No celebrations as Rwenzururu kingdom marks 11 years

Kasese, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT | Kasese district was covered in unusual silence on Monday, October 19, otherwise, a day for celebration to mark the 11th coronation anniversary of the King of Rwenzururu, Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere.

The day also marked 54 years since the Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere succeeded his father the late Isaya Mukirania. It has been celebrated with pomp, ever since  Mumbere returned from the United States of America and since Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu was recognized as an independent cultural institution in 2009.

The Kingdom has been in limbo over the last four years, since Mumbere was picked from his Buhikira Royal Palace in Kasese town on November 27, 2016, before it was burned by the Uganda People’s Defense Forces in an assault that left more than 100 people dead. Dozens of his royal guards remain in jail. 

Joseph Kule Muranga, the newly appointed Prime Minister says the Kingdom anniversaries are ideally supposed to be led by the King but he is not yet allowed in the kingdom as pronounced by his bail conditions. Muranga said he could not acknowledge the significance of such events when the King himself is not around. 

The Kingdom did also not celebrate this year’s peace day marked in June every year in remembrance of the day Bakonzo and Bamba announced their independence from the Tooro Kingdom in march 1962.

Gad Mbayahi Bakwanamaha who led the inter-ministerial committee since the Omusinga Mumbere was arrested to August this year, asked the government to recognize the reasons why the kingdom was established. He urged that it would be ideal for government to organize some activities such as public lectures to improve the relationship between the kingdom subjects and itself. 

In a statement released by John Thawite, the kingdom spokesperson the kingdom applauds its subject for observing peace and their material support, especially during the hard times. The kingdom says its unable to mark the celebrations but assures the subjects that the celebrations will be marked at an “appropriate time. 

“We, however, assure you, all that at an appropriate time, the two functions and other publicly marked Rwenzururu functions will be marked as we used to.” The statement read in part. 

Harriet Muhindo a native of Kasese however, wants the kingdom administration to organize some mean events as a reminder to the subjects about the key milestones of their kingdom.

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URN