Quest for ‘federo’ remains alive 14 years after Buganda riots

Between September 7 and 12, 2009, riots of unprecedented proportions rocked Kampala and other parts of Buganda after the police stopped Buganda Kingdom officials and the Kabaka from accessing Kayunga District.

Kabaka Ronald Mutebi was scheduled to preside over the Buganda Youth Day festivities that had been planned to take place in the district on September 13 that year.

An advance team comprised of several kingdom officials led by then Katikkiro (Buganda prime minister) John Baptist Walusimbi was dispatched to prepare for the Kabaka’s visit, but it was stopped by police at Ssezibwa Bridge, sparking off the riots.

Police justified the decision on grounds that the Kabaka’s visit was likely to cause chaos between the Banyala and the Baganda, who are believed to be the dominant communities in Kayunga.

The Banyala, who installed Maj Baker Kimeeze as their cultural leader going by the title, Sabanyala, in September 2008, have always insisted that Kayunga, which the Baganda call Bugerere, is an independent territory even when it has always been known to fall within the boundaries of what has always been known as Buganda Kingdom lands.

The Banyala, with backing from some unknown forces, vowed to block the Kabaka from visiting the area.

Gen Kale Kayihura, who was the Inspector General of Police, insisted that the Kabaka would not go to Kayunga as government “could not guarantee his security”.

Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court did not agree with police’s decision. In December 2015, it ruled in a majority ruling of 3:2 that the Kabaka and Mengo officials had been within their right to move freely in Uganda.

“In conclusion, this petition by a majority of 3 to 2 is allowed. A declaration is hereby issued that the Uganda Police Force acted unconstitutionally to prevent the Kabaka of Buganda from visiting Kayunga District by disrupting all the lawful activities for the preparation of the said visit, which was scheduled to take place on September 13 2009,” the justices ruled.

In defence
Gen Kale Kayihura who was the Inspector General of Police when the riots broke insists that police made the right call. Talking to a friend earlier last month, the General, who was at the end of last month retired from the army, argued that it would have been too risky to allow the Kabaka to visit Kayunga.

“Imagine if the Kabaka had gone to Kayunga and something happened to him. This place would erupt and burn to cinders. We had to stop the Kabaka as a precaution,” Gen Kayihura was quoted to have said.

It should be remembered that the riots exacted quite a high price in terms of human lives and property.

Damage
“These (riots) have resulted in the death of 15 Ugandans, destruction of property, disruption of businesses, and disturbing our peace,” President Museveni said in his September 15, 2009, address to Parliament.

However, Human Rights Watch (HRW), which carried out independent investigations, put the death toll at more than 40. Government and the independent investigators concurred that most of the deaths had occurred as a result of “stray bullets” fired by security personnel.

The spokesperson of the police then, Ms Judith Nabakooba, said 80 people, including a dozen police, were left nursing injuries.

HRW further reported that on September 10 when the riots began, at least five cars, one passenger bus and one delivery truck were destroyed by rioters who blocked some roads with burning tyres and debris, looted some shops and threw stones at police officers and soldiers. The protesters also burnt Nateete Police Station and a factory in Bwaise.

24 charged
AFP quoted Ms Nabakooba saying 550 people had been arrested and detained in various police station where they were due to be screened. At least 24 out of those were later charged with terrorism. The charges were dismissed on May 2012 by Justice Ralph Ochan who said the 11 police officers who appeared in court as state witnesses had failed to prove that they had participated in acts of terrorism.

Forces uninvestigated
HRW concluded that the combined force of police, Military Police and Special Forces that descended on hotspots had used live ammunition, which explained why most of the dead had been ripped by bullets. It called for an investigation into what it described as “unnecessary use of lethal force”.

“Shooting in self-defence is one thing, but we found that some soldiers shot at bystanders and shot through locked doors. The government needs to put an impartial investigation in motion now,” noted Georgette Gagnon, then Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Government never heeded the call.
An attempt by then Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, to institute a parliamentary committee to investigate the killings did not take off. The committee on Defence and Internal Affairs, which was directed on September 30, 2009, to come up with a report within two weeks, never did any work.

Mr Milton Muwuma, who was the chairperson of the Committee at the time, told Sunday Monitor in a previous interview that he did not remember what it was that had pegged back the investigation.

“I think there was an overlap of activities, which rendered that particular investigation time barred, but I would have to consult some of the members,” he said.

The closest that we got to an investigation was when two special police constables and a soldier were arrested in connection with the murder of Faisal Bukenya, in Mpigi District, but they were never charged.

Radios Shut, Journalists fired
In the aftermath, four Luganda FM stations, including Central Broadcasting Services (CBS), Suubi, Sapienta and Akaboozi ku Bbiri, were switched amid accusations of inciting and fuelling the riots.

Whereas it took a shorter time to open the others, it was more than a year after it was closed that CBS was allowed back on air under an arrangement that the chairman of the Broadcasting Council, Mr Godfrey Mutabazi, said on “political grounds” but “not legally binding”.

Open air broadcasts, popularly known as Kimeeza, where people could comment on current issues without phoning into stations were also suspended.

Some radio journalists and presenters like Robert Kalundi Serumaga and Godfrey Wokulira Ssebaggala were fired from their jobs at Radio One and Radio Sapienta on the orders of the Broadcasting Council for allegedly making statements intended to bring hatred, contempt and to excite disaffection against the person of the President.

Veiled threat
On September 10, President Museveni met MPs from Buganda and addressed them about what he described as “the sustained unconstitutional behaviour of his Highness Kabaka Mutebi, the Buganda Kingdom officials and the Kabaka’s radio CBS”.

During the course of the address, he proposed application of rules of the thumb in regard to ensuring that political leaders did not engage in politics.

“In order to do that, we are going to expeditiously bring a law that will operationalize Article 246 in great detail so that the demarcation of roles is clear,” he said.

Mr Museveni then dangled a threat.

“If the problem persist there are a number of steps and measures that government will take to resolve the matter once and for all time,” he said.

Mr Museveni insisted that the National Resistance Movement (NRM) had never, not when it was in the bush or after it took power, committed to monarchism.

“When we triumphed in 1986, the subject of restoring the traditional leaders started coming up. Even in the bush, opportunists like the late [Andrew] Kayiira started bringing it up. In the bush, however, especially during the Kikunyu conference of 1982, the NRM openly rejected Kayiira’s position of talking about monarchies. We said that we were fighting for the freedom of Ugandans; once the Ugandans had got their freedom they would decide on what to do. That was our position. Our major points were captured in the 10-Point Programme,” he said.

Those who were saying that the NRM had committed to it were liars, he said.

“Therefore, those liars who say that we committed ourselves to monarchism in the bush should be disregarded,’ Museveni said.

Demands still alive
It would appear that the remarks were aimed at killing off Buganda’s long running demand for a federal form of government and a return of the kingdom’s properties, popularly referred to as “ebyaffe”.

However, if the speech that Kabaka Mutebi made during celebrations to mark 30 years of his coronation is anything to go by, the demands and aspirations have never died out.

“Those in power made us believe that they had restored kingship,” he said.

He raised the ante, by reiterating Buganda’s demands for “Federo”.

“We managed to improve the lives of our people in terms of health, agriculture, economic status and the general lifestyle. That shows that a lot more can be achieved and it further reflects why we do believe in the federal system,” Kabaka Mutebi said.

It was testimony that the demand never fizzled out. Fourteen years since the riots that partly brought it to the fore, the demand is only latent.