What is fuelling wrangle between Buganda, Kooki?

Located in Rakai District, Kooki chiefdom was incorporated into Buganda Kingdom in 1896 after signing an agreement, but retained some cultural heritage, including their leader, the Kamuswaga.
 However, authorities in Kooki claim their counterparts in Mengo, the seat of Buganda Kingdom, are undermining their institution, particularly the Kamuswaga Sansa Kabumbuli II, which has continued to cause clashes.
On January 12, four Buganda Kingdom officials were arrested and detained at Rakai Police Station for several hours before being released  over alleged ‘trespass’. 

The officials had gone to oversee the installation of Kabaka’s new representatives in the area. Those arrested were Ms Gertrude Nakalanzi Ssebugwawo, the coordinator of Buganda Kingdom programmes in Kooki Chiefdom; Mr Joseph Mutyaba, the deputy of Kabaka’s representative in Kabula County (Lumama); Mr Paul Mwanje, and Mr Willy Kiyaga who were being installed as Kyaruragira Sub-county (Gombolola) chief and deputy, respectively.

In 2018, police also attempted to block Buganda Kingdom Katikkiro (prime minister), Mr Charles Peter Mayiga, from visiting Kooki to promote coffee growing.
The semi-autonomous Kooki is one of the 20 counties of Buganda, however, Kooki leaders claim they are an independent cultural institution within Buganda and if Mengo officials want to visit the area, they have to first seek  permission from the Kamuswaga, which Buganda has vehemently objected.

Mr Godfrey Kimbugwe, the deputy prime minister of Kooki chiefdom, claims that Buganda Kingdom, particularly the Katikkiro, has continued to deny the Kamuswaga respect and status as enshrined in the agreement his forefathers signed in 1896.
Mr Kimbugwe said they want their chiefdom to be accorded a special status, higher than that of other Ssaza (county), and to have the Kamuswaga’s throne inside the Mengo Lukiiko hall. He said Kooki also wants the 125-year-old agreement reviewed.

“We simply want that, nothing else,” he said during an interview on Tuesday.
 “We have made efforts to meet Kabaka to negotiate new terms of cooperation between the two cultural institutions, but Mr Mayiga has been the stumbling block in all this,” he said, adding: “By the way, the current standoff is not with Buganda Kingdom, but Mr Mayiga.
Mr Kimbugwe claimed that Katikkiro Mayiga has also continued to belittle their cultural leader.
“He [Mayiga] is a lawyer, but I don’t know why he is not using that rich background to know that Kooki has a recognised hereditary cultural leader,” he said.

While addressing the Lukiiko on December 3, 2018, Mr Mayiga accused the Kamuswaga and some elements within the central government of fanning tension between Buganda and Kooki.
 “It is really surprising that someone can play childish games against a programme meant to develop Kabaka’s people. I don’t participate in childish games, and I am not someone you can joke around with,” Mr Mayiga told Lukiiko members then.

However, Mr Mayiga  did not directly mention the Kooki hereditary leader’s name nor title.
Mr Denis Jjuuko, an aide to Mr Mayiga, declined to respond to requests for comment made via phone call on Tuesday and WhatApp message on January 18.
But Mr Noah Kiyimba, the Buganda Information minister, blamed the clashes on the latter’s leadership which he said had failed to know that Kooki is constitutionally part of Buganda.
“According to the Constitution of Uganda, the boundaries of Buganda Kingdom are well-defined by naming the districts that constitute Buganda as they were in 1995. And Kooki is a county within Buganda, with a hereditary chief, which has been respected since 1896,” Mr Kiyimba said.

He also said Buganda Kingdom enjoys a cordial working relationship with other culture institutions.
“Almost all kings and chiefs in Uganda have residences within Buganda including the hereditary chief of Kooki who stays in Kampala most of the time, but we don’t know why they are unfriendly,” he said.
About reports that Mr Mayiga has personally failed Kooki officials’ efforts to negotiate new terms of cooperation with Buganda, Mr Kiyimba described this as diversionary.

“Reference to Katikkiro’s personality in a situation where some persons interfere with a cultural event is merely diversionary,” he said.
Mr Kiyimba tasked Kooki to hold talks with them instead of creating tension. “Like we have always said, Buganda has never refused to dialogue with anybody. Our door is always open for dialogue and Kooki officials are welcome,” he said.

Division
Since 2009, reports have been circulating that Kooki is planning to secede from Buganda. The speculation intensified with Kooki composing its own anthem, a flag and also launched a campaign to revive Lukooki, a language widely spoken in the chiefdom.
Later in 2012, the Kamuswaga suspended his attendance at Buganda Lukiiko and also instructed his ministers to stop involving themselves in Buganda Kingdom affairs until the contentious issues are resolved.

But Mengo officials have continued to attend Kamuswaga’s functions.
In 2018, Kooki chiefdom petitioned the central government asking for intervention in its strained relationship with Buganda Kingdom.
Government is yet to mediate between the two cultural institutions.

Background
Kooki was once an independent kingdom until it was reduced to a semi-independent chiefdom under Buganda, to where they sought protection against external invasion.
In the 1896 agreement signed between the then Kamuswaga Hezekiah Ndawula and the late Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda, Kooki was infused into the territories of Buganda Kingdom, but with a special status above other 17 counties. 
 By Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa, Cleophas Tukamarwa & Richard Kyanjo