The head of one of the largest and most powerful Baganda clans, Mmamba (lung fish), passed away on January 20, 2009 after an extended period of poor health. Gabunga Yosiya Kasozi died in Mulago Hospital. Gabunga was  86 years old (Not 90 as we reported earlier in Gabunga Yosiya Kasozi of Mmamba Clan Is Very Sick).  He has been in bad general health for over a year. In his condolence message to members of the Mmamba clan, Ssabasajja Kabaka Mutebi II expressed deep sorrow at the loss of the Mmamba patriarch.

According to sources, the deceased Mmamba patriarch included in his last will and testament a strong statement warning Kabaka’s subjects that Mmengo [under the leadership of Katikkiro JB Walusimbi] is actively contributing to the weakening of clans and their leaders which could undermine the Kingdom. His statement reminds Baganda that their clan system is the foundation of the Kingdom, pointing out that when Kabaka Mutebi took rein in 1993 Baganda were still one unity and many more than when Milton Obote exile Ssekabaka Muteesa II in 1966 because the clan system still worked.

A few years ago Kabaka Mutebi authorized members of the Nankere sub clan (ssiga) within  Mmamba to break off and become an autonomous clan, named Mmamba Enkerekere. This development put Gabunga Kasozi under a lot of stress but there appears no evidence that it contributed to his health problems.  On the contrary, according to Mmamba sources, Yosiya Kasozi has been fiercely loyal to Kabaka Mutebi and very concerned about the corruption and disrespect for Kabaka which have become common place in Mmengo.

The first Gabunga of the Mmamba clan was Mubiru who is estimated to have been alive around the year 1250. Yosiya Kasozi was the 36th Gabunga and reined for over 49 years. He ascended to the position of Gabunga in 1959, when he succeeded his late father Semyoni Galiwango Gabunga. His mother was the late Kulisitiina Noola Ndwaddewazibwa of the Nsenene clan.