Some British Baganda are angry at Deputy Katikkiro, Emmanuel Sendaula, and Kabaka’s representative in UK, Nsambu Musisi, for asking them (the Baganda) to keep quiet at a time when their Kabaka and nation are under a state of occupation by the NRM government.

In a Luganda letter that was addressed to all Kabaka’s representatives overseas, Owek. Sendaula indicates that the Kabaka’s representative had been informed in the past that, earlier, the Buganda government passed a resolution that Kabaka and the Ugandan warlord, Museveni, should meet. He adds that the meeting which took place has improved the communication between the two sides. He states that the two sides exchanged documents based on which negotiations were to take place; the Katikkiro would inform Kabaka’s representative in due course.

The Deputy Katikkiro’s letter includes no references to ordinary Baganda except when he asks Kabaka’s representative to tell the Baganda in their areas to be  “very calm”. Owek. Sendaula provides not information at all to his audience to pass over to Baganda in their area. His letter does not include any reference to the 30 Baganda who were massacred by the NRM occupation government, the hundreds who were injured and the nearly 1,000 who have been arrested and tortured over the last two weeks. The Deputy Katikkiro’s letter is dated Monday October 15, 2009, only 2 days after Kabaka’s minister, Lubega Sseggona, was arrested by Museveni. However it does not mention the plight of Ssegona. Even most important, the Deputy Katikkiro letter saying nothing about the health and general well being of Ssabasajja Kabaka, who all Baganda know has endured tough and stressful times since the NRM occupation power barred him from going to Bugerere and started murdering his subjects.

Also significant is that, in his letter, Owek. Sendaula never mentions ordinary Baganda who live the Diaspora. He never acknowledges the allegiance they have shown to the Kabaka and Buganda with their demonstrations and other actions. He only refers to these loyal subjects when he says, “You, the representatives of Ssabasajja outside Uganda should encourage the people you lead to be very calm to give a chance to the negotiations that have started between the Uganda government and Buganda Kingdom, which aim to address Buganda’s open issues.”

In his letter to UK Baganda, Kabaka’s representative Nsambu Musisi also skipped any acknowledgement what UK Baganda have done to show the loyalty they have to Buganda or the Kabaka. And he amplifies Owek. Sendaula’s letter, telling Kabaka’s subjects in UK: “It is best that any planned demonstrations in Britain be postponed.”

One of our sources in London reported that many Baganda in UK are incensed at the condescending attitude of  Owek. Sendaula and Mr. Nsambu Musisi. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Mr. Musisi has popularity issues with most UK Baganda who feel that he was imposed on them by Katikkiro Mulwanyaamuli. According to our source: “Baganda here in London believe that blood of Baganda shed by Museveni only a week ago and the ongoing torture of hundreds of his subjects are most important to Kabaka Mutebi. But that a few cowardly and greedy individuals are helping Museveni to isolate Kabaka from his subjects by making him appear more interested in CBS Radio money or the firing of Tamale Mirundi.”

Another source, who is a computer engineer and Nkoba za Mbogo veteran went as far as challenging Deputy Katikkiro Sendaula and Mmengo to explain why they are eager to sell a Buganda’s which has survived nearly 1,000 years to a man whose true identity is questionable. He said: “First Walusimbi, Sendaula and a few money angry Mmengo personalities were used by Museveni to trick Kabaka into becoming a negotiator. That was an effort to break the centuries old custom, ‘Kabaka tateesa‘. Now they are trying to get a short term, short sighted, secret Regional Tier deal with Museveni based on getting quick CBS Radio and bribe money, to protect their personal interests. That is why they don’t even care about the Baganda blood that was spilt, those in prison or even bad image Kabaka Mutebi may get among his subjects.

