Rival Kyabazinga unaware of Gabula’s move to rule for life
Happy. Kyabazinga of Busoga William Wilberforce Kadumbula Nadiope Gabula IV at his coronation last year. PHOTO BY DENIS EDEMA
What you need to know:
- Mr Wambuzi’s statements come after the Busoga Parliament amended the constitution to pave way for the current Kyabazinga to rule for life.
- Dr Nabwiso who claims to be in possession of the agenda of the December 17 meeting that passed the life Kyabazingaship project says the meeting started at 12:00pm but item Number Five which was meant to be ‘Communication form Justice and Constitutional Affairs’, was conspicuously skipped and what followed was Item Number Six (Resolution) and later closure.
JINJA. Mr Edward Columbus Wambuzi, the rival to the Kyabazinga of Busoga, Mr William Wilberforce Kadumbula Nadiope Gabula IV, says he is not aware of any life Kyabazingaship project for his cultural foe.
Mr Wambuzi’s statements come after the Busoga Parliament (Lukiiko) last Friday amended the Constitution of Busoga Kingdom and paved way for the current Kyabazinga to rule for life.
While speaking to Daily Monitor in the aftermath of that sitting, Mr Wambuzi said: “I am not aware and neither have I seen any document.”
At an extraordinary sitting of the Lukiiko at the Kingdom headquarters in Bugembe, Bunyha Chiefdom representative, Mr Mathias Mutatyama, called on the House to unanimously second his motion that paves for life Kyabazingaship.
The Lukiiko speaker, Mr George Mutyabule, says: “I received this document from the Royal Council signed by nine Royal Chiefs recalling Articles 6 and 8 of the Busoga Constitution to allow Kyabazinga hold office without a prescribed period and election.”
Mr Mutyabule adds that Articles 6 and 8 which specifically deal with the election and tenure of office of the Isebantu Kyabazinga, states: “Once elected, the Kyabazinga shall hold the throne until his death.”
The Kingdom’s Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, Mr Alex Luganda, says the said articles were earlier suspended following the conflict within the kingdom that culminated in the monarchy spending six years without a sitting Kyabazinga.
These, he added, were replaced by another Article in which all Royal Chiefs agreed that any elected Kyabazinga would rule for five years and allow the Kyabazingaship to rotate among the 11 chiefdoms.
Mr Wambuzi and Kyabazinga Gabula IV have endured a frosty relationship since the death of Kyabazinga Henry Wako Muloki in September 2008.
Their decade-long hostility momentarily plunged the Kingdom into an abyss of cultural uncertainty, culminating into the Kingdom spending six years without a Kyabazinga.
Expert opinion
Dr Frank Nabwiso, the former Member of Parliament for Kagoma County, Jinja District and author of Busoga’s Eleven Hereditary Chiefdoms and the Kyabazingaship In Uganda (Dec 2016), a book that traces the Kyabazingaship from 1600 to 2016, says he does not understand why some people think they can make the Kyabazingaship a life project.
Dr Nabwiso notes that the recently passed life Kyabazinga project is ‘bad for Busoga Kingdom business’ as it means: “Someone will be there for life and will have turned the ‘whole thing’ into a monarchy.”
The kingdom’s spokesperson, Mr Andrew Ntange, said: “I will not respond to Dr Nabwiso. The last time I heard he was an academician, then he’s a politician. I will not answer him back."
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