Busoga's Prince Bogere Gabula passes on

By Charles Kakamwa In Jinja

PRINCE David Bogere Gabula who once acted as caretaker Kyabazinga of Busoga Kingdom, after the demise of Henry Wako Muloki, has died.

Gabula, 59 breathed his last early on Tuesday morning while on a visit to an in-law George Patrick Kibaireki at Wairaka village in Kakira town council, Jinja district.

Kibaireki who spoke to New Vision on Tuesday said Gabula started feeling unwell on Monday the day he visited but his situation worsened and he eventually passed away at about 2.00am in the night.

The deceased’s brother Godfrey Kyemba said Gabula has been battling asthma and hypertension for a long time. In 2013 president Yoweri Museveni helped clear his medical bill when he was hospitalized in Kampala for over a month.

By press time, Kyemba said arrangements were being made to inform Busoga Kingdom and later get an ambulance to take the body to Jinja Regional Referral Hospital for a post mortem.

Amidst the confusion that reigned in Busoga following the death of Kyabazinga Muloki in September 2008, the Busoga clans’ council, princes and princesses resolved to name Gabula the caretaker Kyabazinga.

Reading their resolutions in January 2010, Kyemba who also serves as the spokesman of the Batimbito princes and princesses said they had chosen Gabula as a neutral person to reconcile the warring factions in the kingdom.

He was tasked with reconciling the warring factions and organizing fresh elections for the Kyabazinga, within five years.

At the time, Busoga Kingdom loyalists were divided into two factions, with one paying allegiance to Muloki’s son and heir Prince Edward Columbus Wambuzi while others recognized Prince William Nadiope Gabula as the rightful Kyabazinga.

But Gabula Bogere faced resistance from kingdom officials including then Prime Minister Wilson Muwereza, who described him as an impostor.

After his election, Bogere Gabula told New Vision that he was born in Buwanume village in Kamuli district which is under Bugabula chiefdom in 1956.

He first worked with Apollo Hotel (now Sheraton) but later went into private business in Kampala.

Hajji Abdallah Buyinza a former kingdom information minister described Gabula’s death as a loss of an elder of the kingdom.