“Anyway, they cannot stop us from resisting Buganda’s occupiers and protecting out Kabaka and national interests. The only reason that Museveni is even learnt to dress up, walk as if his feet are OK and behave like a civilized person in front of the Kabaka last Wednesday, is because he and his fellow Balaalo were panicked by the demonstrations September 10-11, 2009. The demonstrators in Buganda, London, New York, Boston and elsewhere showed the Ugandan NRM war lords that Buganda has a backbone. It makes common sense that Baganda must only increase demonstrations if they want to make it clear to Museveni and his NRM occupiers that they have no future without agreeing to all Buganda’s demands. Akeenda, return of all our properties, payment of arrears and Federo.  These demands are well known by all Ugandans, so why would our demonstrations against the murder and senseless arrest and torture of Baganda change anything?”

When contacted for a comment on this story, our New York based Buganda analyst had this to say: “I think Owek. JB Walusimbi and his supporters in Mmengo have made a terrible mistake of sacrificing Nambooze, Sseggona, Mpuuga and other so called Mmengo radicals to appease Museveni, Bukenya and the businessmen in Mmengo. I suspect that if Walusimbi continues on this path then he (Walusimbi) will have no influence at all when the next major demonstrations by Baganda happens, because the demonstrators might be looking for his head. It is like the children making an alarm (okukuba enduulu) when they see a robber running way with family property. Suppose the robber panics and starts to appear cornered. I think that even a 6-year old would smell something fishy if the father comes out of hiding, doesn’t show concern about the children killed or kidnapped by the robber and tells the whole family to keep quite, so neighbors don’t come as he secretly negotiates with the robber.”

Below are the letters from Deputy Katikkiro Sendaula and Mr. Nsambu Musisi respectively (in Luganda):

.

Letter from Owek. Sendaula

Eri:       Ababaka ba Ssaabasajja bonna mu nsi z’Ebweru

Okuva: Oweek. Amb. Emmnauel L. Ssendaula, Minisita w’Ensonga za Buganda  Ebweru

Ensonga:Ensisinkano ya Ssaabasajja Kabaka ne President wa Uganda

Olunaku: Lwakutaano nga 02/10/2009

Nkulamusizza nnyo era ne nkwebaza emirimu gy’oweereza Mukama waffe Ssaabasajja n’eggwanga lyattu Buganda ng’osinziira eyo gy’oli.

President wa Uganda ne Ssaabasajja Kabaka wa Buganda baasisinkanye mu State House e Ntebe nga 30/09/2009.  Akakiiko Akafuzi (Cabinet) aka Gavumenti ya Ssaabasajja Kabaka nako kaatudde eggulo nga 01/10/2009 ne kakubaganya ebirowoozo ku nsisinkano y’abakulu abo ababiri.

Nga bwe mumanyi obulungi, Gavumenti ya Ssaabasajja yayisa ekiteeso ekisemba Ssaabasajja ne President basisinkane.  Kirungi nti ensisinkano eyo yayambye nnyo okuteekawo empuliziganya wakati waabwe bombi etaabaddeewo okumala ebbanga.

Katikkiro yategeezezza Obuganda nti waliwo ebiwandiiko ebyawanyisiganyiziddwa President ne Ssaabasajja Kabaka byetegerezebwe buli ludda.  Kati Katikkiro ne Gavumenti ya Ssaabasajja twefunyiridde mu kwetegereza ensonga eziri mu kiwandiiko President kye yawadde Ssaabasajja kyokka ate nga tusuubira nti ne President yeetegereza ensonga eziri mu kiwandiiko Ssaabasajja Kabaka kye yamuwadde.

Ekiseera ekituufu bwe kinaatuuka, Katikkiro ajja kutegeeza Obuganda ebinaaba bivudde mu nteeseganya.  Mu kiseera kye kimu Katikkiro ayongedde n’akubiriza Obuganda okubeera obumu wamu n’okubeera abakkakkamu ennyo nga tulwanirira ebyaffe.

Mu ngeri y’emu nammwe ababaka ba Ssaabasajja ebweru wa Uganda, musaanye okukubiriza abantu be mutwala okubeera abakkakkamu ennyo tusobole ffenna okuwa omukisa enteeseganya ezitandise wakati wa Gavumenti ya Uganda n’Obwakabaka bwa Buganda, nga zigendererwamu okukola n’okugonjoola ensonga za Buganda zonna ezikyali mu ddiiro.

