Last weekend, during the burial ceremony for former Bishop of Masaka, Adrian Ddungu, two Buganda ministers squirmed like children and begged Uganda dictator, Yoweri Museveni, to reopen CBS radio. The two were Jolly Lutaaya (with VP Bukenya and Katikkiro Walusimibi in photo), minister of Local Government, and Charles Peter Mayiga who holds the Information portfolio.  The funeral was in Masaka, Buddu.

Lutaaya appeared to have lost control of himself when he told Museveni: “Mr. President, our people say to you that they have learnt a lesson, and are begging you to switch their radio, CBS, back on.” Owek. Lutaaya went on to promise the Ugandan warlord that, if the people were cheering in response to his (Lutaaya’s) mention of CBS, then they would certainly be forever grateful after Museveni reopened the CBS FM radio.

Unsure if he had impressed the now smiling Museveni, Lutaaya, who appeared fully sober, went on to equate the Buganda nation and her Kabaka to children with the Uganda dictator as their father. To the dismay of many Baganda, Owek Lutaaya told Museveni: “Since you are the father of our nation, we beg you to treat us the way a father treats a child who has erred. Please punish but do not kill.” Museveni is the 9th president of Uganda and took power in 1986, a good 24 years after Uganda was declared and independent nation by the British.

Supporting Mr. Lutaaya, Owek. Peter Mayiga, who represented Katikkiro Walusimbi, pleaded with the then belligerent-looking Museveni to kindly listen to people’s requests. Museveni, who has in the past called Mayiga and other Mmengo officials “dishonest hyenas”, took advantage of the situation to further humiliate the two Mmengo officials. He told the crowd: “I have worked with the Kabaka from 1981, in London and through the liberation war. Then people like this Mayiga come to deceive you.” Museveni repeated his familiar claims that Buganda issues can only be solve through direct negotiations between him and Kabaka Mutebi.

The head of the NRM occupation government went on to call himself Buganda’s best friend and whine that, in its 10 years on the air, CBS FM never broadcast anything good about him. Amusingly, when he asked the crowd, “Has CBS ever broadcast anything good about me?”, the people shouted back in unison, “Yes!”

Jolly Lutaaya is one of the longest serving ministers in Buganda government. He is a wealthy real estate owner, trader and contractor. He, reportedly, became suddenly wealthy in the 1980’s, after getting fired by a major international company amid accusations of embezzlement. Like Katikkiro Walusimbi, Owek. Lutaaya’s Marvel Road Contractors heavily relies on government construction contracts. During the preparations for Kabaka Mutebi’s wedding Mr. Lutaaya was removed from the organizing committee and the Buganda cabinet after his was caught by palace guards (abambowa) driving away with building materials that Baganda donated to the Kabaka. He bounced back as minister by offering major funding to Mmengo and with support from then Katikkiro Joseph Mulwaanyamuli. Owek. Jolly Lutaaya is a member of the “Rich People’s Association” (Bagagga Bagalana), which is dominated by former convicts, money launderers, smugglers, and loan shacks. Sudhir Ruparelia, Godfrey Kirumira and Karim Hirji are some of the other well known members.

Owek. Charles Peter Mayiga has also been a Buganda official for at least 10 years. He, John Katende and Apollo Makubuya assisted former Katikkiro Mulwaanyamuli to develop the infamous Regional Tier agreement with Museveni in the late 1990s. In July 2004, members of Museveni’s sate house leaked evidence to the press that Mr. Mayiga, a lawyer with Buwuule and Mayiga Advocates, was involved in a Shs 800m bribe that Museveni paid to Mmengo to kill a Federo demo. In 2008 Owek. Mayiga was kidnapped by Uganda police, along with Betty Nambooze and Lubega Sseggona right after the First Buganda Conference. Curiously, Mr. Mayiga later admitted, he was well treated by the police and was never charged. On the other hand, Nambooze and Lubega were held under inhuman conditions and later charged with sedition and annoying Museveni.

Katikkiro JB Walusimbi’s efforts to convince Baganda that ,after more than 20 years of manipulation and iron-fist rule by the NRM government, their only option is to negotiate with Uganda’s warlords are starting to undermine the authority of his office.  Our sources in places as disparate as Nakulabye,  Masaka, Boston, New York and London all tell us that a growing number of Baganda are upset by Mr. Walusimbi’s undisguised efforts to show his loyalty to  Museveni, VP Gilbert Bukenya and the NRM occupation government.

