Kooki leaders move to create counties amid Mengo protest

Rakai. Kooki Chiefdom leadership has embarked on a process to create independent counties within the chiefdom.
According to Kooki premier, Hajj Idi Kiwanuka, the counties will include; Mayango, Ddungu and Bulaga. He said the decision to create the counties was reached after getting guidance from elders in the chiefdom.

“We already met our elders who had true history about Kooki and told us what to do. The said counties will be considered very soon to enable us effectively serve our people,” he said during an interview on Tuesday.
Mr Kiwanuka said Bulaga County, for example, will consist of Kacheera, Lwamaggwa, Ddwaniro, and Kagamba sub-counties, whereas Rakai Town Council, Lwanda, Kifamba, and Byakabanda sub-counties will form Ddungu County.

The composition
Mayango County will comprise Kyarurangira, Kiziba and Kibanda sub-counties.
“The county chiefs will be unveiled on May 15 during Kamuswaga’s 15th coronation ceremony in Lwamaggwa Sub-county,” he added.
This latest move lends credence to reports that authorities in the chiefdom harbour intentions of seceding from Buganda Kingdom in the near future.

This comes just weeks after members of the Babiito clan, which rules Kooki Chiefdom, last month declared their agreement with Buganda Kingdom as irrelevant due to unresolved issues between the two cultural institutions that have persisted for a decade.
Kooki was an independent kingdom until 1886, when it was reduced to semi-independent under Buganda, to whom they sought protection against external invasion.

In the agreement signed between the then Kooki ruler (Kamuswaga), Hezekiah Ndawula and the Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda, Kooki was infused into the territories of Buganda Kingdom, but with a special status above the other 17 counties.
Mr Samson Kakembo, one of the Kooki elders, said the counties are just being revived, insisting that they existed before Kooki became part of Buganda.

“My grandfather used to tell us a lot of history about Kooki because he even spoke Lukooki language which gave me a chance to grasp some history about the chiefdom. I remember him telling us that we had three counties and I am happy there is a plan to revive them,” he said.

Mr Stanley Ndawula, the Kooki Chiefdom spokesperson and information minister, told Daily Monitor that they already have 11 sub-counties in place and creation of counties will ease monitoring of development projects in the chiefdom.
“It is a good move for the Bakooki to develop. The stories of those counties have been told by elders in Kooki ever since our Kamuswaga was enthroned in 2004,” he said.

When asked about Kooki’s decision to demarcate counties in its territory, the Buganda Kingdom spokesperson, Mr Noah Kiyimba, said their counterparts in Kooki have not communicated to them officially.
“Our boundaries are well known and Kooki is one of the counties of Buganda. If there is something they are planning, I am sure out of courtesy, they have to inform us,” he said.

Mr Peter Walubiri, a renowned constitutional lawyer, said authorities in Kooki have no legal basis to create counties where they don’t exist.
“It is only that Ugandans are turning cultural issues political, however, cultural institutions have no authority over boundaries administratively, it is out of people’s will to exercise their culture,” he said.

Previous claims

Although Kooki is constitutionally part of Buganda Kingdom and Kooki County is among the 18 counties of Buganda, Kooki chiefdom leaders led by Kamuswaga insist that they are an independent cultural institution.
A similar claim is also being made by Mr Constantine Mwogeza Batamanya and Baker Kimeze, the cultural leaders of ethnic Baruuli and Banyala communities in Nakasongola District and Kayunga District respectively.
According to Traditional or Cultural Leaders Act, 2010, Kamuswaga and Isabaruuli are listed among the 13 traditional leaders in Uganda.
In November last year, Buganda Kingdom Premier Charles Peter Mayiga, was blocked from traveling to Kooki for seven hours until some terms were agreed upon between security agencies and the Kooki administration.

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