Why Iguru Wants To Sue Britain
Oct 28, 2003
The Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom, Solomon Gafabusa Iguru 1, is set to sue the British government claim damages for what he calls the pillage, plunder, and massive loss of lives and property in Bunyoro during the British colonial rule.
By Gerald Businge
in Hoima
The Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom, Solomon Gafabusa Iguru 1, is set to sue the British government claim damages for what he calls the pillage, plunder, and massive loss of lives and property in Bunyoro during the British colonial rule.
The claim, which the Omukama has already communicated to the British government through their High Commissioner in Uganda comes up to £3,727,173,160.78, an equivalent of more than nine trillion shillings.
Iguru says on behalf of the royal household of the Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom, he is to sue the British government to repair the damage that her troops committed on the people of Bunyoro from 1891.
Iguru, the heir to Omukama Kabalega Chwa II, who resisted British colonialism told The New Vision at his royal palace in Hoima recently, that the British are liable according to international law, for the conduct of war among nations.
He alleges that the colonial masters committed gross human rights violations and subjected his kingdom to more than nine years of “terrorism.â€
Iguru says the British colonial army depopulated Bunyoro from around 2.5million people in 1891 to only 98,000 in 1899 and destroyed people’s wealth, especially cattle.
Iguru, who has acquired and compiled hundreds of reports made by British field officers “to plunder and kill†in their original handwriting, says the British should avoid double standards and pay for “their sins.â€
The British government however, refuses to acknowledge the Omukama’s claim, sighting the length of time that has passed as over a hundred years.
“My government does not accept the claim for compensation which you have put to us. You argue that your claim is supported by international customary law codified by the third Geneva Convention and Additional protocols I and II, which date from 1949 and 1977 respectively, which of course were not in existence in the 1890s,†reads a reply letter to Iguru by former British High Commissioner to Uganda Tom Philips.
When contacted for comment, officials at the British High Commission referred The New Vision to the above letter, as the High Commissioner was out of the country.
Iguru, who argues that Article 3 of Protocol I provides that the law will be applied in retrospect says the reply by the High commissioner was diversionary and that is why he is taking the case to Courts of law. He says Britain omitted to repair all the violations they committed when effective hostilities around 1899 ceased.
“How could we have complained when we were under colonial bondage and the kingdoms were abolished after independence? Even the data was still hidden. The question of being time barred does not arise, since I will successfully plead disability of my office. This is an accepted ground in court. These were criminal acts, and criminal acts have no time limit,†says Iguru.
Nsamba Yolamu, Iguru’s principal private secretary says: “We are not contesting sovereignty here. We acknowledge we lost the war. But these British colonial officers were killing civilians, destroying people’s crops and stealing people’s animals. They may not want to listen because this involves them losing money. But we are entitled to complain. I have talked to the British High Commissioner before but he didn’t want to listen. Now we are going to court.â€
Iguru says colonialism was the greatest form of terrorism to ever be experienced especially by his subjects and that all perpetrators of terrorism should be brought to book.
“It is ironical that people who are asking the Libyan president to pay for victims of a plane crash in the 80s that killed their people do not want to pay for the people they killed and what they stole because it was long ago,†says Iguru.
“We lost a whole generation of people who should have grown up strong and active to develop our area. They executed a policy to depopulate Bunyoro and left the kingdom as a colonial museum,†says Nsamba.
“If the red Indians are being compensated by Canada and USA; the aboriginals in Australia are being compensated, why not us?†asks Nsamba.
The Omukama is recognised by the 1995 Constitution as a body corporate (a legal person) and can sue and be sued in his name.
Nsamba says the documents collected over time were got from the Public Records office in Surry, London and some from the government archives in Entebbe.
Iguru who says he is still shopping for competent lawyers to handle the case said he is taking the case to either the International court of Justice at The Hague, the European Court or will go direct to British Courts as the Mau Mau of Kenya recently did successfully.
But taking a case to the Hague can only be at the level of one government and another, yet all indications are that the government has cold feet on the matter.
