Rwenzururu
palace in flames after the attack.
A probe by
MPs into the clashes between a joint military force and the Rwenzururu royal
guards that left at least 100 people dead on November 27 degenerated into a
blame game, with supporters of rival parties accusing one another of inflaming
the situation
TUESDAY DECEMBER 13 2016
In Summary
Accusations.
NRM ruling party supporters accused opposition leaders and supporters of
orchestrating the clashes, while opposition supporters threw the blame back to
the government
By FELIX BASIIME & MORIS MUMBERE
Kasese.
A probe by MPs
into the clashes between a joint military force and the Rwenzururu royal guards
that left at least 100 people dead on November 27 degenerated into a blame
game, with supporters of rival parties accusing one another of inflaming the
situation.
MPs on the
Defence Committee of Parliament, who ended their two-day fact-finding tour in
Kasese yesterday, heard mostly one-sided tales from the residents, who accused
people they called “opposition supporters” of intimidating them from
testifying.
The MPs led by
Mityana District MP Judith Nabakooba had to supply pieces of paper for some
residents who said they feared to speak openly to write down their submissions.
Perhaps in
anticipation of what the fact-finding meetings could turn out like, Mr Thembo Kitsumbire,
the Prime minister of the Rwenzururu kingdom had on Friday warned the committee
against being “hoodwinked.”
“I want to warn
that after we have talked to you, you will hear a lot of stories and lies, just
be objective and pick out the truth,” Mr Thembo, who is charged with holding
together the Rwenzururu Kingdom as King Charles Wesley Mumbere, serves out his
remand pending trial.
King Mumbere
was charged with murder and remanded after being arrested when the army stormed
his palace in Kasese Town on November 27.
An estimated
100 people are reported to have died in the clashes, most of them the king’s
royal guards.
The police say
137 royal guards were arrested during the military assault on the palace and
are being detained at the high-security police detention centre at Nalufenya in
Jinja District.
They have not
been charged in court as required by law after more than two weeks since
arrest. One of the “royal guards” who had been detained at Nalufenya, Bosco
Bosco Mbusa Bwambale, 36, died at Bombo military hospital and the body was last
week handed over to his family for burial.
Mr Mumbere’s
arrest, detention and charging in court, after the violence and several deaths
and heavy military deployment, have cast a shadow of fear over Kasese, which
was visible as the MPs conducted their fact-finding mission.
NRM ruling
party supporters accused opposition leaders and supporters of orchestrating the
clashes, while opposition supporters threw the blame back to the government.
An observer in
Kasese, who asked not to be named for fear of his security, said the meetings
convened by the MPs were mainly attended by ruling NRM party supporters as most
of the opposition supporters “remained in hiding”.
Our reporter,
who on Sunday attended one of the meetings at Bwesumbu Sub-county, Busongora
County North, Kasese District, said some known opposition supporters who tried
to speak out during the meeting were shouted down by ruling NRM party
supporters.
Ms Nabakooba,
the chairperson of the Defence Committee, who chaired the meetings, later told
journalists: “During our interactions with different people, they said that too
much politics in the area is derailing peace efforts.”
But the opposition shadow minister for defence,
who was part of the visiting team, said they had gathered “some concrete
facts,” which he said they will use to write a report and “make concrete
recommendations to government and to the people of Rwenzori and their leaders.”
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