Prime
Kabaka condemns Kasese killings in Christmas message
The Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II. File photo
The Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, has condemned the recent killings in Kasese which left more than 100 people dead.
This is the first time, Kabaka Mutebi who rarely comments on issues happening in the country, has spoken out on the violence which also led to the arrest and detention of more than 130 people including Rwenzuru King Charles Wesley Mumbere. King Mumbere who has been charged with terrorism, murder and robbery among other cases returns to court on December 28.
“We mourn the death of our friends who died in the Kasese violence. We expect that the central government will do everything in its power to investigate and punish all those involved in the mass killings and to find ways of stopping it quickly,” reads the Kabaka’s Christmas message in part.
The monarch also decried strikes especially in higher institutions of learning like universities, which he said equally affect parents and students. He called for dialogue to provide lasting solutions over the same.
For close to two months, Makerere University—the largest public university in the country has been closed on the orders of President Museveni following a strike by lecturers. Early this week, the lecturers suspended their sit down strike and management subsequently proposed the university be opened on January 2, 2017.
Kabaka Mutebi who described 2016 as a challenging year also expressed concern over the rising number of accidents and murders in the year ending.
The Kabaka blamed the famine that has and continues to ravage different parts of the country on environmental degradation by the population.
“We ask every leader to encourage people to plant trees of every type and stop encroaching on wetlands everywhere,” he noted as a solution to the problem.
In 2017, the monarch said the focus should be on encouraging parents to take their children to school, and encourage personal and community hygiene and to prevent contracting killer diseases.
