SMS based Free Buganda Radio (also known as Radio Bu)  and its Ekiba Kibe program have gone to another level by getting a page on Facebook. The move to Facebook was announced by Robert  Kabuye e Boston during his evening the February 19, 2010 evening broadcast.  After getting a tip from one of the Buganda Post readers, we found  Mr. Kabuye and his Ekiba Kibe program on Facebook (www.facebook.com) under the name Kabuye Boston Robert.

In the same program, Robert Kabuye offered prayers to the Democratic Party (DP), which appears to been permanently split into two factions. Commenting on one of the factions which, according to Mr. Kabuye, is lead by Nasser Ssebagala and Norbert Mao, the broadcaster from the Ngeye clan called on all Baganda to remain focused on the noble cause of liberating Buganda.

Click on Ekiba_Kibe19Feb10B to listen toKabuye’a  February 19, 2010 Ekiba Kibe broadcast on Radio Bu.

In his recent broadcasts of Ekiba Kibe program, Mr. Robert Kabuye of Boston has been use the abbreviation Bu in reference to the Buganda nation.  The same abbreviation was used for about 20 year, starting in the 1920s, by the Buganda independence movement called Abataka Bu.  It is not yet clear if the use of Bu on Ekiba Kibe program is in anyway related to efforts to resurrect the Abataka Bu party. However, Mr. Kabuye has frequently made it clear that goal (omulamwa) of the SMS based Freed Buganda Radio and its Ekiba Kibe program is Buganda liberation and independence.

To listen to the January 21, 2010 Ekiba Kibe program click on Ekiba_Kibe21Jan10A.

The Free Buganda Radio, which is broacasts to cell phones using multimedia messages (MMS), agrees with Abazzukulu ba Buganda that, the kingdom has no legal or other obligations to Uganda (see “Buganda Has No Legal Obligations To Uganda, Abazzukulu Clarify“). Robert Kabuye, who presents Ekiba Kibe program, hosted one John Mayanja, whom he introduced as the Chairman wa Ggwanga Mujje Boston. Mr. Mayanja went on to announce that Boston Baganda were to hold a Buganda liberation meeting on January 23, 2010. In the rest of the program, Mr. Mayanja and Mr. Kabuye explained that, in 1966, Uganda’s Milton Obote broke a contract with Buganda when he overthrew the Ugandan constitution. As a result, Buganda no longer part of the Uganda system and is not obliged to deal with Uganda. Mr. Mayanja urged Baganda to wake up and rtake charge of their future by liberating their Buganda.

We received the January 19, 2010 Ekiba Kibe program around 4:30 AM on January 20, 2010. It has been posted on Buganda Post just over 30 minutes afterwards. To listen to the full Ekiba Kibe program in Luganda click on Ekiba_Kibe19Jan10B.

According to the cell phone radio Ekiba Kibe Program of Saturday December 18, 2009, one of the leaders in newly formed Ugandan Diaspora and American Development Association (UADA), is in a USA immigration jail after being reported by UNAA officials. In the Luganda program, Mr. Robert Kabuye e Boston, explains that one David Aligaweesa  was arrested after Mr. Moses Wilson, UNAA president, and his supporters reported him to the USA immigration services.   Aligaweesa’s immigration papers are not in good order. According to sources in Boston, UADA plans to hold a convention in Boston in September, to compete directly with the 2010 event, which will be in Washington DC.

UADA is one of at least three breakaway organizations that have been formed in the wake of the controversial 2009 UNAA elections in Chicago. One was formed by Flex Kabuye, who was reportedly sponsored by the NRM to be a spoiler in Chicago. The second one, Ugandans in The Diaspora, was formed by one James Kabonge but details about it are still sketchy. And the third is UADA, where David Aligaweesa is one of the principals. All these are run by Baganda and are in direct competition with Museveni funded UNAA where the key players are Moses Wilson (President), Ssenoga, Gaburungi, Fred and Brenda Kalema Musoke, Moses Kalemba, Rosette Serwanga and Alex Zabasajja.

