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President Museveni handing over titles to deputy Katikkiro Emmanuel Ssendaula
The absence of Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga from the high profile event at which President Museveni handed over 213 land titles to Buganda early this week has sent tongues wagging.
Museveni has previously made it clear that when it comes to Buganda kingdom issues, he would rather deal directly with Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II or at the very least the katikkiro.
Indeed, that has been more or less the case until Tuesday, April 15, when both the Kabaka and the katikkiro skipped the State House function at which the land titles were returned.
A disappointed Museveni was left to hand over the titles to first deputy Buganda Katikkiro Emmanuel Ssendaula and five other Mengo officials. Being a historic occasion, State House had invited Kabaka Ronald MuwendaMutebi II himself and his Katikkiro Mayiga to receive the properties that have been in the central government's possession for 48 years.
Our sources indicate that the kingdom received invitations to the event last week. Buganda spokesman Denis Walusimbi Ssengendo said in an interview on Wednesday that it was later agreed that the Kabaka would not attend because of a constitutional provision that bars traditional and cultural leaders from taking part in partisan political activities.
Apparently, State House was not informed that the Kabaka would not show up. Museveni, who is also NRM chairman, wanted to derive maximum political capital from the event as he often does when such an opportunity arises. That is why the issue has been extensively covered by the government-owned media.
In fact, preparations included televising the event. According to our information, President Museveni and his powerful team that included the Attorney General Peter Nyombi, Information and National Guidance minister Rosemary Namayanja Nsereko and Lands, Housing and Urban Development minister Daudi Migereko and 30 members of the Buganda parliamentary caucus expected both the Kabaka and the Katikkiro to be present.
The initial plan, our source said, was for the president and his delegation to stand outside the reception area at State House and welcome the Kabaka as he does to visiting heads of state. This plan changed when, hours before the event started, the president was informed that KabakaMutebi and Katikkiro Mayiga would not make it.
Ssendaula's team comprised Prince David Wasajja (the Kabaka's younger brother), Walusimbi, Apollo Nelson Makubuya (Justice and Constitutional affairs), Charles Bwenvu (state for Foreign relations) and Ambassador William Matovu (Royal Treasury). This relatively lesser delegation caused a change in protocol as Ssendaula's team was ushered into a conference room where they waited for president Museveni to join them.
When Museveni entered the room, Ssendaula quickly conveyed Mayiga's apology. Nevertheless, the apology did little to explain the katikkiro's absence at such a historic occasion.
Mengo said that Mayiga had missed the function because he was presiding over a fundraising event for the reconstruction of Kasubi royal tombs in Sisa sub-county, Wakiso district. Interestingly, this is hardly 15km away from State House, Entebbe, where the land title handover ceremony was taking place.
It has been argued that if the katikkiro was able to cancel his engagements on Monday, April 14, to meet with Gen Aronda Nyakairima, the minister of Internal Affairs at Mengo over the national ID project, he could have found time to attend to an even bigger personality, the President, on Monday.
Some of his confidants have intimated to The Observer that Mayiga could have skipped the State House function because he was dissuaded by some kingdom officials who feared that by returning to Entebbe, he would open himself up to personal attacks like the ones his predecessor John Baptist Walusimbi endured. Walusimbi was persistently accused of being too close to the regime.
Mayiga has also endured his fair share of criticism from especially vocal opposition voices in Buganda, such as Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda (Kyadondo East MP) and Betty Nambooze (Mukono municipality MP) over his perceived closeness to the regime.
In fact, some of these leaders were very critical of Mayiga's role in last year's memorandum of understanding with the central government that led to the return of some of Buganda's properties, and are therefore unlikely to be happy with the 213 titles. Mayiga might have considered a likely backlash from this group and decided to stay away.
Mengo is also aware that Museveni is exploiting the issue politically and officials are keen not to be seen to be aiding the president in that regard. Besides, the fact that what was being handed over pales in comparison to what is demanded might have persuaded the katikkiro to stay away to avoid charges of warming up to byoya bya nswa(ants' feathers), as previous offers deemed unsatisfactory were termed.
Meanwhile, a source at Mengo told us that Mayiga had asked State House to postpone the function to a later date, if he was to attend, but was told this would not be possible. Mayiga himself told The Observer on Wednesday that he was not obliged to attend the function.
"When I was appointed katikkiro, the Kabaka gave me a team with which I manage the kingdom affairs. I don't run the kingdom alone, I had other kingdom engagements to attend to, but the first deputy katikkiro was there to represent us," Mayigasaid on phone.
More demands
We have further learnt that as State House prepared to hand over the 213 land titles, Buganda loyalists were also plotting to renew their demands for much more than was being returned. That is why despite the availability of transport for the Buganda caucus MPs, only 30 out of the 90 caucus members travelled to Entebbe.
Upon their return, some of the caucus members started mobilizing their colleagues who had remained behind to begin on a new push for more properties to be equally returned.
"What he has handed over is just a portion of what we demand. The battle must begin now so that he hands back all the land in government's possession and the money that he is reluctant to pay," said one of them.
This was echoed by Walusimbi, the kingdom's spokesman, who said what was handed over was about 20 per cent of what the kingdom was demanding. He said the kingdom had embarked on a lengthy process of verifying other assets held by the central government, though some had since been sold.
"We owned shares in companies like UEB [Uganda Electricity Board], Coffee Marketing Board and UDC [Uganda Development Corporation]. They were sold, but we want compensation for the shares that we held," Walusimbi said.
"It is a long process that needs to be handled with a lot of care."
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