How clause on oil royalties places kingdoms under distrust

Oil royalties

When the king of Bunyoro appeared at Parliament to present his concerns to the committee on natural resources, all the MPs from his kingdom boycotted the precinct. This was on the basis of the fact that traditionally, a king is not supposed to be seen seeking favours from his subjects. Yet quietly, this is what the clause on oil royalties in its current form seems to foster. For it to progress as planned, the bill will technically be putting the kingdoms at the mercy of district councils as their benefactors when it comes to oil royalties.

In its current form, the oil revenue management policy proposes that “each local government may in consultation with the ministry responsible for culture and other local governments, agree and allocate a share of their royalty grant to cultural institutions recognised by the Constitution in their localities”.

In a way, this pushes the traditional leaders further away from the ‘traditional cake’ as would appear in this circumstance by granting the powers of financial muscle to the political leaders. Of course, districts belong to kingdoms and have planning committees where necessary, but so do kingdoms.

Calls
Bunyoro’s Omukama Solomon Iguru Gafabusa has been on record several times calling for consideration of cultural leaders in granting of royalties, requesting for 12.8 per cent of the gross oil revenues, which the kingdom would use in developing and improving the livelihood of its people.
However, his various appeals have gone unnoticed like a lone voice in a tropical forest.

Having failed to have Parliament approve his request, next time round it will be visits to the district councils. Kingdoms by the nature of their founding and flourishing are economic entities. The more the kingdom was able to engage in trade of whatever resource it had in abundance that attracted traders; gold, slaves, ivory, copper, salt, the more powerful and stable the kingdom was.
When one journeys through Hoima, for example, and looks at the dilapidated Bunyoro-Kitara headquarters, there is no arguing that if there is a pre-historic kingdom that badly needs resources, it is Bunyoro.

Reflection
Reflecting also on the formidable contribution of Bunyoro kings such as Kabalega in trying to defend African sovereignty, one indeed muses, ‘how the mighty have fallen.’ That at a time when we should be reinforcing their achievements, we, the successors, instead choose to clip their wings. Kingdoms have programmes that they need to continue running in order to maintain relevance in a post-modernist world. There are cultural sites to be run, heritages to be groomed, rites to be propelled as well as maintenance of the king, the palace and its properties.

For a kingdom to continuously re-invent its purpose, it needs money. With not so much minerals to speak of, the Buganda Kingdom has flourished due to the commercial activities within its borders that enable it to finance its activities from its vast wealth of land as well as the contributions of loyal subjects.

Thus, it would be unheard of for the Kbabaka to come to a Kampala Capital City Authority meeting or attending a council meeting in Masaka to beg for some money for the kingdom.
It also needs to be seen that honouring a king with financial homage is not in any way being backward or a reserve for the rustic and backward peasants, or a custom which belongs to the 19th century. The truth is that cultural institutions are a very necessary presence. The economic activities and autonomy that once propelled and defined them might have been long assimilated within the nation of Uganda, but that should not infinitely spell doom to their wellbeing and pride.

Traditional leaders also play a big role in fostering harmony amongst their subjects. It is worthwhile noting that the Omukama has not openly shown any animosity to government over what is happening concerning legislation as well as the poor and sometimes lack of compensation for his subjects in regard to oil extraction activities. Yet this must not be taken for granted. Many are places where minerals have led to unending conflicts usually fuelled by the dissatisfaction of recognised traditional leaders.

It may appear that all is well in the short term, but a time may come when the political leaders may have to turn to traditional leaders to calm matters over things gone haywire.
Already, a big contention stands over the reduction of royalties from the constitutionally provided for 20 per cent to the now proposed 7 per cent of the gross revenue accruing from minerals.
When you have 25 districts (and still counting) and throw in a kingdom fighting for the same meagre funds, you don’t get a melting pot, more like a salad dish instead. So, if the government is indeed keen on ensuring equity in these matters, the earlier such matters are put to good rest, the better.

Subjects’ role
The king of Bunyoro might have exhibited a rare humility in presenting himself to his subjects, other kings may definitely not be ready for that. The ball now goes back to the court of the subjects in Parliament; do they wish to see their kings buzzing through the metal detectors to appeal to them because they have discovered good news in their kingdoms, or will they correct this mistake before it happens?

Let us all, therefore, work towards having a harmonious co-existence between the cultural and political leaderships rather than creating grounds for future tension and division.
It is also worth noting that while kingdoms have lasted a long time, so shall they probably live a long time to come too. It also helps us to remember that oil is a finite resource, which when exhausted, should leave golden footprints, not shattered establishments.
The writer is a Project Officer with Global Rights Alert