Ssaabasajja Kabaka Awangaale!

.

Letter from Mr. Nsambu Musisi

Abazaana n’abasajja ba Ssaabasajja,

Mbalamusizza nnyo nnyini era mbebaza emirimu gyemukola. Ate mbebaza ekyensusso obumu n’obuwagizi bwemulaze eri Ssaabasajja mu kasEera akabade akazibu. Ssabasajja gyaali ateredde ntEnde naye nga akyaali munakuwavu olw’Abantu be abaafa na balumizibwa mu kwekalakaasa okwaaliwo

1. Mbasaba musome ebbaluwa eri wansi weno nga eva ewa Owek Ssendaula nga eyogera kubiriwo kati. Nsaba mugisome.

Ntegezeddwa nti olw’okwagala okutekawo embeera ennungi ‘conducive environment’ eneyamba enteseganya wakati wa Ssaabasajja Kabaka ne President wa Uganda okugenda mu maaso,  kyandibadde kirungi singa Abaganda tugira tukyaleka ebyo ebibadde bikolebwa okulaga nti tuli benyamivu nga muno mwemuli n’okwekalakaasa.

Gavumenti ya Uganda nayo egambye nti egyakulekeraawo ebikolwa eby’okusomooza Buganda.

Kale no n’olwekyo kyandibade kirungi singa okwekalakaasa okubadde kugenda okuberawo e Bungereza kugira kuyimirizibwaamu. (Postponed).

2. Nebaza abo bonna abakawa ensimbi ez’okukubagiza amaka agafiirwa abantu baabwe mu kwekalakaasa. Abamu abatadde ensimbi ku ‘Bank Account’ tebalaga mannya gaabwe. Nsaba buli atadde ensimbi ku Account okumpereza amannyage tusobole okuwandiika olukalala lw’amannya getunawereza embuga nga tuwereza ensimbi zino ez’okukubagiza.

Mu kiseera kyekimu nsaba abo bonna abatanadukirila mulanga guno okugezaako okwayo obuyambi nga butekebwa ku ‘Bank Account’

Ssaabasajja Kabaka Awangaale

J Nsambu Musisi

Omubaka

The Observer Newspaper, where Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the man who made Museveni sweat on TV (see “Semujju Nganda Made Museveni Sweat On TV“) works, has translated the full text of the speech that Kabaka Mutebi made when opening the Lukiiko on August 24, 2009. As is customary, the Kabaka made his speech in Luganda, the national language of Buganda. The Observer’s loose translation is as follows:

BUGANDA’S WELCOME

We first of all want to thank God for the good He has done for us and console all those who have encountered problems in the past.

We greatly thank Buganda for showing us such great joy during the 16th coronation anniversary since the installation of the kingdom.

Buganda has spent more than 300 years welcoming people to prosper as a nation and by the mid 19th century, Buganda was the most powerful kingdom in central Africa.

To date, Buganda is still welcoming people. But we would not like the people Buganda has welcomed to create and build their own nations here in Buganda. Buganda’s boundaries are well outlined in Uganda’s constitution.

Therefore, it is very painful to the Baganda if other kingdoms are formed in Buganda. We beg that the welcome we extend to everyone should not be abused.

RETURN MORE EBYAFFE

In these 16 years, there are some things the government has returned to Buganda, and for that we are very grateful; and there are many others that haven’t yet been returned.

There is land at the counties and sub-counties headquarters in the whole of Buganda and buildings that haven’t been returned.

Right now there are Baganda nomads because they don’t have land yet the land that was returned to us by the colonialists in 1962 and later grabbed in 1967 is yet to be returned. The Baganda want the land that was forcefully grabbed returned to Buganda.

STOP THE LAND KILLINGS

There is another thing that is worrying us here in Buganda. Every other day people are killed over land wrangles, particularly between landlords and tenants.