On December 17, 2009, Owek. Walusimbi apologetically told the 2nd Buganda Conference, that “Buganda does not seek any type of special status” in response to demands by an Acholi, Mao, and a Munyankore cattle keeper, Kanyeihamba , that Baganda must first convince other Ugandans if they (Buganda) want Federo (see “Kabaka Mutebi and His Man Kyanjo Save Baganda Dignity At 2nd Buganda Conference” and “Katikkiro Walusimbi Tells Baganda, Stop Thinking Buganda Is Special”). Staying on message, two days later, Katikkiro Walusimbi told Buganda government workers at their end-of-year party that: “When fighting for Buganda’s freedom, you should not take the risk of becoming martyrs. We need to fight calmly.”

Since his appointment at Katikkiro, Mr. Walusimbi has not hidden his close relationship with the NRM government, especially Yoweri Museveni and VP Gilbert Bukenya. Indeed, early this year Ugandan warlord Museveni himself told a press conference: “We have no problem with Katikkiro Walusimbi … The Katikkiro is our man.”  Before September 2009, Mr. Walusimbi’s seemingly anti-Buganda actions were nearly always cancelled out by a highly tactical and excellently executed pro-Buganda campaign by committed Baganda nationalists on CBS FM Radio.  Walusimbi was no match for the dynamic team of Betty Nambooze, Lubega Ssegona, Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, Daudi Mpanga, Hussein Kyango and others.

In the wake of the September 2009 NRM’s Kayunga massacre of Baganda who were protesting Museveni’s decision to bar Kabaka Mutebi from touring Bugerere county, the NRM closed down CBS FM Radio. That decision left Katikkiro Walusimbi with full control over what the public hears from Mmengo. He enjoys full access to NRM government media resources, from New Vision and Bukedde to Star FM and Bukedde FM.  All other media outlets in Uganda are barred from publishing any pro-Buganda messages, including those that praise the Buganda nation or Ssabasajja Kabaka, Mutebi II. But Mr. Walusimbi’s new found power over the Uganda’s media outlets seems to be coming at high cost to him personally and to Mmengo, the institution.   

A growing number of Baganda activists are choosing to go underground and are keeping their distance from Mmengo, convinced that the Katikkiro is Museveni’s top spy in the institution. In their view, Engr. JB Walusimbi, Peter Mayiga and Apollo Makubuya and their supporters have lost touch with the ordinary Baganda and alternative leadership is needed to deal with Buganda’s challenges.  More hope is being put on the likes Owek. Nsubuga Nsambu, Betty Nambooze and Hussein Kyanjo although they are also saddled with their continued active engagement in Uganda’s NRM dominated politics. 

It is against the above background that Baganda nationalists in the Diaspora taking on Walusimbi for what they see as his blatant betrayal of his office, for what they consider short-term financial gains.  Mr. Robert Kabuye of Boston who broadcasts on the widely popular SMS Radio program, Ekiba Kibe, spoke for many when he warned the Katikkiro to stop provocative anti-Buganda statements. In the 12/26/09 Ekiba Kibe Luganda program, Mr. Kabuye told the Katikkiro (excerpts): “Owek. Katikkiro … ggwe omuntu omu tosobola kutujjako Buganda. Abajulizi nabo baali Baganda ssebo….Tujja kulwanirira Obuganda. Oba ggwe bakuwadde kyebakuwa… ffe tetukyalina budde bwo! … Walusimbi, who are you? … Ffe tetulina kubeera nti Mmengo etumanyi okulwanirira Obuganda…” (“Owek Katikkiro … you, a single person, cannot take our Buganda from us. The martyrs were also Baganda sir … We are going to continue fighting for Buganda. If you have been bribed … we don’t have time for you! … Walusimbi, who are you? … We do not need to be known to Mmengo to fight for Buganda …”). Click on Ekibakibe_26Dec09A  to listen to Robert Kabuye’s full broadcast .

