Mengo, clan leaders clash again over Museveni meet
President Museveni (C) poses for a photo with Buganda Kingdom clan leaders during a meeting at State House Entebbe on June 8, 2024. PHOTO/PPU
What you need to know:
- The clan members, among other issues, sought clearance to go to Namibia and check on the Kabaka who has been unwell since April.
- Mengo has since distanced itself from the meeting and called those who attended self-seekers.
The Mengo establishment has distanced itself from a June 8 meeting between some clan leaders and President Museveni that was held in State House Entebbe.
The meeting was a follow-up to that of last year where the President donated to them a 2.2 acre piece of land and promised to develop it.
The team led by the ICT State minister, Ms Joyce Nabbosa Ssebuggwawo, engaged the President in a two-hour meeting on Saturday, where he reportedly lectured them about wealth creation, but Mengo said it wasn’t notified about it.
The minister yesterday confirmed their meeting with President Museveni and said clan members, among other issues, sought clearance to go to Namibia and check on the Kabaka who has been unwell since April.
“For security reasons, we are not allowed to access the Kabaka. Clan leaders, therefore, requested President Museveni to intervene and talk to the Namibian President so that we could get clearance for the visit,” Ms Ssebuggwawo said.
“Kabaka is the head and if he is not doing well, it affects the entire kingdom and they are answerable to the subjects on whatever happens in the kingdom,’’ she said.
Ngaali clan leader, Mawesano Deus Kyeyune, who was part of the delegation, also confirmed the June 8 meeting with the President yesterday and said they presented a joint statement, which their colleague, Kyadondo Kasirye read before the President.
The officials in the statement reminded President Museveni to fulfill his previous pledges of financing their savings Sacco. They also asked him to follow up on the Kabaka’s health status.
“The President promised to follow up on Kabaka’s health although he disclosed that he did not have enough information,” Mr Kyeyune said.
ICT State minister, Ms Joyce Nabbosa Ssebuggwawo hands President Museveni a portrait
Mengo has since distanced itself from the meeting and called those who attended self-seekers.
Speaking to the Daily Monitor in a telephone interview yesterday, the head of clan leaders, Mr Augustine Kizito Mutumba, said Mengo wasn’t aware of the said meeting.
“Those who attended the meeting never represented our interests,” he said.
This was the second time for the two parties to have an engagement. Last year in August, the same group met President Museveni and one of the issues they discussed was a request for him to purchase for them land, but this drew condemnation from Mengo.
According to the source, the leaders expressed their need to construct two commercial buildings on the 2.2-acre piece of land.
Clan leaders stated that the structures will comprise several centres related to culture and heritage of Buganda Kingdom, including the cultural resource centre in form of a museum and a theatre.
In response, President Museveni agreed to set up the buildings for them using the UPDF Engineering Brigade. He also pledged Shs200m for the Bataka Sacco.
Buganda clan heads under fire over meeting Museveni
Infrastructure
The President appealed to Mengo clan leaders to support government projects aimed at improving their livelihoods.
He also committed to constructing commercial buildings on the 2.2-acre piece of land he donated to them last year. The controversial prime land is in the Lubaga Division near Bulange, Mengo.
