A reliable sources close to president Museveni’s state house tells us that, before leaving for the September UN session in New York, the Ugandan warlord got Robert  Sebunya to reactivate a program that would use financially stressed Buganda royals to spy on or undermine Kabaka Mutebi. The source told us: “The president has been using Kabaka Mutebi’s uncle, Prince Simbwa to keep Ssabasajja off balance. However, Tamale Mirundi and Robert Sebunya advised him that other royals, either misguided or desperate for money, should be recruited. Tamale also recommended that recruitment of Balangira and Bambejja in the Diaspora might be the easiest because it is harder for Kabaka to track their activities. In fact, when His Excellency went to the USA in late September, a meeting with princes and princesses in Boston was put on his agenda. He did meet them in Boston as planned only because of the Baganda demonstrations.”  The source speculated that the money intended for the princes and princesses was probably left with Ruhakana Rugunda, “since he is more in tune with how Ugandan things work than Kamunanwire in Washington DC.”

Our source explained that the campaign is getting accelerated with assistance from Robert Kabushenga who is launching a media blitz where negative and contradictory stories on Buganda royals will appear in Bukedde, New Vision and  the Monitor, to demoralize Baganda and Kabaka Mutebi. Some stories will talk positively about Kabaka Mutebi while others will question his legitimacy. And others will show that there are divisions within the Buganda royal family. Yet others will claim that the Kabaka and Museveni now like each other.

The source explained: “The period between now and December, when huge numbers of Baganda come for Christmas, is critical to Mr. Museveni. Expect him to use it to keep Kabaka and Mmengo confused with a barrage of mixed messages, including friendly but fruitless negotiations, public abuses, court cases against Nambooze and Lubega Sseggona, making impossible demands on CBS Radio and maintaining confusion around Kabaka’s personal security. The recruitment of at least 4 or 5 youthful grand children of Ssekabaka Chwa to undermine the Kabaka is attractive to the president because he is starting to believe that the back of Baganda youth has been weakened. The key is to deny the Kabaka and his loyal adviser, who are part-time, in a reactive mode all the time between now and January or February next year.”

In a related development, unconfirmed reports from  Boston tell us that at least 4 or 5 princes and princesses from Texas and North East USA were in Boston on September 26, 2009. And some were eager to meet Museveni. If Museveni left money with Rugunda to buy Buganda royals, as our state house source asserted, then  the campaign may already be in full swing.

The organizers of the Buganda Emergency Meeting, which took place on October 17, 2009, in Boston USA, have published the resolutions from the event (see “Muliika And Frank Musisi To Headline Boston Buganda Emergency Conference“).  We first received a copy of the resolutions at around 4:00 PM Boston time but it took us until 7:30 PM to verify that it was genuine. That is when a highly reliable source confirmed to us that the document was being circulated on the top Baganda discussion lists by Mr. James Semakula, one of the organizers.

Buganda post is preparing a story, together with in depth analysis, on the Buganda Emergency Meeting to be published over the weekend.

The resolution document is reproduced in its entirety below:

Resolutions of the Buganda Emergency Meeting in Boston on October 17, 2009‏

Preamble:-

Aware that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICFSCR), guarantee the right to self determination of all people;

Convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the NRM government has violated fundamental human rights;

Saddened by the gross, unjust and inefficient governance inflicted on the people of Uganda by the NRM regime;

Realizing that Unity is essential to achieving our collective objectives;

Determined to rid Uganda of bad governance, dictatorship, and corruption;

Condemning strongly the NRM government’s continued interference in the running of independent institutions and intrusion into the running and electoral process of organizations of Ugandans in the Diaspora;

We hereby earnestly resolve as follows:-

1.    Establish structures to analyze and determine the resources needed to achieve our objectives.

2.    Advise the Kabaka not to directly negotiate with Museveni, his government, or agents of the NRM regime.

3.    Take appropriate steps to fundraise in order to finance the necessary activities to lead to change and the establishment of genuine democracy in Uganda.

4.    Pursue all legal channels that are useful in achieving our objectives including, but not limited to, international legal action.

5.    Educate the International community about the true political situation in Uganda through demonstrations on a regular basis and lobby work at the New York UN headquarters, Washington DC, and other major cities in the world.

6.    Boycott, effective immediately, all government media and other anti-Buganda entities.

7.    Intensify civic education of the people about the problems and possible solution to the problems being faced by Buganda.

8.    Reach out to other Ugandan ethnicities and groups with a view to making alliances to advance the cause of Democracy and Federalism.

9.    Expose government spies, informers, and traitors– and record their illegal activities within and outside Uganda for the purpose of future prosecution.

10.  Seek better Medical treatment for Mrs. Betty Nambooze Bakireke.

11.  Reject (unanimously) the Regional Tier as a form of governance in Uganda.

12.  Agree that Museveni and his regime must go; and resolve to establish a mechanism for free and fair elections

Uganda police sources indicate that the number of people who have been arrested in connection with the Kayunga demonstrations is has now grown to over 1,000 and rouge officers and magistrates are making quick money. In the first 5 days after the disturbances where the NRM police and army shot dead 30 Baganda, about 600 people were arrested. Since then, the police has continued to arrest more Baganda, claiming that they are looking for ringleaders and other participants in what they (the police) claim to be public violence and terrorist activities.