When we asked a leading Buganda analyst based  in New York to comment on the situation, he responded that Walusimbi’s behavior and the reaction it is eliciting from Baganda all over the world is typical of what happens when a nation is under occupation or captivity.  He explained: “Kabaka Mutebi has successfully overseen, especially with the help of Dan Muliika, a full re-emergence of the Buganda nation. Think about it, of the 6 or so million Baganda, at least 5 are 30 years are younger, unemployed, poor and are convinced that they are victims of a conspiracy among Banyankore, Bakiga, Rwandese, Indians and other foreigners to keep them in servitude. At the same time, thanks to Kabaka Mutebi’s steady hand, these young people know that they belong to a real nation, Buganda,  with a glorious history and legacy  worth defending.”

“On the other hand, everything the Museveni and his  NRM has done since 1986 was part of a long-term plan to impoverish and marginalize Baganda to the extent that most of them would eagerly seek other tribal identities.  Now that the opposite has happened and Buganda has become a stronger than it has ever  been since 1887 during Ssekabaka Muteesa I’s reign, it is automatic that we end up with an ‘occupied nation’ situation. That is why, over the last 2-3 years Museveni’s NRM has subconsciously adopted classic occupation force tactics. Similarly, Baganda are acquiring ever better occupation resistance skills, from street riots to underground operations, to propaganda machinery.  When you read about Nazi occupations across Europe, you will see mirror examples of collaborators like JB Walusimbi, appeasers like Peter Mayiga, business opportunists like some CBS Radio shareholders, those with divided-royalties like Baganda DPs, turncoats like Nsibambi and Robert Sebunya, infiltrators like Igiro Semajege,  traitors  like Bukenya and Ssekandi, and so on. 

“The message from Kabuye is only the first shot by outside Baganda that they might take command control of the struggle from Walusimbi and Mmengo.  In 1967 Mmengo was incompetent when it came to protecting Ssekabaka Edward Muteesa and the Namulondo of Buganda.  They lacked intelligence gathering/analysis and strategic planning skills and the same is true today. It appears that Mmengo should expect more challenge if Baganda in Diaspora agree with the masses at home  that the Mmengo of today is not up to the job.  Don’t be shocked if the signals for a future Buganda demonstrations come from Boston or New York. If I had the ear of Ssabasajja Kabaka, I would mention to him that, if he wishes, this may be a good time keep quiet and let you subjects do some work. Uganda’s pharaoh will one day have to let your people go. Ekikutte obudde kiributa!”

The Chairman of Kabaka Mutebi’s Buganda Civic Education Committee and leading Muganda radio personality, Betty Nambooze Bakireke, is expected to return home from South Africa today. Nambooze went to South Africa for emergency medical treatment three weeks ago after serious efforts by the NRM occupation government to deny her quality medical treatment (see “Museveni Commits Crimes Against Humanity, Denies Nambooze Medical Care”).

According to family sources, Ms. Nambooze is feeling much better after undergoing extensive medical testing and receiving treatment to stabilize her condition. She is also well rested and stronger. Madam Tica (Teacher), as Nambooze is popularly known to her fans, is expected to return to South Africa very early next year to undergo surgery in the abdominal area.

According to Betty Nambooze, her medical problems were created by Mr. Museveni’s occupation government and its operatives. For several years now, Betty Nambooze has told her CBS FM radio listeners that when she was arrested in Mukono for opposing land grabbing by Juma Seiko, the police forcibly injected her with a strange chemical. Juma Seiko is an army man who doubles as an aide to Museveni’s half brother, Caleb Akandwanaho (Salim Saleh). Then, in 2007, Museven’s NRM government kidnapped Nambooze for nearly a week shortly after she had given birth by C-section. The wound ruptured as Ms. Nambooze was in captivity, leading to long term complications. Also kidnapped were Buganda ministers Lubega Sseggona and Peter Mayiga. The man in charge of the kidnap operations was a Mulaalo named David Tinyefuza.

On CBS FM radio, Nambooze enjoyed a radio an estimated audience of 5 million listeners. However, as of Monday evening, no major public welcome event that matches Nambooze’s popularity had been announced. In the meantime, police sources have revealed that the Rwandese command of the Uganda occupation police, Karyekeezi Kayihura, has prepared a force of a few hundred men on standby to crush any Baganda demonstrations.

Katikkiro Walusimbi seems to have opened a can of worms when, in president Museveni style, he injected himself into a love triangle involving a local cosmetics factory owner, a musician and a woman called Nabukeera. A Baganda family who are currently visiting family in Buganda found it so offensive that they sent us an email accusing Katikkiro JB Walusimbi of  behaving like Uganda’s warlord, NRM’s Yoweri Museveni. The public legal and publicity sex war is between singer Mathias Walukagga and Ssalongo Kasawuli, who packs the Samona cosmetics.

