Heart of a Queen

In 1955, fifteen years after the title of Isebantu Kyabazinga of Busoga was first coined, 34-year-old Henry Wako Muloki was installed as the third Isebantu Kyabazinga of Busoga. 

Dr Frank Nabwiso has extensively researched and written about the evolution of the chiefdoms that constitute present day Busoga and the institution of Obwa Kyabazinga Bwa Busoga. He told this newspaper that it was soon deemed necessary to have an official title for the wife of the Kyabazinga.

“The Lukiiko decreed that if we have an Isebantu Kyabazinga, then his wife will be officially known as the Inhebantu Kyabazinga,” Dr Nabwiso revealed.

While official records are scanty, it is generally known that an official motion was tabled before the Lukiiko at some point in 1957. The motion was passed. 
The office was created by way of a resolution of the Lukiiko. This paved the way for the creation of an official vote dedicated to the running of the office of the Inhebantu. Lady Alice Muloki became the first Inhebantu of Busoga. 

Knack for education
As Inhebantu, Lady Alice dedicated herself to supporting causes that her husband considered crucial to the development of the Busoga Sub-region. 

She was believed to have been a pillar behind some of the achievements, especially in the areas of education and agriculture, which came to define her husband’s first tenure as Isebantu Kyabazinga of Busoga. 

“Because of her training and background in the area of education, she was very passionate about matters of education. It would not be too farfetched to say that she influenced some of the decisions that were made at that time,” says her son, Fredrick Mukunya. 

It was during that period that Kiira College Butiki, Wanyange Girls’ School, Namasagali College and Wairaka College were started and completed. 

Muloki also donated personal land, paving way for the construction of Kaliro Teachers Training College. The college was later elevated to National Teachers’ College (NTC) level under the Institute of Teacher Education, Kyambogo, (ITEK).

Administrative units in Wanyange, Mayuge, Kagoma, Budondo and Baitambobwe also shot up during the said period. The Muloki administration also distributed hundreds of bursaries and scholarships which enabled a number of the region’s intellectuals to go to school. 

Perhaps due to his earlier training in agriculture, Muloki’s government was able to implement several programmes. It is widely believed that these turned Busoga into not only a huge food basket but also Uganda’s biggest cotton producer. 

It was largely on account of some of those achievements that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon him the honour of Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 1961. 

“If he achieved so much, it was not just because he had a strong leadership team that was comprised of the secretary general, Yeseri Mulondo; the treasurer, Yeseri Lubandi; the secretary for agriculture and forestry, Yekonia Walukumba, and the secretary for works, William Mwangu. It was because Lady Alice was also operating from behind the scenes,” Mukunya says. 

It is difficult to put a finger on what the office did following Muloki’s controversial removal from office in 1962. There is very little in terms of documentation at the kingdom’s headquarters in Bugembe. It is also not clear who the Inhebantu was during the period between 1962 and 1967 when kingdoms were abolished. 

The office only seems to have resurrected following the resurrection of cultural institutions and the reinstallation in February 1996 of Henry Wako Muloki as the Isebantu Kyabazinga of Busoga. 

Second stint
Lady Alice Muloki dedicated her second stint as Inhebantu to promoting education of the girl child. Working with the Busoga Young Professionals, they created the Busoga Bursary Scheme, which enabled an estimated 1,000 less advantaged, but bright girls access education that would have been out of their reach. 

Following her demise, Parliament on the afternoon of November 8, 2005 recognised her “love for her country and the human race which made her mobilise the public and the community and establish a royal programme to educate the girl-child in Busoga and other areas in Uganda.” 

The immediate past Inebantu was also actively involved in the fight against the spread of HIV/Aids, and other programmes aimed at ensuring that more and more people access safe water. 

In recognition of her work, Jinja Municipality renamed Scindia Road, which stretches from Jinja Main Street to the Bus Park in Jinja town, after her. 

A library, the Inhebantu Alice Muloki Memorial Library, has since been constructed at the Busoga Kingdom headquarters in Bugembe. 

The void created by the protracted fight over the Kyabazingaship and lack of an Inhebantu has left the kingdom lagging behind in the areas of girl-child education, family planning, water and sanitation, nutrition and agricultural production. 

Poverty has most recently risen to the top of the challenges that Busoga and the Basoga have to deal with. Inhebantu Lady Jovia Mutesi’s work is cut out.