Baganda sources within Museveni’s  police force have informed us that the primary reasons why so many people are being arrested are politics and money.  One source told us: “These arrests were ordered from the very top for political reasons. They provide a chance for the NRM to shut up its loudest opponents in Mmengo and the opposition parties, especially DP.  It is one way to put make it difficult for the opposition to start organizing themselves for the 2011 campaigns. The majority are arrested not because of evidence that they did anything but because they used to talk a lot against the NRM government on radio stations. So many of them are Baganda DP or FDC campaigners. In some cases the evidence is manufactured using tips from Banyankore, Bakiga and other non-Baganda who are NRM moles in the opposition parties.”

Another Muganda veteran police officer told our investigator that money is also a big reason why the arrests are growing. The office explained: “As you may expect, when an innocent Muganda is arrested on allegations of inciting violence, his or her family will normally be desperate to have him freed on bail. The arresting officers and the magistrate make some quick money by charging the desperate family anywhere between Shs 150,000 and Shs 400,000 (US$74 to $198) depending on situation. They eat the money and in the books they write that the suspect has been freed on a ‘no cash’ police bond. In law this is called extortion and I know that top people in the police force know that it is going on or may even be supporting it.”

The Uganda police force is commanded by Kalyekezi Kayihura, a Rwanda national who came to Uganda as a refugee and joined Uganda police where Mr. Museveni quickly rose him to the rank of General.

Museveni’s NRM USA organization will, until it collapses, remember September 26, 2009 as a bloody day. Pressure from American Baganda forced their primary funder, Uganda’s ruler, Yoweri Museveni keep away from their 2009 NRM Forum in Boston.  The pressure came from the widely publicized plans by Baganda to demonstrate at the venue and the persistence of the same Kabaka’s subjects who came to the venue even after mixed messages about Museveni’s attendance. The Baganda came from New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Canada and elsewhere.

An estimated 200 Baganda , under the eye of the Boston Police, stood  across the street from the entrance to the Marriott Copley Place Hotel and loudly demonstrated from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM.  They held  up placards that, among other things,  accused Museveni of genocide, stated that Buganda is an occupied country and demanded the release of Baganda political prisoners. Throughout the over 5 hours of demonstration, Baganda kept singing “Kitiibwa kya Buganda”, praising Kabaka Mutebi and chanting slogans like “Akaalo ka Buganda keeko, akalo kaliko nannyiniko”, “Tulina Kabaka, tulina ennyondo”, “We want change, Museveni must go!” and so on. Curious car drivers kept honking and showing ‘V” signs, which kept the demonstrators energized.

Our contact within  NRM USA admitted that the Baganda demonstration caused the NRM Forum to flop but would not comment of where Museveni was hiding.  Speaking on condition anonymity the source told us that between 25 and 30 people attended the event.  And when pressed, the source admitted that this number included over 15 organizers, government officials and spouses. Interestingly, the source, who is usually very defensive of  Museveni, said “no comment” when asked if the Uganda president has been scared away by the Baganda. However, the source agreed that Buganda Post was “in the ball park” when we reported that president Museveni had decided to leave early and skip Boston, and then changed his mind. When we brought up the feet pain issues, the source only asked: “Where do you get that nonsense from?”.

A prominent Muganda analyst based in New York told us that there is no doubt in his mind that Baganda demonstrators in New York and Boston combined with the Obama snub shook up Museveni.  The analyst explained: “You have to remember that throughout the Bush years, Museveni enjoyed open access to the US State House. For some reason he has not gotten used to the idea that Bush left, so he assumed that Obama would meet him personally. Thanks to Johnny Carson’s [US Undersecretary of State for Africa] intimate knowledge of Museveni’s regime, Obama administration put together a well-planned snub, which included ensuring that Obama’s TV images showed him speaking to the Uganda’s corrupt strongman for less than 5 seconds and immediately turning his back to him.

Our analyst adds: “In meeting Moammar Gadaffi, Museveni was hoping to make America  jealous. Now, if Obama’s administration fell for I would be shocked. I understand that Museveni had some meetings with Balaalo students under the secret state house scholarship and got a briefing on the progress of a program by Ruhakana Rugunda and his wife to recruit Baganda women in the USA.  However, the only thing he seriously looked forward to was holding court at the NRM Forum in Boston. In scaring  Museveni away from Boston and sabotaging the forum, the USA Baganda exposed his cowardice. However, very much like a man who gets fired from his job and runs home beat his children, expect the sulking Museveni to return to Uganda and take his frustration on Kabaka and Baganda, to revenge the humiliation he has suffered. The interesting part is that Buganda will get even stronger as no one can claim the ‘twebaka ku tulo’ and ‘Tumukwaate mpola’ crap.”