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Omusinga Mumbere returns home with pomp, pageantry
Author: Asuman Bisiika. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- The Rwenzururu rebellion ended on August 15, 1982. Needless to say, the Rwenzururu Kingdom is now one of the recognised kingdoms or cultural or traditional establishments in Uganda.
On June 30, 1962, what was later to be known as the Rwenzururu Kingdom was “created” by a one man unilateral declaration. That man was Isaya Mukirania, the father of Omusinga (King) Charles Wesley Mumbere).
By this declaration, the predominantly Bakonzo-inhabited mountain areas of the Rwenzori Sub-region ‘gained’ independence from Uganda and her British colonial overlords in Entebbe.
In the lead up to national independence from Britain, no Ugandan leader cared about an obscure former school teacher declaring a unilateral independence and secessation of a remote area.
But the British Protectorate Government of Uganda was shocked into a reality when ‘the new’ kingdom’s armed forces (kitted with spears, machetes and arrows) started attacking government establishments like dispensaries and schools and their staff.
With the disruption of the social and security system, it was now clear to see the impact of the unilateral declaration of independence and creation of a kingdom for what it was: secession. The government had to take action.
What followed is frozen in history. The Rwenzururu rebellion ended on August 15, 1982. Needless to say, the Rwenzururu Kingdom is now one of the recognised kingdoms or cultural or traditional establishments in Uganda. After the recognition of central government, the kingdom administration changed what they hitherto called Independence Day (June 30) to Peace Day.
But there was an incident in late November 2016 that led to the exile in Kampala of King Charles Wesley Mumbere.
On Wednesday, the king returned from exile to a grand reception characterised by pomp and pageantry. The crowd in Kasese Municipality to welcome Omusinga Mumbere back home was mammoth; and any Kasese leader worth the name was there to bear witness thereof.
Being a traditional leader or king in the Republic of Uganda derives from the Constitution. And the said Constitution places the President of the Republic and Head of State at the apex of the power pyramid. Therefore, being king (in the Republic of Uganda) is likely to depend on the mood of the President of the republic. And oh yes, his mood may also depend on how such a prospective king may project loyalty to him; a kind of imperial vassalage.
For Rwenzururu Kingdom, in the minimum (and in spite of the November 2016 incident), the return of Omusinga Mumbere is a testament to the endurance of the Rwenzururu Kingdom. As the Bakonzo say, akalhayirire sikatambwa (you cannot challenge fate). Indeed, Rwenzururu Kingdom exists. And the king lives. Welcome home Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere.
The Banyarwanda have a saying that goes : Ingoma Sw’Umwami, n’Abagabo (secure the men, you have secured the throne). Omusinga Mumbere has his community behind him. Whether one styles him as a community leader or traditional leader or cultural leader or king or whatever, Omusinga Mumbere is a leader. A leader of men. A leader of (and in) his community. We only pray that the kingdom leadership and the central government have picked lessons from past mistakes that led to the November 2016 incident. Let there be peace.
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I have always wished for scholars to take interest in the Rwenzururu Kingdom as an area of academic research. In an era of liberal cynicism of the 1960s, a man of limited exposure to the world rallied his community to create a kingdom and declare himself king. Now, whether we like it or not, we are under compulsion to deal with the said kingdom.
Uganda now has to treat the kingdom as part of other peoples with kingly community leadership.
Mr Asuman Bisiika is the Executive Editor of the East African Flagpost. [email protected]