“We communicated many years ago to the Government, and the President in particular. We were told to wait for a response from the Attorney General, which has never come. We are proceeding and we may be forced to include the Uganda government since it inherited all the assets and liabilities of the colonial government,†says Nsamba.
Ends
in Hoima
The Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom, Solomon Gafabusa Iguru 1, is set to sue the British government claim damages for what he calls the pillage, plunder, and massive loss of lives and property in Bunyoro during the British colonial rule.
The claim, which the Omukama has already communicated to the British government through their High Commissioner in Uganda comes up to £3,727,173,160.78, an equivalent of more than nine trillion shillings.
Iguru says on behalf of the royal household of the Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom, he is to sue the British government to repair the damage that her troops committed on the people of Bunyoro from 1891.
Iguru, the heir to Omukama Kabalega Chwa II, who resisted British colonialism told The New Vision at his royal palace in Hoima recently, that the British are liable according to international law, for the conduct of war among nations.
He alleges that the colonial masters committed gross human rights violations and subjected his kingdom to more than nine years of “terrorism.â€
Iguru says the British colonial army depopulated Bunyoro from around 2.5million people in 1891 to only 98,000 in 1899 and destroyed people’s wealth, especially cattle.
Iguru, who has acquired and compiled hundreds of reports made by British field officers “to plunder and kill†in their original handwriting, says the British should avoid double standards and pay for “their sins.â€
The British government however, refuses to acknowledge the Omukama’s claim, sighting the length of time that has passed as over a hundred years.
“My government does not accept the claim for compensation which you have put to us. You argue that your claim is supported by international customary law codified by the third Geneva Convention and Additional protocols I and II, which date from 1949 and 1977 respectively, which of course were not in existence in the 1890s,†reads a reply letter to Iguru by former British High Commissioner to Uganda Tom Philips.
When contacted for comment, officials at the British High Commission referred The New Vision to the above letter, as the High Commissioner was out of the country.
Iguru, who argues that Article 3 of Protocol I provides that the law will be applied in retrospect says the reply by the High commissioner was diversionary and that is why he is taking the case to Courts of law. He says Britain omitted to repair all the violations they committed when effective hostilities around 1899 ceased.
“How could we have complained when we were under colonial bondage and the kingdoms were abolished after independence? Even the data was still hidden. The question of being time barred does not arise, since I will successfully plead disability of my office. This is an accepted ground in court. These were criminal acts, and criminal acts have no time limit,†says Iguru.
Nsamba Yolamu, Iguru’s principal private secretary says: “We are not contesting sovereignty here. We acknowledge we lost the war. But these British colonial officers were killing civilians, destroying people’s crops and stealing people’s animals. They may not want to listen because this involves them losing money. But we are entitled to complain. I have talked to the British High Commissioner before but he didn’t want to listen. Now we are going to court.â€
Iguru says colonialism was the greatest form of terrorism to ever be experienced especially by his subjects and that all perpetrators of terrorism should be brought to book.
“It is ironical that people who are asking the Libyan president to pay for victims of a plane crash in the 80s that killed their people do not want to pay for the people they killed and what they stole because it was long ago,†says Iguru.
“We lost a whole generation of people who should have grown up strong and active to develop our area. They executed a policy to depopulate Bunyoro and left the kingdom as a colonial museum,†says Nsamba.
“If the red Indians are being compensated by Canada and USA; the aboriginals in Australia are being compensated, why not us?†asks Nsamba.
The Omukama is recognised by the 1995 Constitution as a body corporate (a legal person) and can sue and be sued in his name.
Nsamba says the documents collected over time were got from the Public Records office in Surry, London and some from the government archives in Entebbe.
Iguru who says he is still shopping for competent lawyers to handle the case said he is taking the case to either the International court of Justice at The Hague, the European Court or will go direct to British Courts as the Mau Mau of Kenya recently did successfully.
But taking a case to the Hague can only be at the level of one government and another, yet all indications are that the government has cold feet on the matter.
“We communicated many years ago to the Government, and the President in particular. We were told to wait for a response from the Attorney General, which has never come. We are proceeding and we may be forced to include the Uganda government since it inherited all the assets and liabilities of the colonial government,†says Nsamba.
Ends