The email we received from a lady who requested that we only use her family name, Musisi, said:

Banange aba Buganda Post,

We are here in Kampala. When we came home to visit, we were very worried about the safety of our relatives and also our leaders like Kabaka and his family as well as his officials. The things we heard about Betty Nambooze before we left London made us feel so bad about what Museveni and his NRM are doing to Baganda.  When we arrived in Kampala we were quickly frustrated because it is very difficult to hear anything about what Kabaka or Katikkiro are doing. Everything in the news is Museveni propaganda.

But when we saw in last Sunday’s Bukedde that our Katikkiro invited two people who were fighting over a woman to meet him and settle their problem, we thought that it was a joke.  We asked a relative who works in Mengo and  we were shocked to learn that it is really true that the Katikkiro is negotiating loose sex cases. My husband and I are both 65 years old and we are blessed because we saw Katikkiros like Kavuma, Kintu and Muliika. These were real statesmen who put all their strength in Buganda national issues. But can you imagine?  Baganda are lost because even right here in Kampala, we do not know what is happening with our Kabaka or Nnabagereka. We do not get updates about Nambooze. But the Katikkiro is concerned about love and sex triangles. My husband has told me that if Walusimbi was serious he could collect emails for Baganda and use that to send out news and ask everyone to forward to others. But if he is not doing things which help Kabaka and all Baganda, how can he have time to enter the issues of two reckless womanizers fighting over some loose girl?

We are sorry to be so hash to the Katikkiro because we have always respected that post so much because it is the highest after Kabaka. But Mr. Walusimbi is making it difficult to keep that respect when he behaves like “village chief” Museveni. If  now (when Buganda is under a crisis) Owekitibwa Walusimbi is focusing on the sex lives of singers and cosmetics traders, who is supposed to help Kabaka Mutebi to guide us?  My husband is also too disappointed that a whole Katikkiro has time to deal with fights over lovers quarrels at the time when the NRM government is passing a new law to grab more Baganda land.

Keep up the good work.

Mr and Mrs. Musisi, LONDON

According to Museveni’s Sunday Vision of  November 15, 2009, Katikkiro Walusimbi had offered to be the arbitrator between musician Mathias Walukagga and Samona cosmetics factory owner, Ssalongo Kasawuli.  Walukagga has reportedly declined the offer so far, which could become a major embarrassment for the Katikkiro.

Problems started early this year when one Aisha Nabukeera gave in to Kasawuli’s advances and because his regular lover. The same Nabukera is a former lover to Walukagga. In March, Walukagga composed a song called Tulepuke, which Kasawuli claimed to be an attack on him. As the public verbal fight got hotter Walukagga went on release another song, Omutembeeyi, which appears to be taunting Kasawuli for selling bizigo. Finally, Kasawuli managed to get a magistrate to stay the playing of the offending Walukagga songs and throw the musician into jail. Now Walukagga claims that Kasawuli paid occupation government sources to do things to him which may threaten his life.

Following the pattern of most dictator regimes coming to an end, Museveni and his collaborators in the armed occupation of Buganda are starting to behave like grasshoppers. Getting increasing paranoid, Museveni has become ruthless in dealing with real and imagined enemies. From Betty Nambooze to Kabaka Mutebi, he is willing to be reckless in the name of survival. And like grasshoppers, the NRM top brass are now so sacred that they are starting to cannibalize each other. This is what happened in the 1970’s as Amin’s Nubians and Kakwas started to fear their own shadows.

During the last 7 days alone, three key figures in the NRM system have escaped death or been killed in what most analysts agree to be, at best, highly suspicious circumstances. The architecture of the NRM occupation of Buganda through the arbitrary decentralization system, Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, narrowly escaped death when a speeding motorcycle ran his vehicle off the road in Bunyoro. Mysteriously, the motorcycle rider and his bike both disappeared. The police commander in the area, a Munyankore named Tumusiime, insisted that although they believed that there had been an accident, they could not do anything because all the important evidence had been carefully removed. A shaken Bidandi Ssali told the local press that he was sure that some people had tried to kill him.

