It was a wedding fit for a king

I give thanks to God Almighty for making everything work out for the success of the Kyabazinga’s wedding! What we all saw, from getting a befitting Inhebantu to such a function attracting national and global attention was indeed an act of God and His amazing Grace is indeed abundant!

So many factors made this wedding successful and memorable and it was the effort of so many people, partners and players both internally and externally.

Most of the class and glamour you saw was a result of the personal touch of the Kyabazinga and the Inhebantu herself. We all relied on their guidance to deliver, so without giving details, most credit goes to them.

As you may already be aware, the Central Organising Committee was supervised by none other than the Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga and the Katuukiro, Dr Joseph Muvawala, himself. These gave good direction and together with the support of the second Deputy Katukiro Owek Osman Ahmed Noor, worked so hard to make sure Busoga was united and partners were on board to deliver the royal wedding.

Another major factor was the COC leadership of Mr Patrick Batumbya who are to be commended for doing a great job of galvanizing interest and all efforts and being flexible to new ideas in coming up with a strategy that both helped to raise funds and their focus to meticulously deliver the wedding is the reason we are all happy.

To cap it all, people who contributed money and the partners that joined the efforts like telecom companies, beverage companies, banks, and media houses,  especially Nation Media Group for leading with a strategy that attracted all other media houses to partner. By monetizing their contribution and displaying a dummy check which we received from the CEO, Mr. Tony Glencross, everyone then easily came on board.

As the minister for Kyabazinga Affairs, I noted the level of interest and outpouring of love from all people in Uganda which is a good thing but it scared me very much because I knew these important stakeholders needed to be deliberately sought after to participate and be catered for outside the official invites of 2000 guests.

So, I knew that we had to be creative in order to involve the public as much as possible and make sure everyone got a glimpse of the royal wedding either on their mobile phone, TV screens, radio or word of mouth

It is very elating to know that the Kyabazinga’s royal carriage or cart was phenomenal, attracting interest and approval both locally and internationally including comparisons to the British monarch rides by foreign media. I want to inform you that it also pleased his majesty and the Inhebantu as a unique addition to our culture because as I speak, his majesty has endorsed it as part of his transport fleet and it will remain central in upcoming events as a royal carriage.

The concept was developed jointly by me, my husband (Mr Kigenyi Benon) and the Kiira Motors Corporation design department.

The shape was inspired by and depicted a boat which has been one of the major transport means for Basoga since time immemorial. As you might be aware, Busoga is a very big island  surrounded by water to the south (Lake Nalubaale or Victoria), to the north (lake Lwiitamakoli or Kyoga), to the East, river Mpologoma and the mighty Kiira or River Nile to the West.

Our king regularly goes boat riding on these water bodies and we thought a boat shaped carriage would please him and the subjects.

The technical aspects of the design and the fabrication were tailor-made by the Kiira Motors  Corporation team. It is a five-seater carriage with a very well-manicured interior fit for royalty.

The carriage was a donation by Kiira Motors as a gift to the host king of the KMC vehicle plant in Jinja. Credit also goes to the support given at short notice of about 10 days to the Minister of Science and Innovation, Ms Monica Musenero, the board and management of Kiira Motors and those young people who worked day and night to deliver the cart on time.   It is so heartwarming to know that it was made in Uganda by Ugandans for a Ugandan king!

As I look back, I cannot even exhaust the key players who made this event a runaway success, from the lowest person who sent Shs1,000 to the efforts of kingdom structures; The chiefs Royal Council, The Cabinet, Busoga Lukiiko, the voluntary vigilante groups, the Church and to the biggest sponsor (government), everything counted.

Overall, this wedding will be remembered as the fuel that reignited our unity, brought together the Basoga people and worked as an opportunity to showcase our rich potential as people of great acclaim, a people who cherish their culture and revere their king with the magnetic warmth that radiate and define us as a tribe and as indeed as a country.

Long live your Majesty the Kyabazinga and Inhebantu, Long Live Busoga and Uganda!

Ms Yudaya Babirye Kigenyi, 

Minister for Kyabazinga Affairs

Busoga Kingdom