Prime
Bunyoro demands 10% shares of Kinyara sugar
Bunyoro King Solomon Gafabusa Iguru sounds the royal drum during his 19th coronation anniversary in Hoima Town yesterday. The Omukama asked the government to offer him 10 per cent shares of the Kinyara sugar factory. He also demanded that assets that belonged to his kingdom before the 1967 abolition, be returned to him. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA.
What you need to know:
Request. Kingdom prime minister asked the government to offer budgetary support to “correct colonial injustices”.
HOIMA
The Omukama of Bunyoro, Dr Solomon Gafabusa Iguru, has asked the government to offer him 10 per cent shares from Kinyara sugar factory.
Speaking during his 19th coronation anniversary yesterday, the king also demanded that kingdom’s assets still in possession of the government, be returned.
Kinyara Sugar Works Ltd is currently managed by Rai Holdings on behalf of the government.
The kingdom still demands for royal forests, pieces of land, some cultural sites and former county and sub-county headquarters.
Cultural institutions were restored by the NRM government in the 1990s.They had been abolished in 1967 during the Obote I regime. The celebrations, held at Karuziika Palace in Hoima Town, were held under the theme “Tapping Bunyoro’s tourism and cultural potentials”.
Bunyoro prime minister Jackson Nsamba Kasozi, had earlier noted that the kingdom’s push to repossess its assets had not yielded results. “We request you to rekindle our demand and support our efforts to repossess our assets,” the Rev Kasozi said.
The premier further asked the government to expedite the formation of the proposed Bunyoro University. “The king has offered 45 acres of land on which the university shall be built,” he said.
The Omukama asked the government to offer budgetary support to his kingdom in an effort to correct the colonial injustices which his people suffered.
During the reign of Omukama Kabalega, Bunyoro resisted British imperialism and waged a nine-year guerrilla war. He was, however, defeated in 1899 and exiled in the Seychelles Islands. He died in 1923 on his way back home.
Dr Iguru said the government of Her majesty has started paying reparations through the Ugandan government to address Bunyoro’s colonial effects. Vice-President Edward Ssekandi, who represented the President, said he had noted the kingdom’s concerns. “I will report them to the President so that positive solutions are got,” Mr Ssekandi said.
The President, who donated Shs200 million towards the rehabilitation of the king’s Karuziika Palace and a car to the Omukama, urged Bunyoro to preserve its rich cultural heritage and also teach the youth about culture.