The same Saturday, Brian Bukenya, the son of one of Museveni’s key collaborators in the NRM occupation of Buganda, vice president Gilbert Bukenya, dies in a freak. Brian Bukenya graduated in Law from the United Kingdom before joining the Uganda occupation army (UPDF) under pressure from his father. According to sources, the vice president who is obsessed with replacing Museveni if a chance arises, wanted his son to be in the army to emulate the president’s Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Although Museveni feigned approval, a source close to state house tell us that no one in Museveni’s akazu (secret Balaalo kitchen cabinet) was amused. Key akazu figures like Salim Saleh, Jovia Saleh, Janet Kataha Museveni, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, David Tinyefuza and Sam Kuteesa all saw Bukenya’s move as a challenge. The source adds that, although it is difficult to pin down the culprits, once Brian Bukenya and his father made clear that they were bent on getting him in the Sandhurst Military Academy, his fate was sealed.

Brian Bukenya, who was reportedly born out of an adulterous relationship that Bukenya had with a friend’s wife, died when the vehicle in which he was travelling from Kabamba to Kampala overturned.  Mysteriously, the driver, who survived, told police that after the accident he became unconscious and does not know how he got from the accident scene to his sister’s house in Kibuli, an hour’s drive away. The driver, Nathan Lwanga, also insists that he was speeding because the deceased, Brian Bukenya, told him to do so.

And on Tuesday, another major contributor to the NRM armed occupation of Buganda, Maj. Gen. James Kazini died in another bizarre case. According to the Uganda occupation police force, led by Rwandese Karyekezi Kayihura, Kazini was killed by his girlfriend who struck him with an iron bar. However, Brig. Elly Kayanja one of Museveni’s most ruthless security operators insists that the story is suspect. According to our source in the Uganda’s porous security community, Kazini’s confessed killer is an ISO operative. Kayanja headed ISO about 10 years ago before he went on to form the notorious Operation Wembley.

What remains unclear is the strength of Museveni’s hand in any of the three high profile deaths of NRM diehards.  Either way, the writing appears to be on the wall. The NRM occupation army is starting to eat its own limbs, beginning with Brian Bukenya and James Kazini. And Bidandi Ssali now has a new job – watching his back. Brig. Elly Kayanja confirmed that the grasshopper syndrome has taken root when told the Uganda local press that he advises all army officers, especially senior ones, to move with their pistols on the ready.

According to a Boston based improvised radio station, using multimedia SMS messages to broadcast, Kabaka Mutebi will shortly travel to South Africa on November 10, 2009, to visit his subject Betty Nambooze. The SMS broadcast, which one of our readers downloaded and emailed to us, carries the “Ekiba Kibe Program”, presented by Robert Kabuye. In a charismatic brave voice Kabuye first announces that Betty Nambooze is in terrible medical shape and appears to face certain death. Apparently, because “her intestines fast disintegrating.” Kabuye repeats what Nambooze has said for years now, that Museveni’s security people injected her with some suspicious chemical when she was in police custody.

Also in the SMS Kabuye, who keeps saying “Museveni must go” throughout his broadcast, claims that Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi will travel to South Africa on Tuesday this week, to visit Betty Nambooze Bakireke. We have not been able to independently confirm if Nambooze is facing certain death or whether Ssabasajja will indeed travel as Mr. Kabuye says. Click on this link Ekibakibe_09Sep09A.wav to listen to Mr. Kabuye.

Mr. Kabuye has made himself a name as a very effective communicator, who has mastered the multi-media SMS technology. His messages get to hundreds of Bagadna phones in the USA, Europe, Uganda and other countries. Sources also tell us that Mr. Kabuye is a very strong supporter of Frank Musisi, the former UNAA president. Indeed he intially started his SMS radio to campaign for Musisi when he was running for UNAA president. The same sources tell us that Mr. Kabuye’s energy and excellent communication skills also did a lot to get over 300 to attended the recent Emergency Buganda  Conference, organized by John Mayanja (see “Resolutions of the Buganda Emergency Meeting in Boston on October 17, 2009‏”).

In another related story, the people of Buganda were gripped by anxiety, anger and despair over the weekend after rumors spread by text messages that Betty Nambooze had died. Our source in Kayembe, near Nakasero market, told this writer: “The situation was tense and we feared that if the rumors got confirmed, anything could explode. The problem is that one could not tell where the rumor started. And because of the CBS Radio shut down we did not know who to listen to. Now, we have gotten to know that in fact the rumor was intentionally spread by ISO on instructions from Museveni’s statehouse.”

