Lessons from my father

Managing Museveni

Kabaka Mutebi understands President Museveni because they have a long history.

It started after Obote who had been deposed in a military coup by Idi Amin returned to power in 1980.

At the time, Kabaka Mutebi was living in the UK where his Father sent him a few years after he was born on April 13, 1955. At the time, his father had been exiled by the British colonialists. The Kabaka was living and getting educated in the United Kingdom when that terrible tragedy befell Buganda in 1966 and in 1980, when Obote returned to Uganda, and terrible economic and social suffering engulfed Buganda again.

Seeing this, a group of Baganda elders led by former Prime Minister of Buganda, Paul Kavuma, Prince Badru Kakungulu of Kibuli, and  Bishop Yokana Balikuddembe Mukasa formerly of Mityana ,formed a guerilla army to fight and remove the Obote government.

Ugandan exiles in Nairobi led by Prof. Yusuf Lule and Dr. Sam Nsibirwa formed the Uganda Freedom Movement (UFM) under the command of Dr. Andrew Kayiira.  He camped in the Bujuuko forests but due to various reasons he did not succeed and he eventually returned to Nairobi.

Prof. Lule and his group again formed another fighting force Uganda Freedom Fighters (UFF) and appointed Basil Mumanya to command it. Serious fighting went on for five years in Buganda’s Bulemeezi County which is Luwero District.

The Baganda soon realised that they needed more fighting power and advanced fighting tactics and decided to join Museveni’s Patriotic Resistence Army (PRA).

To create a stronger army, Museveni was advised by the elders (bataka) of Buganda led by Paul Kavuma, to go to Nairobi and negotiate with Prof. Lule and form one strong fighting force.  Negotiations took place in Nairobi between the two, an agreement was reached and signed and NRM was formed under the Chairmanship of Prof. Lule.  The National Resistance Army (NRA) was also formed under the command of Museveni, deputised by Bazil Mumanya. Unfortunately Mumanya died mysteriously at the Kenya/Uganda border while coming back to rejoin the fighting which was raging.

Meantime, a group of senior army Generals in the UNLF Army of President Milton Obote, General Tito Okello Lutwa and General Bazilio Okello got discontented and they overthrew the Obote government on July 27, 1985.  Peace Talks where organised in Nairobi by the late Cardinal Nsubuga and the –Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi in 1985 but fighting continued. Victory for Museveni’s side was achieved on January 26, 1986 when the NRA forces captured Kampala ending the tyrannical regimes which started on May 24, 1966.

When the fighting was still going on, Kabaka Mutebi, who was then officially called the Sabataka, was taken to the frontline in the counties in western Buganda by John Nagenda, who currently is a senior advisor to president Museveni.

Moses Kigongo (now deputy Chairman of NRM) who was commanding the rebel army there took him to the fighting areas. They told the Baganda in the villages:  “Baganda must fight to achieve victory; the Prince is here; we are going to restore the Buganda Kingdom and the federal system”.

The biggest achievement on the side of the Baganda out of the Luwero Liberation war, therefore, was to restore the Buganda Kingdom.

Kabaka’s soft power

Since ascending the throne, the Kabaka has used what is called “soft power”. When finally he was free to travel to Bugerere, he opted to donate beds and mattresses to different hospitals there and coffee seedlings to farmers as he has done elsewhere. He did the same in Buluuli County of Nakasongola district. Among his annual must-attend events are two football tourney’s to which he donates balls, prizes, and trophies. One trophy is competed for by the clans of Buganda every year and the other is competed for by the 18 Counties (massaza) of Buganda.

As a result, today, there is no confrontational politics between Mengo and the Central Government.  As a result of that, President Museveni has given back to Buganda almost all the land title deeds and buildings which the Obote government had confiscated in 1966.  The Buganda Lukiiko (parliament) now has representatives who live outside Buganda and overseas. The Kabaka set up a “think tank” of highly qualified men and women who advise him on matters that affect the kingdom.

He must have realised that to develop the people, you must have them healthy, well educated, employed, and well fed, housed, and dressed. He set up the Buganda Kingdom Scholarship Fund, which has helped thousands and thousands of young people of all tribes in Buganda to receive quality education from Primary to University.  The Scholarships are applied for at Saza Headquarters in all the 18 Counties of Buganda where offices have been set up for this purpose.

The Kabaka established the now famous Mutesa I Royal University in Masaka, by converting the former Masaka Technical Institute (which was built by Kabaka Mutesa II)   into a University.  The University has campuses at Mengo at Kakeeka near Rubaga and in Mubende.  Kabaka Mutebi’s queen, Nabagereka Sylivia Nagginda, is also extremely development conscious. She is famous for the Ekisakaate Project where she trains boys and girls in life skills, cultural values, and civic duty.

The Kabaka is what politicians call “a man of the people”.  Whenever he deigns to appear in public, he exhorts people to work hard in farming, trade, education, health and the service industry, to improve their living conditions and social life.  He urges the parents to educate their children.

Because of the peace and tranquility in Buganda, Kampala, is once again the `money circulation centre’ of Uganda.

People have built schools, universities, hospitals, factories, industries, hotels, shopping centres, social centres everywhere in Buganda.

Finally, the Baganda are extremely happy that the Kabaka appointed Katikiiro Charles Peter Mayiga, an extremely brilliant and forthright leader who is out to develop the kingdom and restore it to its past glory.

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Kavuma-Kaggwa is an elder from Kyaggwe, Mukono District  –  Tel: 0772584423