Beti Olive Kamya, Uganda’s MP for Lubaga North, used an opinion piece in The Monitor newspaper of April 27, 2009 to announce her new political organization, known as the Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA). Ms. Kamya’s opinion piece is titled “Make Moroto the administrative seat of government” and, on first reading, it may not appear to be related to announcing any political organization. It is too early to tell if  ordinary Baganda, her core constituency, will quickly and widely understand the intrigue rich message and style in Ms. Kamya’s announcement.  

Since November 2008 Beti has been leading a growing “Buganda first” campaign, educating Baganda about their political rights and the need to resist manipulation by existing Uganda political parties, including her own Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). In process, Ms. Kamya has engaged in tough verbal wars with the FDC’s Bakiga most powerful leaders, resulting in a near-collapse of FDC support in Buganda.

In announcing the UFA signaled that she will probably never run for a political office under the FDC flag. How her announcement shade little light on the UFA itself. She did not say whether the organization will focus on Buganda’s rights, as she has done herself for more than 6 months, or whether it would emphasize the federal system. She left out details about the overall political agenda of the UFA, only saying that her organization “will advocate for the use of one stone to kill seven birds – by an Act of Parliament, to shift the administrative seat of government from Kampala to Moroto”.

Click on the title “Make Moroto the administrative seat of government” to read Beti Kamya’s full opinion piece.

Two independent sources with connections to the Uganda President’s state house have sent emails to this writer revealing Mr. Museveni’s plan to use the current confusion around the Kyabazinga elections and create 11 separate  minor kingdoms out of Busoga. According to the more detailed source, Mr. Museveni decided to personally interfere with the Kyabazinga  elections to make sure that the Basoga clans do not agree on a single clan head to lead Busoga.

“Mr. Museveni cannot allow a strong Kyabazinga to emerge in Busoga at this time since it would create the risk of Basoga developing nationalistic tendencies and maybe even starting thinking in a block like Baganda. That is why he intends to give a new car to  each of the warring clan leaders who declares his county a separate kingdom. Like his Sabanyala and Sabaluuli in Buganda each minor king would also get a monthly payment of 5 million shillings ($2,610).

The strategy is to create 11 weak minor kingdoms in Busoga who owe their survival to Mr. Museveni. Then connect them to Sabanyala and Sabaluuli to more effectively fight Buganda nationalism in the long term. In the short term, it would also disorganize DP and  FDC and other opposition structures in a  Busoga that is no more.”

According to the sources, Mr. Museveni was visibly happy over the weekend after he met Basoga clan leaders for the second time in less than two months. The meeting is supposed to have agreed to hold a re-run of the  Kyabazinga elections which took place on October 31, 2008. However, Mr. Museveni is reportedly very confident that the Basoga will never agree and that is why he is preparing to help each of them create his own kingdom, making today’s Busoga history.

The Busoga monarchy was created by British colonialists in 1906 out of  a collection of small municipalities, each with its own hereditary ruler. The throne to the resulting Busoga kingdom is supposed to be held by a descendant of one of the municipalities on a rotating basis. The sitting Busoga king is called the Isebantu Kyabazinga. The first ruler of a united Busoga was a Muganda called Semei Kakungulu, of Mmamba clan. Kakungulu’s regime lasted from July 1906 to January 1914 when he handed over to a Musoga, Isebantu Kyabazinga OBODHA.

The last Kyabazinga of Busoga, Henry Wako Muloki, died on September 1, 2008 at the age of  87. On October 31, six clan leaders  elected Edward Columbus Wambuzi Muloki to replace his late father, Henry Wako Muloki. The remaining 5 boycotted the elections, calling them illegal under Basoga culture. It is this conflict which gave Mr. Museveni the opening to interfere even though, according to his own Uganda constitution, as a politician, he is not supposed to interfere with cultural issues such as the election of a Kyabazinga.