BUNYORO LEADERSHIP CRISIS: Clan leaders blocked from attending meeting at palace

Hoima, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Security forces comprising anti-riot police and the military this morning sealed off the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom premises ahead of a clan leaders’ meeting intended to resolve an ongoing leadership crisis in the Kingdom. By 11 a.m., police and Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) soldiers had surrounded the Kingdom premises, blocking access to the Kingdom chambers where the meeting was scheduled to take place.

Notably, Eng. Fred Mugenyi Rucunya, the Okwiri (Chief Prince) of the Babiito—the ruling clan—and other Babiito clan leaders were barred from entering the venue.

Julius Hakiza, the Albertine region police spokesperson, explained that the heavy deployment followed intelligence reports suggesting that some individuals had been hired to cause chaos during the meeting, which the authorities wanted to prevent.

Rucunya expressed his shock at arriving for the meeting only to find that he and his team had been blocked from accessing the chambers under unclear circumstances. He has since mobilized Babiito clan members to boycott the meeting.

Francis Atugonza from the Ababyasi clan, who was also blocked from attending, claimed that the situation indicated that the Kingdom or the King was under “state capture,” or that the Prime Minister, Andrew Byakutaga, was attempting to take full control of the Kingdom’s administration while the Omukama (King) is ill.

Hundreds of Kingdom subjects gathered outside the chambers after being blocked from entering, but Uganda Radio Network (URN) could not get a comment from Prime Minister Byakutaga at the time. The deployment follows recent tensions within the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom. On Monday, top clerics in the region intervened in the leadership crisis, holding a closed-door meeting with key Kingdom figures.

The clerics had sanctioned the clan leaders’ meeting to promote peace, but the ongoing crisis escalated with a heavy police and military presence in Hoima City earlier in the week. The conflict stems from a power struggle between the Babiito clan and Prime Minister Byakutaga.

In September, the Babiito dismissed Byakutaga and appointed an interim cabinet, which includes Dr. Baltazar Kyamanywa Kasirivu as Interim Prime Minister. However, Byakutaga condemned the move, arguing that only the Omukama has the authority to appoint or dismiss officials under Uganda’s Constitution and the Traditional and Cultural Institution Leaders Act of 2011.

Byakutaga, who was first appointed Prime Minister in 2018, has faced opposition from the Babiito clan, which accuses him of mismanagement and other issues. Despite being reinstated by the Royal Commission, the clan’s dissatisfaction has led to the current standoff, worsened by the illness of the Omukama, who has been unable to manage the Kingdom’s affairs.

*****

URN