The December 18, 2009 Ekiba Kibe also exposes the visit to the USA by Kahinda Otafiire, to bring bribe money for Ugandan spies in America. It also reports on the Buganda Conference and explains the evils of the NRM’s new land bill.

Ekiba Kibe program is broadcast to people’s cell phones as multi-media messages (MMS) that you can you can play on your cell phone, if it has the MMS feature. This writer knows of some people in Uganda who receive the Ekiba Kibe program on their cell phones.

***To listen to the Ekiba Kibe SMS Radio program click here.***

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.”

Over the last two weeks, the chairman of president Museveni’s Uganda Broadcasting Council (UBC) has had a chats with virtually all major radio station owners and ordered them to adhere to certain “profession practices” or face closure like CBS FM Radio (Radio ya Ssabasajja). We have learnt that Mr. Mutabazi did not seek input several members of  the broadcast council and mostly depended on talking points which he put together with assistance from Robert Kabushenga, Tamale Mirundi, Robert Sebunya and Moses Byaruhanga.  His method of work angered some members of the UBC who feel abused and marginalized by state house. It is through these conditions that we received the information in Mutabazi’s talking points.

Our sources have also confirmed that president Museveni approved the measures and their ongoing implementation before he left for the UN general assembly in the USA. And after his encounter with Kabaka on Wednesday, he ordered that the measures be continued, a sign that the meeting with Kabaka did not change anything for him.

According to our sources, Godfrey Mutabazi obtained partial college education in North America before returning home in the early 1990’s to work in Museveni spy network. In 1998, he was appointed to the Uganda Broadcasting Council. He became the chairman around 2003 and started calling himself Engineer Mutabazi. He is highly secretive and ordered that information on UBC members, even names, be removed from the UBC website. Members terms are 3 years but he has been automatically reappointed 4 times.

Both Mutabazi, who implemented the closure of CBS FM Radio and General Kalyekezi Kayihura, the police commander who stopped Kabaka from going to Kayunga are Rwandese Tutsi who came to Uganda as refugees. This fact plus persistent but unconfirmed rumors that president Museveni’s unknown biological father was a Tutsi is feeding the growing belief among Baganda that their kingdom is under occupation by foreign mercenaries.

Uganda has 129 radio stations and 7 TV stations in different states of operation. The biggest broadcasting houses, of which CBS FM Radio has been the market leader for over 10 years, are mostly owned by Baganda. Their leadership significantly depended on their higher coverage of Buganda kingdom events and people, especially the Kabaka.

Besides Mutabazi, the other current UBC member are Tim Lwanga Mutekanga, George Omunyokol, Aggrey Kibenge, Kenneth Kazooba, Aga Sekalala, Kagole Kivumbi, Juliana Naumo, Godfrey Kibuuka, Patrick Mukiibi and Catherine Omaswa.

Below is an edited and reorganize version of Mutabazi’s talking points. Certain names, offices and other details have been removed or reworded to protect our sources.

UBC RULES OF THE ROAD TO BROADCASTERS

-TALKING POINTS -

(HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL)

Kabaka

1.  Stop calling him “His Majesty”; instead use “His Highness” not to contradict the President and other NRM officials.

2.  Use “Mr. Mutebi” instead of “Kabaka” as much as possible. Start slowly and build up.

3.  Stop using the terms “Empologoma”, “Chuchu”, “Nyanja Temanyiirwa”, “Baffe”, “Namunswa” or other terms, which encourage Buganda sectarianism.

4.  Avoid stories that portray him as a strong person who is influenced by moderates and NRM supporters.

5.  Promote stories that portray him as a weak person who is under pressure from a few radical Baganda.

6.  Promote stories and images that suggest that he has a friendly relationship with H.E. the VP.

Buganda

1.  Stop playing the “Kitibwa kya Buganda” song or other nationalistic Buganda songs because they promote sectarianism.

2.  Stop referring to Buganda as a kingdom. Instead, consistently use “Central Region” or, if clarity demands it, “Buganda Region”.

3.  Stop referring to the old Buganda counties. Stick to district and constituency names (even if they include old county names in part).