There was a time here when mailo land owners lived in harmony with the tenants on that land.  We pray that that harmony and peaceful co-existence returns. Blood should not be shed because of land; if in the past there was peaceful co-existence, then it is also possible now.

Now there is no harmony between the land owners and the tenants; none of them can use the land, they are both in fear. A solution to this must be found so that peace returns to Buganda.

God bless you.

For a related Buganda Story go to “Kabaka Concerned, Museveni and Mirundi Promoting Landlord Murders“. To visit the Observer Newpaper online go to www.observer.ug.

During a joint press conference with Burundi president Pierre Nkurunziiza on May 29, 2009, president Museveni repeated that he had a secret meeting with Katikkiro JB Walusimbi of Buganda where the two agreed to take the draft Land Act of 2009 to parliament for debate. The Buganda Lukiiko had on May 11, 2009, passed a resolution that the proposed new land law was unacceptable to Buganda. It was in response to the resolution that Mr. Museveni first claimed that he had a secret agreement with Mr. Walusimbi. The Uganda president has never explained the legal basis of his negotiations or agreements with the Katikkiro, since he (the president) has many times told the nation that Mmengo is a cultural non-government organization (NGO) without political power.

A source close to Uganda’s state house has exclusively told us in an email that president Museveni and his team are now trying to work out new plan on Buganda after getting disappointed by Katikkiro JB Walusimbi. And that their plan includes undermining Walusimbi so he can be replaced quickly. According to the sources: “The Katikkiro set very high expectations for Mr. Museveni and his people when he took the office. He assured them that he could bring order in Mmengo, which Sendaula was not strong enough to do. The problem is that he is now seen as much weaker and less reliable than any Katikkiro since Kabaka Mutebi assumed Namulondo.  Talina lugendo [‘His journey is over’] with state house because Mr. Museveni prefers a strong enemy who he can spy on to get useful intelligence than a weak friend, who people tell very little. Don’t be surprised to hear Museveni continue to make Walusimbi look bad – he wants him to go.”

During the May 22, 2009 press conference, Mr. Museveni also announced that he has a team ready to negotiate with Mmengo on Federo and other Buganda demands. In what some analysts have called a “carrot and stick” style, Mr. Museveni has over the last 15 years called Mmengo a cultural organization which is illegally getting involved into politics, while at the same time calling them to discuss their political demands.   On Monday April 20, 2009, Katikkiro Walusimbi informed the Buganda Lukiiko that he had chosen a committee of 10 to represent Buganda in the negotiations with Mr. Museveni’s government. Owek. Walusimbi and Rwandese Higiro Semajege would lead the committee, with Apollo Makubuya and Charles Peter Mayiga, the two Mmengo officials who, with John Katende and former Katikkiro Mulwaanyamuli Semwogerere accepted Regional Tier deal from Museveni. Kabaka and Baganda rejected it, causing Mulwaanyamuli to be fired.

One New York based Muganda analyst says: “Museveni is playing with Mmengo to buy time, and expecting that with time so much of Buganda will be taken over by foreigners that Mmengo will have to accept whatever they are offered. First, he set up a legal system where Mmengo can never get what it wants even if he says yes to them. Then he is his flooding Buganda with Balaalo, Sudanese and others to where the population is now over 60% foreign. And if Mmengo keeps trusting this man, by the time the so called talks end in 2020 Baganda may be 15%, and no one will care who a Muganda is. One way out I see is for Ssabasajja to do a complete modernization of the Mmengo system so that it can deal with Buganda challenges without depending on the abilities of a single individual. And he cannot do this with the same people who are running Mmengo 1960’s style today.  If that does not happen, the only other thing I think ordinary Baganda have done in history is to take things in their hands and save their Kabaka, Namulondo and nation.” 

On May 11, 2009 the Lukiiko (National Assembly) of Buganda sat to discuss a draft of the proposed new land law from Mr. Museveni’s government. Below the Luganda press release by the Buganda minister of Lukiiko Affairs and Information, followed by an English translation (by Buganda Post).

