Museveni okays Bwamba king

Major . Martin Ayongi Kamya. Photo by Steven Ariong

By Felix Basiime

Posted  Wednesday, October 17  2012 at  01:00

(http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Museveni+okays+Bwamba+king/-/688334/1535142/-/k087dlz/-/index.html)

In Summary

The intelligence officer is currently working in Karamoja but the locals want him back in Bundibugyo as their cultural leader.

Bundibugyo

President Museveni has said Maj. Martin Kamya is free to resign from the army and be crowned as the cultural leader of the Bamba in Bundibugyo District.
This comes after the Bamba, Babwisi and Vonoma communities in Bundibugyo installed Maj. Kamya as their cultural leader in August.

Maj. Kamya is currently the UPDF Division Intelligence Officer for Karamoja region. Bundibugyo Elders Development Association (BEDA) later wrote to President Museveni and the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), requesting them to allow Maj. Kamya to resign from the army so that he can serve his subjects.

State House meeting
Mr Museveni last week met members of the Obudhingya Bwa Bwamba (OBB) cultural institution and BEDA at State House, Entebbe. OBB spokesperson Swizen Kyomuhendo told journalists on Monday that President Museveni told the members that he has no objection to Kamya being crowned a cultural leader.

Maj. Kamya is the eldest son of Jeremiah Kawamara (RIP), one of the founders of the Rwenzururu movement that saw Bundibugyo and Kasese districts secede from Tooro Kingdom in 1962. “Museveni said Kamya will be released from the army once the Bamba are ready to crown him,” Mr Kyomuhendo said.

According to Mr Kyomuhendo, the cultural institution has now embarked on drafting a constitution, composing their anthem and emblem; which should be ready before Maj. Kamya’s coronation, which is slated for February next year in Bundibugyo.

Phone interview
In a telephone interview, the spokesperson of the Rwenzururu Kingdom, Mr Patrick Nyamunungu, said the Bamba are free to elect their cultural leader as long as he does not impose the institution on the Bakonzo, who live in Bundibugyo.

The decision by the Bamba and Babwisi to have a cultural leader follows conflicts between the Bamba and Bakonzo. On June 30, King Charles Mumbere visited Bundibugyo and, among other things, set up a royal shrine and a flag at Kirindi Village in Bwamba County.

Just hours after he left, clashes between the Bakonzo on one side, and Bamba and Babwisi on the other flared as the latter argued that they are not part of the Rwenzururu Kingdom. This left one person dead and hundreds of Bakonzo displaced.
fbasiime@ug.nationmedia.com