Bunyoro kingdom sues UNRA over cultural sites

Bunyoro Kingdom's second deputy prime minister Apollo John Rwamparo has dragged the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to court for allegedly destroying the Chwezi cultural site (Hakituti Kyababyasi) and the tree planted in commemoration of the return of the lost counties in 1964.

The tree was planted in the present-day Kakumiro town by Sir Tito Winyi, after the referendum that returned Buyaga and Bugangaizi to Bunyoro. The two counties had been taken by the British rulers and handed over to Buganda kingdom in the late 1890s.

UNRA was sued alongside the National Offshore Oil Company.

The cultural site is a historical site of the Chwezi clan, with a rock-embedded board game dating back to 1400 AD, located in Kyangwali at the start of the escarpment to Buhuka Kingfisher oil wells, where Sir Samuel is said to have stood in 1864.

Last month, Rwamparo filed the suit at the High Court in Masindi, seeking a restoration order against the respondents in respect of the Chwezi cultural site through the erection of a nine metre sculpture, a museum with a curie shop and a restaurant for sustainability, marking the two occasions at the very location where the historical site originally stood in Kyangwali town, along with establishing a cultural information centre.

It is alleged that sometime in 2015, UNRA contracted the China National Offshore Oil Company to execute civil works for the tarmacking of the Buhuka-Kyangwali (7km) road.

Rwamparo claims that soon after the commencement of the civil works on the road, the important components of the said historical site, including the Chwezi board game and the Chwezi rock, were destroyed by the National Offshore Oil Company workers during the initial clearance of roadworks.

Court documents indicate that by a letter dated January 4, 2019, the Rwamparo lodged a complaint to UNRA executive director Allen Kagina, informing her about the destruction of the said historical site, among other key historical sites in the kingdom.

Rwamparo states that in response to his complaint, UNRA director of network planning and engineering, by a letter dated February 13, 2019, admitted having dispatched a team to conduct field assessment and that it confirmed the destruction.

He adds that UNRA further invited him to a consultative meeting at their headquarters, which took place on February 18, 2019, but no decision on the said historical site was made.

Rwamparo asserts that the respondents are liable for the said destruction, given that they are obligated to avoid environmental and social stress and damage to property in areas where they implement their projects.

"Unless the said historical site is restored, the respondents shall go scot-free and the Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom and her subjects, as well as the people of Uganda, shall lose a valuable historical and tourism site," Rwamparo said.

"It is, therefore, in the interest of substantive justice and equity that the orders sought in this application are granted," he prayed.

Rwamparo wants an order of payment of general damages for the mental torture occasioned by the acts of the respondents.

He also wants an award of punitive and exemplary damages against the respondents for their violation of human rights, constitutional and international obligations.

Rwamparo also said the uprooting of the tree planted by their former king was an abuse and wants the court to grant that UNRA takes responsibility.

Allan Ssempebwa, the Ugandan National Roads Authority spokesperson, says they try as much as possible to preserve the heritage and protect and conserve the environment during their road projects. He says, however, that the tree in question was in the way, adding that negotiations are going on, to see whether they can plant another tree and offer some compensation.

He said a meeting was to take place in Kakumiro on Tuesday this week between the contractor and the kingdom officials and that the outcome of the meeting will determine the way forward.

He added that they always encourage contractors to make corporate social responsibility part of their work, such as repairing water sources, building classroom blocks or any other activity that could assist the community.

Samuel Muganyizi, a member of the Bunyoro kingdom parliament and the head of the kingdom's guards (Abarusura), said when he found the tree being cut, he alerted the Police, but that the man claimed he had bought the tree from the contractors. He says the Police later released the suspect and said UNRA was supposed to handle the matter.

He says the tree was monumental to the kingdom because it attracted tourists.

He says for its replacement, the kingdom demands that a statue of Sir Tito Winyi be erected near the road, so that it acts as a monument for the historical event.