Banyabindi slam reconciliation between Toro and Rwenzururu
Aug 29, 2010
THE Banyabindi, one of the minority ethnic tribes in Kasese district, have castigated the proposed reconciliation process between the Toro and Rwenzururu kingdoms.
By Michael Karugaba
THE Banyabindi, one of the minority ethnic tribes in Kasese district, have castigated the proposed reconciliation process between the Toro and Rwenzururu kingdoms.
Francis Kamuhanda, the spokesperson, said the Rwenzururu king, Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere, had to reconcile first with the Banyabindi and some Bakonzo.
A group of Bakonzo and Bamba, led by Mumbere’s late father Isaya Mukirane walked out of Toro’s Rukurato (parliament) in 1962, accusing the Toro kingdom of oppression and marginalisation.
The group started a rebellion which led to the creation of Kasese and Bundibugyo districts by former president Idi Amin Dada in 1974.
Kamuhanda said the Rwenzururu fighters killed several Banyabindi and forced hundreds of others off their land.
“We are currently living in camps because of the Rwenzururu rebellion against Toro kingdom,†Kamuhanda said.
“It’s good to reconcile but what the Rwenzururu king is trying to do is sweetened poison,†he asserted.
“We were injured and are still injured,†Kamuhanda said.
The 205 Kajura commission on Obusinga bwa Rwenzururu recommended the setting up of a committee to reconcile the warring parties in the kingdom.
The Banyabindi and Basongora pastoralists, who form the minority tribes in Kasese district, have demanded separate districts.
Last year, the district council resolved to create Nyakatonzi sub-county for the Basongora pastoralists but they rejected it, saying the proposed boundary was tampered with.
Efforts to get a comment from the kingdom information minister and spokesperson, Patrick Nyamunungu, failed.
THE Banyabindi, one of the minority ethnic tribes in Kasese district, have castigated the proposed reconciliation process between the Toro and Rwenzururu kingdoms.
Francis Kamuhanda, the spokesperson, said the Rwenzururu king, Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere, had to reconcile first with the Banyabindi and some Bakonzo.
A group of Bakonzo and Bamba, led by Mumbere’s late father Isaya Mukirane walked out of Toro’s Rukurato (parliament) in 1962, accusing the Toro kingdom of oppression and marginalisation.
The group started a rebellion which led to the creation of Kasese and Bundibugyo districts by former president Idi Amin Dada in 1974.
Kamuhanda said the Rwenzururu fighters killed several Banyabindi and forced hundreds of others off their land.
“We are currently living in camps because of the Rwenzururu rebellion against Toro kingdom,†Kamuhanda said.
“It’s good to reconcile but what the Rwenzururu king is trying to do is sweetened poison,†he asserted.
“We were injured and are still injured,†Kamuhanda said.
The 205 Kajura commission on Obusinga bwa Rwenzururu recommended the setting up of a committee to reconcile the warring parties in the kingdom.
The Banyabindi and Basongora pastoralists, who form the minority tribes in Kasese district, have demanded separate districts.
Last year, the district council resolved to create Nyakatonzi sub-county for the Basongora pastoralists but they rejected it, saying the proposed boundary was tampered with.
Efforts to get a comment from the kingdom information minister and spokesperson, Patrick Nyamunungu, failed.