King Mumbere goes to Kasese to mourn his mother

KASESE- One day after missing the burial of Queen Mother Christine Biira Mukirania in Bundubugyo District, Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere is expected in Kasese to start his two weeks of mourning.

Kingdom spokesperson, Mr Yona Tumusiime Maate told Daily Monitor that the King will be welcomed in his full royal honour although he is in the area to mourn.

“The Omusinga (king) is expected to land at the Kasese Airfield at 2pm before going to the place organised for him to rest,” Mr Maate said.

King  Mumbere skipped his mother’s burial after a bitter rift between him and his young brother, Mr  Christopher Kibanzanga the State Minister for Agriculture.

The two siblings disagreed on where to bury their mother.

Mr  Kibanzanga defied King Mumbere’s orders to bury the queen mother in Kasese where the kingdom seat is located and instead carried the body to their ancestral home at Kirindi in Bundibugyo District.

 King Mumbere is returning home for the first time following his arrest in November 2016 when UPDF soldiers raided his Buhikira Royal Palace in Kasese town leaving over 100 people dead.

The king and over 200 of his subjects were charged with several counts of treason, terrorism, murder and robbery among others.

Court barred him from travelling to his kingdom as one of the bail terms

Mr Maate said, the King will then visit his late mother’s residence at Kigali Cell, Nyakabingo II ward in Kasese Municipality to greet family members.

On Tuesday, a memorial service for the Queen Mother will be held at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Kasese town.

“At the church, the Omusinga will be free to address the subjects after the memorial service,” Mr Maate said.

On Wednesday, as the first son of the late Isaya Mukirania and the late Christine Biira Mukirania, the King will join family elders to perform funeral rites and other cultural rituals.

Among the Bakonzo, after the burial before everyone returns to their homes, the family performs a ritual known as “Omughaliko” where the deceased’s belongings, especially clothes are shared among family members.

King Mumbere requested the “Omughaliko” ceremony to be held in Kasese at his mother’s home where all her belongings are kept.

She never lived in Bundibugyo since the family moved to Kasese in 1962 at the helm of the Rwenzururu Movement, a deadly rebellion against Tooro Kingdom and the central government.

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Rwenzururu Queen Mother buried

King Mumbere and his young brother, Mr Christopher Kibanzanga, the State Minister for Agriculture, clashed on the choice of the burial place with the former ordering that it should be in Kasese District

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King Mumbere misses mother’s burial in Bundibugyo

However, King Charles Wesley Mumbere, who secured permission from court to travel to Kasese for the burial and Kasese District leaders have shunned the funeral

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