Toro premier warns king's opponents to back off

By Cecilia Okoth & Francis Emorut                  

The prime minister of Toro Kingdom, Steven Kaliba, has warned the opponents of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV to back off because he is the legitimately installed ruler.

"I want to assure the world that his Majesty is in charge," Kaliba said, before appealing to the king’s supporters to be calm and continue with normal life.

He lashed out at the opponents of the kingdom's leadership and urged them to refrain from making baseless and defamatory statements against Oyo.

The premier defended the king' leadership, saying he is a peaceful and loving Ugandan who is committed to bringing development among his subjects.

It is understood King Oyo has just returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital of Abu Dhabi after a attending a conference where he presented a keynote address on agriculture.

‘Baseless’ claims

Recent media reports indicated that Prince David George Kijanangoma – King Oyo’s cousin – disowned the king and declared himself as the leader of Toro on claims that he (Oyo) has been incompetent.

In fact, he claimed that the youthful cultural ruler spends most of his time in Kampala instead of Toro.

Kijanangoma is the son of the late Paul Christopher Kijanangoma, Oyo’s uncle.

Following his comments, Charles Kamurasi, the head of the Babiito royal clan, asked Prince Kijanangoma to apologise to the royal family and the people of Toro for challenging King Oyo’s reign.
 

King Oyo waves to his subjects as he walks along the streets of Fort Portal in 2014. (Photo credit: Rogers Sunday)

Meanwhile, Prime Minister lent similar sentiments over Kijanangoma’s remarks, saying they are malicious.

"Those allegations are totally baseless and intended to create malice against the achievements the king has made," said Prime Minister Kaliba.

Reforms in law

The Premier was speaking at the closure of a three-day national reconciliation conference organized by International Alert in conjunction with Saferworld and Refuge Law Project at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala mid-this week.

In his keynote address, he called for the amendment of constitution on the institution of traditional leaders/cultural leaders Act of 2011, saying it does not allow cultural institutions to fully exercise their powers.

"The Act should be amended to respect all cultural leaders," he said.

He argued that the framers of the constitution targeted the Buganda kingdom only.

Okin Ojara, the prime minister of Acholi Kingdom, agreed with Kaliba, saying that the current cultural Act 2011 limits to operate freely.

"Cultural institutions at the moment are limited and incapacitated as they can't talk about politics," Ojara said.

"It limits the power of the chief and even those working with the institutions."

Haruna Ndema, the premier of Lugbara Kari Kingdom, said the law currently says cultural institutions should not raise money to sustain themselves and it also says it is the responsibility of the communities to look after their cultural leaders – which he said is contradictory.


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