200 meet over restoration of Ankole kingdom

By Abdulkarim Ssengendo

Over 200 clan leaders of the defunct Ankole Kingdom have asked government to restore the cultural institution.

This was during the Nkore Cultural General Assembly held at Rwekishokye country club in Mbarara district on Monday. The clan leaders who also included the youth and elders represented different districts of Ankore region.

The Nkore Cultural General Assembly was the first ever to take place in the history of Ankore since 1967 when the Kingdoms were abolished by the government of Obote. It was facilitated by Historic Resource Conservation Initiative (HRCI).

During the meeting, the Prime minister of the defunct Kingdom, George William Katatumba, assured clan leaders that Ankole Cultural Trust is committed to having the Kingdom restored with the support of both elders and the youth.

Katatumba noted that lack of cultural leaders in Ankole had led to a degeneration of Banyankore cultural and values

``We lost out a lot of opportunities; we are now at the moment like bees without a queen, bees without a King they fly over the place without guidance,” Katatumba said.

He noted that areas that have got Kings have developed and got benefits like scholarships for their children, jobs for the youth, they guide their youth in culture and manners but said this element was missing in Ankole.

He asserted that having a King would help people of Ankole and the Kingdom be known internationally and claimed that would be a big supplement to the government efforts especially creating jobs for the youth.

``Two heads are better than one, if we have two people that is government and Omugabe Kingship, making effort to work on the development of the area people will be better off,`` he added.

Elland Muyambi, the executive director of Historic Resources Conservation Initiative (HRCI) which facilitated the assembly, called up on people of Ankole to keep united and focused to fight for the common cause of restoring their Kingdom.