According to our Boston sources, Lt. Frank Musisi of the USA army told the Buganda Emergency meeting on October 17, 2009 that president Museveni is paying Buganda Post to write malicious stories about him (Musisi). Lt. Musisi was apparently referring to an October 17, 2009 posting which said that both at UNAA Chicago and a Los Angeles Baganda conference, the USA army officer had claimed that he was leading the Buganda cause in America (see “Muliika And Frank Musisi To Headline Boston Buganda Emergency Conference“). Apparently, fully aware that the Buganda Post story was accurate, Lt. Musisi never told his Boston audience what Buganda Post had written which inaccurate, let alone malicious.
On October 17, 2009, over 300 angry Baganda from Boston, New York, Washington DC, California, Kampala and many other places attended the one day conference. Several sources told us that it was nothing short of an intense indoor demonstration against Museveni’s NRM dictatorship. It must have given Deputy Katikkiro Ssendaula a real headache (see “”). By far, the phrases which attracted the most standing ovations were,”Ssabsajja awangaale” (Long live Ssabasajja [Kabaka]” “Buli mbuzi ku nkondo yaayo” (”every goat back to its home peg”), “Teli kuteesa!” (”No negotiations”), “Ettaka lyaffe eribe tujja kulibajjako”(”we shall reclaim the land they have stolen from us”) and “Museveni must go!”. By all measures, the conference was very successful in proving that Baganda love their nation and Kabaka. And that most Baganda are tired of the anti-Buganda Ugandan politics.
One attendee, who requested that we do not disclose her identity, described the meeting to us in an email as follows: ”At the beginning I got confused because I thought that this was an emergency meeting, may be to decide how to deal with Museveni land grabbing. But for the first two hours, people were talking about Buganda history and how Federo is good for other regions too. To me it was starting to sound like a Uganda emergency conference.”
The attendee continued: “However, things changed when one light skinned gentleman called Kintu spoke about the real problems of Buganda. In my opinion, that is when the conference really started. Mr. Kintu asked Baganda to stop fearing independence and power. He mocked those take the attention off Buganda’s interests to support Uganda’s fake politicians, mbu because they have military or international exposure. He got the biggest applause when he said, ‘Abo bannabyabufuzi bemwesibako bali recycled, tebalina kyebayiinza kutukolera mu lutalo luno” (”All those [political figures] you are standing behind are recycles materials, they cannot do much for us in this war”). Everyone shouted loudly when he told us to stop mincing words when discussing Buganda’s enemies, and said we must not fear to name them. And the audience started shouting Apollo Nsibambi, Gilbert Bukenya and Edward Ssekandi.”
According to our source Mr. Abed Bwanika, who previously stood against Museveni for president also got some people excited but, unfortunately, he never clearly said what he wanted. “He said a lot of things about how Museveni and his NRM have looted Uganda and have caused Baganda to suffer, but I never heard him firmly say that he is 100% for Federo or that he is for Buganda independence. To me it was clear that Bwanika wanted our support because he is a Muganda, but what can he realistically give us back, even if he became president?”
Owek. Dan Muliika and Lt. Musisi were the main speakers, as Buganda Post had reported earlier. Our source told us that Owek. Muliika as usual never disappointed. He gave a wonderful speech and explained that Museveni has no legal power to force the current constitution of Uganda on us. The different parts like Buganda, Toro, Acholi, Lango, etc., which formed Uganda must sit together now and agree on how to go forward. They can agree on Federo or even agree on ‘buli mbuzi ku nkondo yaayo’. Musisi, who is very popular in Boston, excited people when he said that Museveni must go. However, he confused some of us when he started claiming that his life was in danger because of his stand on Buganda. Without explaining, he told us that Museveni plans to kill him but that he was not afraid of going to Uganda. Then he claimed that Museveni was paying Buganda Post to publish stories about him. The problem is that, at UNAA, Musisi really claimed that he was going to lead the fight for Buganda. Now, in Watertown, he was asking us give him financial support but it was for his personal hospital in Ssese, not for Kabaka’s programs.”
In a related development, we can report that all Kabaka’s representatives in North America did not attend the Boston conference, except the Acting representive for New England, a Mr. Jane Lwanga. However, Ggwangamujje DC and Ggwangamujje NY/NJ sent strong delegations, although none of them spoke at the conference.
When asked to comment on Mr. Musisi allegations, Buganda Post’s chief moderator and editor, Omulongo Nakato, said that it would be stupid for Buganda Post and Musisi and engage in verbal battles. “We try to do everything we can to maintain unity among Baganda. Also, occasionally we might make mistakes and will admit them. However, we stand by our story that, in front of many witnesses both at UNAA Chicago and in Los Angeles, Lt. Musisi claimed leadership of Baganda in America. And he and certain supporters of his made it clear that they wanted the Boston Emergency conference to announce one Muganda to carry Buganda’s flag in the Museveni’s 2011 elections. Mr. Musisi should listen to all the promotional SMS messages for the conference. If Museveni paid Buganda Post to write lies against Musisi, then he (Musisi) should specify what we wrote which is not true.”