Reaction to the resolutions by ordinary Baganda have been mixed. On one extreme are the polititicaly aware men and women who are not afraid of President Museveni and are frustrated by, what they claim to be the cowardice reflected in the resolution. One of these is one Kampala businessman who said: “It is a shame that while our forefathers and Muteesa II died for Buganda, today’s Lukiiko is even afraid of making Museveni angry by stopping to beg him for our stolen property”. And on the opposite side are those who insist that if we carefully and respectfully tell Mr. Museveni what Buganda wants, he will one day be kind and give everything back to us. This group includes Uganda prime minister Apollo Nsibambi, Vice President Gilbert Bukenya and other staunch supporters Katikkiro JB Walusimbi and Buganda minister Charles Peter Mayiga.

EBITEESO EBIYISIDDWA OLUKIIKO LWA BUGANDA – May 11, 2009

Olukiiko lwa Buganda olutudde olwaleero nga 11 May 2009, lutegedde bulungi ya Ssabawolereza wa Gavumenti ya Ssaabasajja Kabaka ku bbago ly’enkola y’enfuga y’ettaka mu Uganda.  Oluvanyuma lw’okukubaganya ebirowoozo ebiteeso bino wamanga biyisiddwa:

1.   Newankubadde nga waliwo ensonga enkulu ezirambikiddwa mu bbago ly’enkola n’enkozesa y’ettaka eryakasembayo okufuluma, naye wakyaliwo ensonga endala enkulu ennyo eziruma Buganda ez’etaaga okwekenenya n’okukenenula n’obwegendereza nga tetunatuuka ku nzikiriziganya ey’awaamu ku nkola y’enfuga y’ettaka mu Uganda.

2.   Wakyaliwo ettaka lya Buganda lingi erikyali mu mikono gya Gavumenti eyawakati eryanyagibwa nga kyandibadde kirungi Buganda okuwa ebirowoozo ku nkola en’efuga ettaka mu Uganda, ng’ettaka eryo limaze okukomezebwawo eri bannyini lyo abatuufu nga mwemuli n’ettaka lya lukale mu Buganda erimanyiddwa nga erya Mayiro 9000, embuga z’amasaza, amagombolola emiruka n’Ebyaffe bonna omuli ne official Estates.

3.   Olukiiko lusabye Katikkiro wa Buganda ategeeze Gavumenti eya wakati eyamuwereza ebbago ly’enfuga eyo agitegeeze ebiteeso by’olukiiko bino wamu n’ensonga zonna ezirambikiddwa mu kiwandiiko kya Ssaabawolereza wa Gavumneti ya Buganda.

CHARLES PETER MAYIGA
MINISITA W’ENSONGA Z’OLUKIIKO N’AMAWULIRE

RESOLUTIONS OF THE BUGANDA LUKIIKO – MAY 11, 2009

The Buganda Lukiiko which has sat today on May 11, 2009, has fully understood the presentation by the Attorney General of Ssaabasajja Kabaka’s Government on the draft new law intended to govern land administration in Uganda. After discussion, it has been resolved as follows:

1.  Although  there are many important questions which have been addressed in the latest draft of the proposed law, many important issues that negatively affect Buganda remain, which require careful further study and analysis before we can reach comprehensive agreement on how land administration should work in Uganda.

2.  The [Uganda] central government still holds a lot of land that was stolen from Buganda and it would be nice for Buganda to participate in the debate on the law after that land has been returned to its rightful owners, and that includes the 9,000 square miles of [Buganda] native lands, real estate for ssaza (county), ggombolola (sub-county) and miruka (parish) headquarters and all that is ours (“Ebyaffe”), including office estates.

3. The Lukiiko has requested the Katikkiro of Buganda to communicate these resolutions to the [Uganda] central government which sent the draft proposed land law, along with the additional details which have been documented by the Attorney General of the Buganda Government.

CHARLES PETER MAYIGA
MINISITA W’ENSONGA Z’OLUKIIKO N’AMAWULIRE