A power struggle is brewing in Busoga, with the First Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Rebecca Kadaga accusing the kingdom’s Prime Minister, Dr Joseph Muvawala, of undermining her and plotting to weaken her influence in the sub-region.
The duo, once allies in the election of Kyabazinga William Gabula Nadiope IV in 2014, have fallen out.
Ms Kadaga accuses Dr Muvawala, who got the kingdom’s prime minister job after the election of Kyabazinga Nadiope IV, of prioritising personal interests over Busoga’s development.
Ms Kadaga and President Museveni played key roles in resolving unrest arising out of disagreements over the Kyabazinga throne, which lasted about six years.
Kyabazinga wrangles
The death of Kyabazinga Henry Wako Muloki in 2008 marked the beginning of kingship wars in Busoga, with Prince Edward Columbus Wambuzi, the heir of Muloki, facing off against a section of Basoga loyal to Prince William Nadiope, the son of the Kyabazinga Wilberforce Nadiope, whom Muloki replaced.
The Nadiope faction was led by Ms Kadaga, while the Wambuzi group was led by the then Busoga Kingdom premier Wilson Muwereza.
The Kadaga team argued that Muloki’s installation was a temporary arrangement, meant to hold the throne for Prince Nadiope, who was too young to ascend at the time of his father’s death.
They believed Mr Nadiope should have been crowned king after Muloki’s death. However, the Muwereza faction said Muloki’s heir, Prince Wambuzi, should have become king.
Ms Kadaga, the Kamuli Woman legislator who was Speaker of Parliament at the time, tried to use her position to resolve the Kyabazinga conflict but in vain.
President Museveni in response to the conflict between the two groups directed Ms Kadaga to team up with the 11 hereditary chiefs entrusted with the work of electing the Kyabazinga to come up with a substantive king within the shortest time possible and facilitated them for polling, which favoured Mr Nadiope.
Muvawala’s appointment
Ms Kadaga and other stakeholders in Busoga, including Ms Proscovia Salamu Musumba, agreed to pick Dr Muvawala, who at the time was a senior official of the National Planning Authority, to become a prime minister in Kyabazinga Nadiope’s regime.
Ms Musumba said the rift between Ms Kadaga and Dr Muvawala is because he has forgotten those who supported him to become premier. ‘A number of us led by Ms Kadaga sat to select Muvawala as prime minister on behalf of Kyabazinga but he cannot remember this,” Ms Musumba said.
She added: ‘Muvawala now thinks that he is above everybody in Busoga, which is wrong.’ Mr Peter Okocha Kasolo, the Jinja City mayor, argued that both Ms Kadaga and Muvawala have different interests, as far as culture and economic developments are concerned.
‘If you recall the time when Nyege Nyege first came to Busoga, Dr Muvawala was opposed to it as a cultural leader but Ms Kadaga differed from him on grounds that locals were going to earn a lot of money, which would develop the area,” Mr Kasolo said.
At a welcome party organised by a section of people in Busoga in September, Ms Kadaga accused Dr Muvawala of hindering the development of the Kimaka Airstrip.
‘After realising that there is airport construction taking place in Mbarara, Arua and other parts, I told the President that Kimaka in Jinja City should also be considered and he accepted but when the people constructing it went to pick murrum in Buwekula, which we had paid for to put up a runway, Muvawala brought soldiers to stop them,” Ms Kadaga said.
She added: ‘I was informed that he told them that that airport belongs to me and as I talk now, its development stopped.”
Muvawala’s response
While addressing people during the Kyabazinga’s 11th coronation ceremony at the kingdom headquarters in Bugembe, Dr Muvawala warned politicians against dragging the kingdom into politics.
‘We are entering into political season but please don’t bring your politics into Kyabazingaship. Therefore, if you have been defeated, don’t accuse us,” Dr Muvawala said.
He emphasised that the kingdom will back politicians who support it, implying officials would prioritise those who contribute to Busoga’s growth.