Buganda and EAC political federation

The Baganda saw that as confirmation that should Uganda make a mistake of entering the political federation of East Africa, then anti-Buganda elements will get together and move a motion “that the kingdoms in Uganda should be abolished so as to make the federation function smoothly”. All other countries in the EAC do not have kings.

I know that in this modern life, politics means sharing power and money. So money will be poured by the “anti-Buganda elements” to enable the vote for the motion to abolish the kingdoms in Uganda.

Instead of pursuing the political federation of East Africa, President Museveni should be contented with the power and wealth which the Baganda have rewarded him with for restoring the Buganda kingdom and maintaining peace in the country. This has resulted in “thirty years of political stability” that has caused people to prosper economically and to build themselves in all sectors of life.

President Museveni, between now and the year 2021 or for that matter 2026, should concentrate on working out plans with the ordinary Ugandans on how to eradicate poverty, create employment for young Ugandans, and looking for overseas markets for our products. He should build an economy controlled by the indigenous people of Uganda.

In August 2011, there was the Fast Tracking Committee setup by the three EAC governments to get the views of the people on the proposal for the East African Political Federation. The committee was chaired by Godfrey Muriuki; a professor of history at Nairobi University in Kenya. When it visited Uganda, I told the committee the Buganda cannot accept political federation because it would abolish the Buganda Kingdom.

At Mengo; the seat of the Kabaka Government, the committee met then-Katikiro Dan Muliika. He told them clearly that the Baganda rejected and they will never accept the federation of East Africa. He told them that anybody who will try to impose it on the Baganda will be trying to organise a wedding in a den of lions.

Muliika was told that the people of Tanzania and Kenya had rejected the East African Federation. In Tanzania the people said “Hatutaki Waganda kuingia Tanzania kugitawala” meaning that “we do not want the people of Uganda to come to Tanzania to rule us”.

In Kenya the people said “the sons and daughters and grandsons/daughters of the MAU MAU freedom fighters will be the presidents of Kenya but not people from Uganda”.

One of Kenya’s leading politicians, Stephen Kalonzo Mushoka, while esided over a graduation ceremony of Uganda Technology and Management University (UTAMU) in Kampala in 2017 proposed that President Museveni be elected first President of East Africa. But this cannot work and will never materialise.

The people of East Africa live under different political systems and trying to put them under one political system is like organising a dancing party for lions, leopards, and zebras and antelopes.

We still have a long way to go before people of the other five partner states can elect a Ugandan freely and fairly without any problem under a political federation. At the moment I don’t see it happening because in some areas of East Africa you will find people having a lot of xenophobia in their heads.

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Kavuma-Kaggwa is an elder from Kyaggwe, Mukono District.