Bagwere install parallel leader to appease gods

A section of clan and spiritual leaders in Bugwere Sub-region have installed a parallel leader on alleged orders of their ancestral spirits.

The general overseer of Balalaka be’Ngoma clan, Mr Patrick Byassi, said the gods appeared and instructed him to install Prince Paul Patrick Pangoli Ndobooli Lyada as their king in order to avert their anger.

Balalaka is one of the clans in Bugwere Cultural Institution. They are in the districts of Kibuku, Budaka, Pallisa and Butebo. The Bagwere constitute an estimated four per cent of Uganda’s population.

The institution was gazetted by government on May 6, 2014. Bishop John Christom Weyabire, was then elected unopposed and crowned as the rightful king on July 4, 2015.

However, during a ceremony to install the new King in Kiriolo Village, Lwatama Sub-county in Kibuku District at the weekend, the spiritual leaders claimed the gods were not happy with the new leadership.

“The gods have not been happy because Bishop Weyabire does not belong to the royal blood and was not inspired by the spirits. He was elected yet the king is supposed to be chosen by the spirits,” Mr Patrick Byassi, a member of Balalaka be’Ngoma clan, said.

Mr Byassi said Prince Pangoli is the grandchild of their late and first king, Ndobooli Lyada, who died in 1840.

“Our late king was a great man, who ruled the entire Bukedi Sub-region but when he died in 1840, the kingdom got destroyed due to greed for power,” he said.

Mr Mukasa Mutyaba, another spiritual leader, said the installation of Prince Pangoli was a sign of submission to the gods. “Our land will now be blessed because we have appeased our gods,” he said.

Mr Moses Wema, the chairperson of Kiriolo Village, Lwatama Sub-county, said the new king will instill values and customs, which had been eroded.

“This is our true heir. We will regain our lost glory as an institution,” he said, adding that they were tired of being ruled by earthly leaders who were voted by politicians.

The prime minister of Bugwere Cultural Institution, Mr Eric Kasolo, dismissed the installation as baseless, adding that the Bagwere people have never had royal clans.

“There has never been a history of a cultural leader or a king in Bugwere,” he said.

Petitioning the IGP

Recently, the clan leaders in Bugwere Cultural Institution petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mr Martins Okoth-Ochola, to stop another self-imposed cultural leader, Mr Nelson Kamba Mulabbi, from undermining the leadership of the duly installed King, Bishop John Chrysostom Weyabire.

The petition dated October 10, which was signed by Mr Kasolo, indicates that Mr Mulabbi and his agents have continued to annoy and ridicule the king of Bugwere through, among other things, organising unlawful meetings to solicit funds from residents in the institution for his official installation.

The deputy prime minister, Mr Abubakar Naghenjje, said in spite of several warnings to Mr Mulabbi and his group, they have continued to cause confusion and disunity in the institution.

“These people have deliberately, adamantly failed to take heed. They have continued to violate the rule of law and undermine our king,” he said.