lukiiko in writing that criticism against the Lukiiko and the ministers was not a direct attack on the Kabaka since he was a constitutional monarch, the situation remained unchanged.
In retrospect it is difficult to see what Buganda, stood to gain in its policy of boycotting the Legco, the Wild Committee, the political parties and the 1961 elections which introduced the majority government.
In reality the central region stood to gain a lot through sheer numbers in the house and the tradition of the other districts in viewing her as the prime mover of things. Instead, Buganda forfeited the goodwill of the rest of the country which now saw her as an obdurent self-possessed egoist partner whose world view was confined only to its borders.
Secondly, since the road to independence was going to be through evolution in the Legco by staying out, Buganda surrendered to others her leadership of the African independence struggle which had been started by the political parties here. But above all, by boycotting Ben Kiwanuka and his Democratic Party, Buganda signified to the world that it had a jaundiced vision as to her future. Buganda’s problems in this regard sprang from two things.
First, the Lukiiko assumed the role of a political party and therefore Kiwanuka and DP were seen as competitors. Secondly, the subordination of the freedom of thought to one’s loyalty to the Kabaka stultified creative and new thinking which left leadership in the hands of a small clique with no vision as to the likely results their policies would engender.
Sadly, we see these trends emerging today with suppression of plurality of thought being mounted as well as the invocation of the Kabaka’s name to intimidate those who may not be in line.
It may be worth noting that Michael Kintu the Katikkiro who started this practice of controlling thought was driven out of office by the uprising of the abawejjere movement which sprang up after his bluff was called!
Peter Mulira
The opening of the 40th session of the Uganda Legislative Council (Legco) on February 22, 1960, was momentous. in his address and speaking with the full authority of the Colonial Secretary, the governor, Sir Frederick Crawford, announced that for the first time the Legco would have a majority of elected members after the next elections.
The governor’s pronouncements which represented the government’s reaction to recommendations made by the Wild Committee which had been appointed earlier in 1959 with a brief to consider future constitutional developments for the country also included the announcement that the government would set up a commission to study the future form of government and the relationship between the different parts of the country with the centre.
The composition of the thirteen-member committee in itself reflected the increasing role of the African members of the Legco elected in the first direct elections in 1958 seven of whom were appointed to the committee out of the nine African members and also for the first time a committee of such a nature had a majority of Africans. Erisa Kironde and Balamu Mukasa being the only unelected African members.
Unfortunately, the governor’s speech did not please the African leadership with Ben Kiwanuka the leader of the Democratic Party issuing a statement immediately in which he criticised Britain’s attitude towards Uganda’s political advancement while Mayanja Nkangi the President of the United Party described the Wild Committee as a failure and waste of money. Significantly and as a sign of things to come, Milton Obote for the Uganda National Congress and George Magezi of the United People’s Party who had themselves been members of the committee issued a joint statement criticising the speech and two months later their parties united to form the Uganda People’s Congress with Obote as president.
In a way, the politicians overreacted to the governor’s speech because when the committee was appointed it was made clear that its terms of reference were confined to recommending how a common elected roll may be introduced, how many seats there would be and the future size of the Legco but the issue of advancement to independence was never on the agenda as such.
What the politicians had wanted to see, however, was what in colonial jargon was known as responsible government similar to what Ghana got from Britain in 1951 when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was first elected prime minister to head an executive with real powers and answerable to the legislature as opposed to the traditional colonial executive which was only advisory to the governor who appointed its members.
Amidst this outcry, the government commenced with preparations for the elections by bringing into force the amended Election Ordinance which applied to all parts of the country and also announced the opening date for registration in Buganda to be August 22, 1960, although the Buganda Lukiiko had announced a boycott of the elections.
The government's action set in motion a conflict in Buganda between those who wanted to press forward with the elections and the supporters of the boycott and the conflict proved to be serious enough as to force the government to site registration centres in Mengo district mainly in police stations but the process progressed unimpeded outside Buganda.
In an earlier development the Buganda Lukiiko had passed a resolution terminating Buganda’s agreement with Britain which meant that the kingdom was theoretically independent and a motion was actually tabled to appoint a committee to negotiate a future federal relationship with other tribes although no one took these measures seriously apart from their promoters. In refusing to give Buganda’s views to the Wild Committee the Lukiiko held that the committee’s terms of reference dealt with matters on which the Lukiiko had already passed resolutions rejecting them. From this point it was clear that Buganda’s position was going to be a thorny issue in the period leading to independence and, as it turned out, thereafter.
The situation eventually got nasty and at one seating of the Lukiiko a resolution was moved expelling seven or so members who had allegedly registered including among them, Ben Kiwanuka and Abu Mayanja both of whom were not in the house at the time but those who were present were escorted out of the chamber by police.
Although the resolution was later retracted and the speaker actually made an apology to the affected members many people were disturbed by the influence of members in the public gallery on the members’ action, something which happened again in 1966 when the Lukiiko purportedly passed a resolution throwing out the central government from Buganda soil with disastrous results.
All this meant that the period preceding the elections in the central region was highly charged with anybody who did not support the Lukiiko’s stand on the issues of the day being labelled anti-Kabaka and although the governor in his wisdom advised the Lukiiko in writing that criticism against the Lukiiko and the ministers was not a direct attack on the Kabaka since he was a constitutional monarch, the situation remained unchanged.
In retrospect it is difficult to see what Buganda, stood to gain in its policy of boycotting the Legco, the Wild Committee, the political parties and the 1961 elections which introduced the majority government.
In reality the central region stood to gain a lot through sheer numbers in the house and the tradition of the other districts in viewing her as the prime mover of things. Instead, Buganda forfeited the goodwill of the rest of the country which now saw her as an obdurent self-possessed egoist partner whose world view was confined only to its borders.
Secondly, since the road to independence was going to be through evolution in the Legco by staying out, Buganda surrendered to others her leadership of the African independence struggle which had been started by the political parties here. But above all, by boycotting Ben Kiwanuka and his Democratic Party, Buganda signified to the world that it had a jaundiced vision as to her future. Buganda’s problems in this regard sprang from two things.
First, the Lukiiko assumed the role of a political party and therefore Kiwanuka and DP were seen as competitors. Secondly, the subordination of the freedom of thought to one’s loyalty to the Kabaka stultified creative and new thinking which left leadership in the hands of a small clique with no vision as to the likely results their policies would engender.
Sadly, we see these trends emerging today with suppression of plurality of thought being mounted as well as the invocation of the Kabaka’s name to intimidate those who may not be in line.
It may be worth noting that Michael Kintu the Katikkiro who started this practice of controlling thought was driven out of office by the uprising of the abawejjere movement which sprang up after his bluff was called!