Prime
Court upholds Mubbala’s election as Bugwere leader
Mr Samuku Kintu Mubbala, whose election has been upheld as Ikumbania. PHOTO/Mudangha Kolyangha
What you need to know:
Rival groups have been claiming the title ever since Bishop Wayabire passed on in 2021. Some of the groups have taken the fight to court.
Mbale High Court has ruled that Mr Samuku Kintu Mubbala is the head of Bugwere Cultural Institution.
The court dismissed an application challenging Mr Mubbala’s election.
The application was filed by a group led by Mr Geofrey Wayabire, a son of the late and first Ikumbania, John C.Wayabire, through Okweny Tonny Cobs and Co Advocates in 2021.
The group argued that Mr Mubbala and his supporters secured an order from the High Court indicating that he is the rightful Ikumbania of Bugwere using forged documents such as minutes of a meeting which amended the constitution of the Obwa Ikumbania Bwa Bugwere and the constitution of the council of elders.
However, the presiding judge, Justice Margaret Apiny, in her ruling last week dismissed the application with no orders for costs, saying some of the applicants never swore affidavits in support of the application.
“It is, therefore, my finding that referring to the said individuals as applicants amounts to filing a representative suit without an order of the court allowing them to file a representative suit, which is mandatory,” Justice Apiny said last Thursday.
Adding: “For above the reasons, the preliminary objection in that regard is hereby sustained and Misc Application No 050 of 2022 is hereby dismissed with no orders as to costs due to the nature of dispute at hand”.
After the dismissal of the application, Mr Mubbala challenged other rival groups to come and work together for the good of Bugwere.
“Let’s come together and forge unity in the land of Bugwere other than dividing subjects,” he said.
Mr Joshua Musimami, another rival cultural head, said this ruling of the High Court does not apply to the running of the institution.
“All these are meant to divert the minds of the Bagwere but nothing will stop us from proceeding with the programmes of the institution. Whatever he [Mr Mubbala] has done is purely through fraudulent means to satisfy his interests and the agents,”he said.
Mr Musimami, a teacher by profession was elected to replace late Wayabire in the election, which took place in Nabiswa in Kibuku District.
The late Wayabire, who was the institution’s first cultural head, succumbed to Covid-19 on February 7, 2021.
Mr Mubbala was elected as his replacement, amid opposition.
Mr Mubbala was born on August 17, 1945 in Bumiza Village, Kibuku District.
He holds a Master in Surveys and worked as secretary of Uganda Lands Commission under the Ministry of Lands before he retired in 2005.
Mr Mubbala is currently a consultant.
ABOUT BAGWERE
The Bagwere constitute about 4 percent of Uganda’s population. They can be traced in Pallisa, Budaka, Butebo and Kibuku districts, where they are the majority.
The institution, which has 108 clans, has been bogged down by power struggles since it was gazetted on May 6, 2016.
Factions have emerged in the institution, with their leaders claiming the title.
The rivalry deepened in February 2021 after Bishop John Wayabire succumbed to Covid-19.
He was installed in 2014 as the first head of the Bagwere.