4.  Freely report all stories where the Katikkiro and members of his cabinet are promoting peace, hard work, friendly relations with other Ugandans and “fair treatment” from the H. E. the President.

5.  Avoid stories that include strong pro-Buganda statements by religious leaders. Promote stories where religious leaders call for calm

6.  Don’t use the words “genocide” or “occupation” or “torture” or “safe house” or similar words in connection with any arrests of Baganda for any reasons.

7.  Refer to Banyala as an ethnic minority which is fighting to secede from Buganda. Stop mentioning the population of Banyala.

8.  Do not promote Baganda only events like clan football matches, cultural competitions, Nkoba za Mbogo, etc.

Buganda Radicals and Rioters

1.  Stop reporting stories on the activities of Allan Waligo, Nambooze, Sseggona, Muliika, Nsubuga Nsambu, Mpanga, Nkoba za Mbogo, and other Baganda radicals. The exception is when the story suggests that they are becoming weak and trying to incite violence against non Baganda.

2.  Keep reporting on police cases against Nambooze, Lukwago and other similar anti-government activists to a minimum.

3.  Do not use the term “political prisoners” to refer to any of the rioters.

4.  Avoid referring to the those who participated in the Kayunga related rioting as “Baganda” since some of them were not Baganda. The rioters were common criminals and a few anti-government elements who exploited the situation to loot.

5. When it make sense you can refer to the radicals who incite violence or those who engage in riots as “terrorists”

Mengo

1.  Stop reporting stories on the activities of Waliggo, Nambooze, Sseggona, Muliika, Nsubuga Nsambu, Nkoba za Mbogo, and other Baganda radicals. The exception is when the story suggests that they are becoming weak and cannot incite Baganda sectarianism.

2.  Keep reporting on police cases against Nambooze, Lukwago and other similar anti-government activists to a minimum.

3.  Avoid using terms like “Buganda Government” or “Buganda Kingdom Government”.

4.  Report positively on the Katikiro and other Mengo people who don’t make outwardly sectarian statement.

5.  Report positively on health, agriculture, education and other developmental program by Mengo.

6. Avoid using the “Owekitibwa” title becuase it can cause misplaced feeling of importance.

On Friday September 11, 2009, president Museveni’s security operatives ambushed and kidnapped Robert Serumaga, a Muganda journalist, as he left a live WCBS TV debate where he spoke against Museveni’s mistreatment of Ssabasajja Kabaka Mutebi.  In a manner reminiscent of Idi Amin days, Museveni has resorted to arresting his political opponents by ambushing them , forcing them into civilian cars without explaining to them or others with them what is going on and  speeding them off to extralegal  ”safe houses” where they are tortured before getting handed over to the police.

After Robert Serumaga was kidnapped, he was taken to a torture facility and severely beaten up, according to doctors at Kampala International Hospital where the police took him after Museveni’s security operatives handed him over in bad shape. The head of the hospital, Dr. Ian Clarke, told the press that Serumaga has suffered multiple concussions as a result of the Idi Amin style head blows. He was also suffering from memory loss.

An inside view of sequence of events as Serumaga got kidnapped is provided by another journalist, Bernard Tabaire, who was a co-panelist with Serumaga on the TV program and an eyewitness to the crime. In his opinion piece published today by the Aga Khan’s Monitor Newspaper, Tabaire narrates abduction as follows:

I got to my car and promptly got distracted trying to tip a rather sleepy guard. The moment I opened the car, I heard commotion. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw someone being dragged up Dewinton Rise. Being a Friday night, I dismissed the whole thing as some drunkard being helped by friends. I shut the car door ready to fire up the engine. Just then I heard Maria’s voice. They are taking Robert, she cried.

Damn! It cannot be. It was 11 p.m. Minutes earlier, in the studio, we had talked about free expression being curtailed so casually yet so sweepingly in the chaos of the moment.

I turned my head. Three men or so were dragging Serumaga along the rough Dewinton Rise. They had reached a spot in front of Walusimbi’s Garage (corner of Dewinton Rise and Dewinton Road) that was all wet because of a broken water pipe some place nearby. A battered white saloon car was reversing into position on the Dewinton Road side of Walusimbi’s. With Serumaga bundled into the back of the car, it sped off towards Siad Barre Avenue and into Kampala’s dangerous unknown where, ironically, state security agencies rule.

