Kabaka Muteesa deported to Britain

Kabaka Muteesa had been opposed to the inclusion of Ugandans to the Legislative Council, a move aimed at widening political space and inclusion beyond Buganda.

In that regard, on November 6, 1953, the attorney general unveiled a threat of withdrawing recognition from Kabaka Muteesa for defying an arrangement under the 1900 Buganda Agreement that required him to cooperate with the colonial government.

At a meeting on November 27, 1953 the Kabaka was required to accept Her Majesty’s Government replies to his letter of August, and convey to the Lukiiko as the final word on all points raised in the letter. He was also expected to pledge full cooperation in the future progress of Buganda as an integral part of the Uganda Protectorate, including nominating Buganda representatives to the Legislative Council.

When the Kabaka rejected the conditions without first consulting the Lukiiko, the Governor requested the Kabaka to consider the matter very carefully during the ensuing weekend and return for a further meeting on November 30, 1953. Unknown to the Kabaka and his advisors, arrangements had already been made for his deportation to Britain. Fred R.J. Williams had been asked to report to the Governor’s office on the morning of November 30, 1953 with sufficient clothing as he might be required to travel to an undisclosed place at very short notice.

As it later transpired, Williams was to accompany the Kabaka on the flight to England. Williams came to know the Kabaka when he spent three years at the office of the Resident of Buganda, and was thus considered the king’s friend.

When Williams arrived at the Governor’s office that morning, he was told the Kabaka and the Governor were in a meeting. He was asked to join Mr Deegan, the commissioner of police and Owen Griffith, the governor’s secretary, in an ante-room. Two Hercules aircrafts of the Royal Airforce Transport command had landed at Entebbe airport the morning of November 30, ready to fly the Kabaka out.

Meanwhile, at a tense meeting on November 30, 1953, the Kabaka categorically refused to accept the colonial government’s conditions. Katikkiro Kavuma disclosed in his book that the Kabaka, his Aide-de-Camp and the Resident all had revolvers.

It had been pre-arranged that when it became clear that the Kabaka was not going to give in, the Attorney General would leave the meeting to set ready the constitutional documents declaring a State-of-Emergency.

Governor Cohen then told the Commissioner of police and Williams that the Kabaka was to be deported and that Williams was to accompany him to London. The governor signed the deportation order which had already been prepared and emphasised to Williams that the Kabaka was to be treated with utmost consideration and courtesy.

The Commissioner of Police then served the deportation order to the Kabaka and informed him he was to escort him to the airport to board a plane and go on deportation to England. Williams recounts that he and the Commissioner of Police escorted the Kabaka to a waiting car and were driven to the airport.

The car stopped beside the Royal Air Force plane whose engine was already running. Williams and the Kabaka got on board and were soon joined by Austin Malcolm, a member of the Police Special Branch and Robert Ntambi, an assistant Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the Kabaka.

Immediately after take-off, Austin Malcolm asked the Kabaka and his ADC whether they had any weapons. They each produced semi-automatic weapons and were given receipts.
As Captain of the aircraft had told his passengers that he would be refueling at El Adam in Libya, the Kabaka asked Williams whether he could send a telegramme to Kampala.

Fearing that the Kabaka was desiring to send a stirring message to the Lukiiko and the Baganda to rise and resist, Williams gave the excuse that El Adam was a small isolated airport in Libya and that the Kabaka should wait for London where he would get a message to Kampala faster. When Williams later inquired about the contents of the message, the Kabaka told Williams he wanted to inform his wife not to follow him to London.

On arrival in London, Williams thought it would not be appropriate to drive up to the Colonial Office and march up the steps with the deported Kabaka. He therefore disembarked at a pub known as King’s Arm, situated at a corner from the Colonial Office.

Williams then telephoned the Desk Officer dealing with Uganda to seek guidance and the officer turned up in a matter of minutes. He informed the Kabaka he had been booked in the Savoy and gave him 100 pounds. Williams was told he had been booked into a much less distinguished hotel in Strand.

With this official business over, Williams asked the Kabaka what plans he had and whether he could be of any further help. The Kabaka told Williams that, as he had no clothes other than the suit he was wearing, he wanted to go to Harrods to buy a bowler hut and an umbrella. Williams got him a taxi and the two parted outside King’s Arm.

Back in Uganda, the colonial authorities moved quickly to publicise the deportation and reasons for it throughout the colony. The security measure which had been put in place, was never effected because the uprising which the authorities had feared never happened. Even then, the Baganda were dumfounded.

However, as time passed, Don Marshal, expressed surprised at how “...quickly it became possible to encourage influential members of the Lukiiko to start contemplating the possibility of electing a new Kabaka under the succession provision of the 1900 Agreement. There was opposition of course but within about two months of the deportation it was known from very reliable sources within the Buganda government that there was steadily growing support for a new Kabaka.”

As the Kabaka was flying to London, the Colonial Secretary announced to the House of Commons that Britain had withdrawn recognition from the Kabaka of Buganda because he had breached an agreement to cooperate with her Majesty’s government. “The Colonial Secretary said despite five meetings, the Kabaka had stubbornly refused to budge. “Recognition has therefore been withdrawn and the Kabaka is on his way to England. This action has been taken because the Kabaka’s continued stay in Uganda would be a threat to public safety,” Don Marshal notes in an essay, The Deportation of Kabaka.

“While some Baganda leaders thought of replacing Muteesa with another prince, the overwhelming majority of them felt their very Gandaness had been affronted by the deportation. They refused to accept the deportation and would not entertain the proposal to replace Muteesa with another prince.”

A small group of enlightened people who had got elected to the Lukiiko, persuaded the parliament to send a delegation to London to appeal to the Secretary of State for the Colonies for the return of Muteesa. Much as this appeal was denied, it was agreed that discussion, under the chairmanship of Prof. Keith Hancock, be held between Buganda and the Protectorate Government on the constitutional relationship between the kingdom and the protectorate.

During the sessions, the committee got polarised over the issue a federal “fence” for Buganda. A number of committee members wanted Buganda to be regarded as an entity separate and distinct from the rest of Uganda, something which Hancock did not accept. Bishop Kiwanuka argued that the major problems would easily be resolved if it was recognised that Buganda was a nation. Hancock eventually conceded that “a special relationship between Buganda, and Uganda might just be feasible.”

Later, as had been planned, the Governor joined the discussion in July 1954 and transformed the Buganda Constitution Committee into the Namirembe Conference.
The Conference then drafted a new agreement to replace the 1900 Agreement which cleared the way for an accord to be reached in London early in 1955. By this accord, it was agreed the Kabaka would return, and the Lukiiko would accept the new Agreement.

Following this, Muteesa returned on October 17, 1955, amid tumultuous rejoicing. To Muteesa and the Baganda, the contents of the October 18, 1955 Agreement didn’t matter like his ‘triumphant’ return.

However, the return of the Kabaka heightened their separatist sentiments, making them to assume they could “act and negotiate independently and without reference to the wishes and sentiments of other tribes of Uganda.”

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