‘The time for healing of the wounds has come, the moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come, the time to build is upon us,’ are words of wisdom from South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
These words echoed in my head this week after National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, visited the graveyard of former president Milton Obote in Apac District as he traversed Lango Sub-region in his presidential campaign trail.
Bobi Wine was welcomed by Mr Jimmy Akena, Obote’s son, who is currently a Member of Parliament and leader of a faction of Obote’s Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party, to the home where the NUP presidential flagbearer laid the national flag on the grave of Uganda’s founding father.
The gesture, however, sparked a debate on social media that had tribal undertones. One of the reactions came from journalist Samson Kasumba, who wondered if it was a wise political move.
‘Obote is and remains a very sensitive subject here in Buganda ever since the invasion of the Lubiri on May 24, 1966. While paying respects may be a gesture of goodwill, you either are making a master stroke or a political suicidal move, you just can never know which way it will go.’ he posted on X on October 24.
Some people attacked Bobi Wine, suggesting that he had betrayed Buganda.
In May 1966, government soldiers, commanded by Idi Amin, marched on the Buganda Kingdom palace at Mengo.
The attack, supposedly carried out on orders of prime minister Obote, saw century-old treasures and royal regalia of Buganda Kingdom reduced to ashes, and Kabaka of Buganda Edward Muteesa II – who was also the ceremonial President – fleeing into exile, and Buganda being placed under a state of emergency. That is why a section of people look at Bobi Wine’s political move to associate with Obote’s family as an insult to Buganda’s heritage and pride. ‘To me, as a Muganda, honouring Obote feels like honouring an evil man who tried to erase the very cultural institution [Buganda Kingdom] Bobi Wine claims to love,’ went a comment on X. Bobi Wine, who at times uses the nickname Omubanda wa Kabaka (the king’s boy), is a vocal supporter of the kingdom.
Whereas Uganda seems to have moved on from the 1966 Crisis, some people are stuck in the historical tragedies to the extent that they want the new generation sucked into the tribal differences.
Mr Akena, too, was at the receiving end of insults for ‘forgetting what happened when [a section of] Baganda prevented his late father’s corpse from passing through Buganda [in 2005]’.
Uganda’s post-independence mistakes came with serious confrontations, vengeance, tribal hatred and civil unrest.
But Ugandans should forge a way forward towards forgiveness, reconciliation, tolerance, harmony and unity for safer future generations. We must ask ourselves, should we inherit the past mistakes of our grandfathers?
Lest we forget, the consequences of ethnic extremism have always ended in tragedy. They have led to mass killings, refugee crises, food insecurity, cultural erosion and economic setbacks as it has been seen in Africa and other parts of the globe.
Bobi Wine is a rising star in Uganda’s political Arena, and his attempt to bridge historical cultural differences should be applauded and not condemned.
Bobi Wine and Akena are not responsible, nor can they overturn the events that happened between Muteesa and Obote, but they have a duty to set a fresh impetus for today’s generations to embrace unity, cohesion and co-existence.