That was rattling. It is one thing to hear and read about these things. It is another to see them happen to someone you know and to actually witness it. Rattled or not, our phones lit up. They had to. We had to get word out for all it was worth. In the process, I spoke to someone in the security services who claimed to be aware of all that was happening. The source said agents would subject Serumaga to severe psychological stress to teach him a lesson. And that the earliest they would release him would be Wednesday (as it turns out, he was released on Tuesday after being charged with six counts of sedition). The source also hinted that Serumaga was being picked up as part of an elaborate campaign to tame the media, and not so much for what he said that Friday night on WBS but for a series of utterances and writings over time on his Spectrum talk-show on Radio One and elsewhere. The source added that the government is tired of Mengo’s machinations and it was time to deal with it decisively; and that whatever happens, Mengo’s CBS radio would never return on the air. “CBS is banned,” the sourced said. “Whatever Mengo does, CBS is banned.”

Uganda’s vice president, Dr. Gilbert Bukenya has told Kabaka Mutebi and his subjects to forget about  the Federo, which they are agitating for.  Bukenya is supposed to have made these statements in an interview that is published in government owned and controlled Sunday Vision of September 6, 2009. Bukenya was echoing the statement made by president Museveni, during a July 12, 2009 public debate On WBS TV, where he (Museveni) declared: “I can never allow Federo for Buganda”.

August 16, 2009 Bukenya attended the Coronation Anniversary celebrations in Lubiri where Omutaka Nakirembeka chided the vice president and other Baganda members of the NRM government for  parroting their anti-Buganda bosses. Kabaka Mutebi , in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Museveni’s TV declaration, made clear that Buganda would not tolerate any more double-talk on Federo. The Kabaka said: “When we hear some people saying that they don’t know what Federo means, I think they have failed to understand what we mean. You should reply to them that Federo is all about justice and truth, and this is what we demand.”

On his part, Bukenya told Kabaka Mutebi and the tens of  thousands of Baganda present that:  ”Buganda’s Federo concerns are genuine and we need to talk about them seriously. I will make sure to recommend to the appropriate authorities that they be handled.”  Apparently  Bukenya  chose the newspaper interview format to inform  Kabaka Mutebi and his subjects to forget Federo, only saying, “We are giving them a regional government.”

Below is what Bukenya told Moses Mulondo of the new vision in response to a question on Federo. According to our sources in Ugandan media, Bukenya and Uganda state house were involved in composing both the question and the answer . Moreover, Bukenya’s answer was first  shown to the Uganda state house, by Robert Kabushenga, before publication. Therefore, all the vagueness (kavuyo) it contains is intentional.

Question: Do you think Buganda’s demands on federalism are genuine?

Answer: Lets  first of all make this very clear. Long time ago when the Europeans came to the centre of Africa here, there was an absolute monarchy. All the power and the leadership was enthroned in the king of that kingdom. He would even order for the killing of a person if he wanted. When the British came in they started taking away power from the king and giving it to the chiefs.

That was the beginning of process of reducing absolute monarchism. By 1950 monarchism was beginning to die out because the colonialists had introduced elections. Once they introduced the system of one  man one vote, democracy began to take over from the monarchy. Today you would be wasting time or dreaming if you thought of going back to the absolute federalism of the monarchy we used to have before the colonialists

But the Buganda kingdom is not demanding for the federalism it had before colonialism, rather, it is demanding for the federalism it got in 1962 after we had acquired independence

But the 1962 federalism is what we are giving them. We are giving them a regional government. They told you to manage many things; I do not know what they were told to manage in 1962. However, I want this to be re-emphasised for it seems to be our major disagreement. In a democratic arrangement you cannot expect that there will ever be a leader of a government without their being voted for by the population. It’s not possible.

That is why we have been saying, ‘why we don’t dissolve some power by creating regional governments whose leaders will be voted for by the people?’ The central government can give some power and you can call that federalism. But the previous federalism of an absolute monarchy is gone forever.

