Kooki’s self-rule demand fails talks with Buganda
Buganda and Kooki officials after a meeting in Mengo, Kampala, on Wednesday. The meeting aimed at diffusing tensions between the two institutions. PHOTO/AMBROSE MUSAAZI
What you need to know:
Kooki Institution demands that their leader, Kamuswaga, is respected by Mengo as a traditional leader.
The third round of negotiations between Buganda Kingdom and Kooki Cultural Institution have ended with no conclusive position taken to defuse the current standoff between the two institutions.
In a closed-door meeting, which lasted five hours at Bulange, Mengo, on Wednesday, a five-member delegation from Kooki led by the deputy premier (Katuukiro), Mr Godfrey Kimbugwe, insisted that Kooki is an autonomous cultural institution which has to be respected by Buganda and any cultural activity they plan to organise in the area “must be authorised by the Kooki hereditary ruler, Kamuswaga Apollo Sansa Kabumbuli II”.
The meeting was also attended by the Rakai Resident District Commissioner, Ms Sarah Kiyimba, and Mr Samuel Kaggwa Ssekamwa, the Rakai District chairperson.
Before the meeting kicked off, a source said the Kooki delegation maintained that their anthem be sung like it had been done for Buganda, a request that the Mengo side led by the speaker of the Lukiiko (parliament), Mr Patrick Luwaga Mugumbule, accepted.
The Wednesday follow-up meeting came after the first two in Kooki in May and on July 14, where both parties failed to agree on how ongoing Buganda Masaza Cup football matches can be played in the area. The first two matches between Kooki and Kabula and Kooki and Buwekula on July 2 and July 16, respectively, were blocked by Kooki loyalists, who insisted the organisers had not involved their cultural institution.
According to sources, the Buganda Kingdom sports minister, Mr Henry Ssekabembe, pleaded with the Kooki delegation during the meeting to have the matches played as negotiations on demands. This was, however, rejected.
Following the failed negotiations, the disagreements between the two cultural institutions degenerated into running battles between police and Buganda Kingdom loyalists after the latter attempted to enter Kooki and watch a football match. The chairperson of Buganda Masaka Cup Tournament, Mr Sulaiman Ssejengo, and five other people were arrested, but later released on police bond.
When contacted, Mr Stanley Ndawula, the Kooki spokesperson, said they are planning to have more engagements .
“Buganda is well versed with Kooki’s status in the kingdom, but some people intentionally want to undermine us,” Mr Ndawula, who was part of the Kooki delegation to Mengo, said. He declined to divulge more details on their engagement with Buganda officials.
Kooki has raised a number of demands to Mengo, one of which is being accorded a special status, higher than that of other Ssaza (county) chiefs, and to have Kamuswaga’s throne inside Mengo Lukiiko hall. However, Mengo has rejected this.