When Museveni interrupted his tour of Buganda to go to Egypt he was extremely frustrated by the relatively small crowds and unfriendly questions from Baganda peasants about CBS FM Radio. The trip had been promoted as a “Bonna Bagagawale” (”prosperity for all”) tour, in the expecting that impoverished Baganda peasants were only interested in money.

The first sign that Museveni’s tour was in trouble were the relatively small crowds he got in most places in Kyaggwe and Kooki (see “Museveni’s State House Bars Pictures From His Buganda Tour As Crowds Dwindle“). They only showed one “cooked” image at a sports field next to a school, where the RDC had commandeered children from several schools in the area, to create a “crowd”. Our on the ground source tell us, however, that Mr. Museveni was most frustrated by what he calls “disrespectful peasants” who ignore his speeches and keep asking him to explain why he closed CBS Radio. Yet others ask him why he stops Kabaka from travelling freely.

The source told us that by the time Museveni returned to state house to prepare for the Egypt trip, he was so fed up and angry that everyone thinks that he might abandon the Buganda trip. Quote: “Baganda peasants had gotten to his nerves with their questions about CBS Radio, Kabaka and, even Betty Nambooze. He was so angry that you can expect him to get even harder on the issue of reopening CBS Radio.”

According to the source, chances are quite high that Museveni will use the Egypt trip and a diversion so he can abandon his Buganda tour and avoid further embarrassment by poor peasants. Adding: “I think president Museveni is especially concerned about the possibility of Kabaka Mutebi going somewhere and getting his now standard mammoth crowds, on the same day when he (Museveni) is getting harassed by Baganda peasants.”

The Government of Buganda has published the press conference on the second Buganda Conference, slated for December 2009. The government is bravely taking on this challenge in the midst of a military occupation by Uganda’s NRM government, led by Yoweri Museveni. Most Buganda analysts think that it is too early to tell what Museveni will do about the conference.

The press conference, which appears on the official Buganda website, www.buganda.or.ug, is reproduced in full below:

BUGANDA CONFERENCE FOR 17TH DECEMBER 2009

Buganda Kingdom is organizing the second annual Buganda Conference to be held on the 17th December, 2009 at Hotel Africana under the theme “a Federo System of Governance for Uganda”.

The conference is an annual event graced by the Kabaka of Buganda with an aim of creating a platform for debate and interactions on the Kingdom’s issues.

According to the chairman organizing committee who also doubles as the Kingdom’s attorney general, Apollo Makubuya, the conference is expected to attract over 1000 participants from across the country.

He explained that discussion on federalism for Uganda is very important because many people have mistaken it to be an issue for only Buganda.

According to Makubuya, the conference will enlighten people within and outside Buganda that federo is not about Buganda seceding from Uganda or attaining a superior position but to grant power through the law to people in various parts of the country to work on developing their regions.

He added that the conference will also discuss the regional tier government among other issues and why Buganda Kingdom does not want it.

Makubuya reassured that the conference will be addressed by prominent scholars from various parts of Uganda and renowned international scholars on federalism from countries like Nigeria, USA and the United Kingdom among others.

He explained that unlike last year’s conference which was free of entry, this year’s event will require registration with a fee of 25000 Ugandan shillings each. He added that this fee has been set to help the organizers in the preparations of a successful event.

The conference was first held last year as part of the celebrations to commemorate the 15th coronation anniversary. However, due to the numerous problems encountered this year, the Kingdom was forced to shift the event to a later date.

Given it’s success last year, Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi was greatly impressed and resolved that the conference be held annually.

The conference which was themed “Development and Governance of Buganda in Uganda” attracted several scholars including renowned Professors Ali Mazurui and Mahmood Mamdhani among others.

It should however be remembered that last year’s conference was interfered with by the arrest of three Buganda Officials Medard Sseggona Lubega, Charles Peter Mayiga and Betty Nambooze Bakireke. Sseggona was arrested early morning before kick off of the conference while Peter Mayiga and Betty Nambooze were captured late night after the conference. The trio were held hostage and incommunicado for a week during which they were dragged into several cells in various parts of Western Uganda including Bundibujo, Masindi, Ibanda, Kabarole, Kagadi Fort Portal and Kyenjojo.

The sale of invitation cards to the public shall be announced very soon.