The full interview is available in the Interview sections of the Sunday Vision at www.sundayvision.co.ug.

On March 9, 2009, Buganda Post carried an exclusive story describing how Katikkiro JB Walusimbi and president Museveni had reached secret agreements on strategies towards clipping Kabaka Mutebi’s power concentration (see Katikkiro Walusimbi Dodges Talks, Leaves Museveni Holding A Bag Of Stones). To protect our sources, we did not name Mr. Walusimbi’s co-conspirators. However, only one day after our story, Mr. Museveni’s Luganda mouthpiece, Bukedde, not only confirmed the substance of our story but named some of  Mr. Walusimbi’s co-conspirators.

According to the March 10, 2009 edition of Bukedde Mr. Walusimbi’s point man is Mr. Jolly Lutaaya, minister of local government in the Buganda government. The others named are Ahmed Bamweyana, Kaddu Kiberu, Dr. Masagazi Masaazi, Omutaka Ssevvume Musoke and Kyadondo county chief, Toferi Malokweza.

Mr. Jolly Lutaaya and Mr. Kaddu Kiberu are among the longest serving Buganda Government ministers, having been appointed in the early 1990’s with strong support from then Katikkiro Mulwaanyamuli. At the time of Kabaka Mutebi’s wedding, Mr. Lutaaya was forced to leave Mmengo after being caught red handed by Kabaka’s guard (abambowa) while stealing building materials, donated by Baganda, from Mmengo Lubiri.  To many Kampala  Baganda, the theft from Kabaka was viewed as proof of earlier allegations that he started his contracting business with large scale embezzlement from one of the major oil companies in Kampala were true.  Like Katikkiro Walusimbi, Mr. Lutaaya’s main source of income are government “deals” secured through Engineers Nasaasira and Muganzi in ministry of works

Our Mmengo sources claim that Mr. Kaddu Kiberu has one of the cleaner records when it comes at Mmengo finances. For many years, Mr. Kiberu generously donated to various Mmengo and clan (Mmamba) causes. However, the sources also say that during the heat of the battle for Federal vs. Decentralization he was widely suspected to be the NRM’s most active spies at Mmengo because he used to hold secret one-on-one meetings with Bidandi Ssali at least 2 to 3 times a month.  Curiously, the meetings were mostly at public events like funerals, if possible, or on Kampala streets in an old car with tinted windows. Mr. Kiberu’s primary business, Peacock Paints is currently facing some financial challenges and frequently relies on government tenders.

Mr. Ahmed Bamweyana, a former senior clerk at the Uganda High Commission, in London, is currently the Financial Controller in President Museveni’s Education Service Commission. Most Baganda who are familiar with Mmengo, especially those in North America and Europe, would best remember Mr. Bamweyana as the man who sabotaged Betty Nambooze’s visa to Ttabamiruka ’08 in the USA. He allegedly cheated Baganda of millions of shillings by convincing them that they had to go through him to get Ttabamiruka invitation letters (see Nambooze, US Embassy Victims of Bamweyana Visa Scam.) As punishment for this corruption Katikkiro Walusimbi moved Mr. Bamweyana from Chief of Protocol to a deputy minister position.

Our sources tell us that Dr. Masagazi Masaazi, Omutaka Ssevvume Musoke and Kyadondo county chief, Toferi Malokweza carry little or no political weight in Buganda issues. However, like many other Baganda usually targeted by Museveni, they are all known to face “financial problems”. And they are eager to do business with Ms. Kyambadde if  supporting Mmengo negotiations with Museveni can ease their financial stress.

One Muganda political analyst has told this writer that the involvement of Amelia Kyambadde and Sebunya with Katikkiro Walusimbi’s dubious representatives validates the Buganda Post story of  March 9, 2009 that the Museveni/Walusimbi secret negotiation were about using money to isolate Kabaka Mutebi. He insists that:  “Sebunya is the primary handler of Baganda officials and clan leader who spy for Museveni on fellow Baganda . And Amelia Kyambadde holds Museveni’s cash box. What could they all have been secretly negotiating about other than bribes?”