The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Fort Portal, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Babiito, Tooro Kindom’s ruling clan, has hatched a grand plan to revive what they call a collapsing kingdom due to maladministration.
This follows a series of disagreements between Tooro Kingdom administration and Babiito elders over the management of the cultural institution headed by the world’s youngest king, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
According to the 14-page concept plan that URN has seen, Oyo’s clan members say their objectives include recreating a sense of direction for enhancement of effective and efficient leadership through sensitization of stakeholders.
The others are intervening in what is termed as escalating mismanagement and misappropriation of Tooro Kingdom property through legal structures and enhancing opportunities for dialogue with the king and kingdom leadership to provide support for the growth and development of the kingdom.
Other than being members of the royal clan, the 20 people behind this plan are also prominent citizens in Tooro Sub-region who have ever held high offices in the country. They include Prof Edward Rugumayo, Mbogo Rukidi Nebath, Fr Charles Oyo the spokesperson of the clan, Msgr Isaiah Mayombo who is also the Vicar General Fort Portal Catholic Diocese, Patrick Kagoro, Dr Kagoro Kaijomurubi and Capt Tony Rubombora.
These have detailed how they will use the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats alias SWOT analysis approach, to tackle the challenges faced by the kingdom.
Key in the strengths they have observed include the cultural diversity of the kingdom, existence of the kingdom structures, general goodwill towards the kingdom by the subjects and the kingdom’s physical assets.
However, they say that a number of weaknesses are a major setback and they include aloofness and silence of some stakeholders who decide to treat the kingdom as an establishment of the king and a few others.
An undeveloped culture of constitutionalism in the running of the kingdom, limited clarity on the mandate of kingdom leaders and lack of separation of powers between the Rukurato (kingdom Parliament) the royal family and the Office of the Prime Minister are the other weaknesses highlighted.
But the architects of the plan say that despite the weaknesses, there are opportunities like goodwill of the central government to support the kingdom, the gradual return of the kingdom assets, tourism potential of the Rwenzori Sub-region and elevation of Fort Portal to a tourism city status.
In 2018, the disagreements between the Queen Mother Best Kemigisa and some royal clan members who were accusing her of selling kingdom land was escalated to the Land Commission that was being headed by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire. While before the commission, Kemigisa denied ever selling any property of the kingdom but said she sold her own property.
In an Interview with our reporter earlier this week, Fr Oyo said they would not give up on the issue of returning the sold land by the Queen Mother. He explained that Kemigisa only became an administrator of the estate by King Oyo’s late Father, King Patrick David Mathew Kaboyo Olimi III, in 1999, four years after his death.
This, Fr Oyo added, meant that Kemigisa was only supposed to look after the estate because Olimi had also received it from his ancestors and it was meant to benefit the great grandchildren and his children like King Oyo.
In the declaration by Kemigisa at Fort Portal High Court on May 27, 1999, that our reporter has seen, she said that her husband had died without a will and she wanted to take over.
“I’m a widow of the deceased and that I shall pay his just debts and the residue of his said estate and effects according to customary law and that I shall make a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the said estate and effects and render a just and true account thereof whenever required by law so to do,” reads part of the declaration.
But Fr Oyo says that the Queen Mother has since ignored the declaration and her sale of several parcels of the estate land in Karambi and other parts of the kingdom is illegal and has left King Oyo landless, trying to encroach on the kingdom land.
Earlier this year, the King was controversially leased part of the 255 hectares of Tooro Kingdom land in Fort Portal Tourism City. According to the Kingdom Prime Minister, Bernard Tungakwo, the king had donors who wanted to construct a hospital for his subject on the same land but required that the land be transferred to his name first.
Tungakwo declined to tell the duration and cost of the lease, saying it was unnecessary and that the right process had been followed.
However, in the concept plan, the Babiito say that all these are internal governance challenges in the kingdom that have tainted the kingdom’s image exacerbated by the king’s stay in Kampala that in Tooro.
They propose that to right these wrongs, they will hold meetings with different stakeholders in Tooro that include the Cabinet, politicians, religious leaders and Tooro kingdom subjects to build consensus on critical challenges affecting the kingdom and find a solution.
Also, they plan to get audience with the king “to discuss salient issues of Tooro Kingdom and the concerns of the Babiito and broadly explore how they can support efforts meant to strengthen Tooro Kingdom for the betterment of all people of Tooro”.
In the plan, the royal clan also wants to amend the constitution of the kingdom and create a forum for conciliation and arbitration of real and perceived misunderstandings, saying that they are key stakeholders.
However, as they plan, Tungwako and the Clan leader also known as the “Musuuga”, Charles Kamurasi, on Tuesday held a press conference and said they will not entertain them, saying they only want to destabilize the kingdom.
Kamurasi even said that whatever they are doing is illegal because he has not been involved at any stage.
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