Land management, administration, finances and power vacuum tear apart Tooro kingdom
Felix Basiime
Kabarole (November 2010)
April 15-18, 2010 will never be easily erased from the memory of most Batooro as thousands stormed Fort Portal streets for 3 days jubilating just because their King Oyo Nyimba Rukidi IV had become of age and would steer the kingdom as a mature person at 18 without the help of regents.
For the first time since his enthronement in 1995 at age 3, the subjects on April 16, 2010 enjoyed matching in excitement with their king through the streets of Fort Portal town.
King Oyo had ascended the throne after his father, the late King Olimi Kaboyo died in 1995.
It is 6 months after the celebrations and now the conflicts are threatening to tear apart the kingdom that was carved out of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom in the 16th century.
Since March, there has been sackings, resigning, reinstatements, evictions, demonstrations, accusations and counter accusations and on top of all, subjects suing their king for alleged “unconstitutional decisions”.
How the controversies started
Controversies started on March 19, 2010 when the Prime Minister, Mr William Nyakatura sacked the Kingdom Land Board Chairman, Mr Augustine Kayonga on grounds that he was insubordinate to him and that he refused to process land leases for investors a thing Nyakatura argued had hampered development in the kingdom. The Kingdom supreme council then set up a probe committee to investigate Kayonga.
On April 17, 2010 King Oyo celebrated his 18th birth day and later left for UK for studies without appointing regents (after 90 days of absence from the Kingdom) to administer on his behalf as the constitution stipulates. This left many subjects confused.
Later, the Supreme council Speaker, Rev Clovis Kyalimpa resigned in August making things more complicated because since then the Kingdom supreme council has never sat.
Hardly had the Supreme council tendered in their report on Kayonga than King Oyo on August 12, 2010 reinstated him with more powers of attorney to handle finances from land, a thing that was protested by Nyakatura and the Clans Council saying that it was unconstitutional.
On October 16, 2010 King Oyo sacked Nyakatura and replaced him with Canon Shem Rubale, a move that left many subjects and the Clans Council disgruntled.
This was followed by the forcefully eviction of Mr Nyakatura from office in the presence of police.
Clan heads later contested the authenticity of the letters purported to be authored by the king and also rejected the use of the king’s recorded voice in council explaining why he sacked Nyakatura and said they will not respect any further action until the king comes back to his kingdom.
King Oyo and the culture
Since he was crowned as King in 1995, King Oyo has always been in the hands of his mother (a Mutuku from Ntoroko district) and mostly at the Kampala palace only to come home for some functions.
“Since 1995, the king doesn’t know the Tooro culture, he is always under tight security of the mother” says the elderly Tom Mboijana, and adds, “He doesn’t stay in the palace (Karuzika), he has always lived in Kampala with the mother, he comes here for functions and goes back”
Mboijana observes that this has never been so in the culture of Tooro, kings stay with their subjects and understand them.
“His father Kaboyo used to ride a bicycle with us, all of us learnt to ride from him, he used to interact with people” Mboijana observes. Mboijana believes that this has also fueled the confusion in cultural norms and decisions.
Types of land in the kingdom
There are three categories of land in the Tooro kingdom. According to Mboijana, there is private land which a king can own for himself.
There is official land (Omukama’s land). This is for any reigning king and there is kingdom land which belongs to the kingdom. The queen mothers have official land at Kitumba in Fort Portal municipality by succession since 1900 says Mboijana.
“So, the source of conflict is mainly land management, some people are positioning themselves because they know that some money is going to come from land leases, companies like Tamteco are going to pay about Shs 250 million for the tea estates on Kingdom land” says Mboijana.
Queen mother and the land
Three weeks ago, police arrested 3 members of Twerwaneho listeners club, a Fort Portal based human rights activists club for holding an illegal demonstration. They were protesting against alleged
“continuous unlawful sell of kingdom land” by the Queen mother, Best Kemigisa and her agents.
“The Queen mother went ahead to offer the government 13 parcels of land covering 13.5 square miles to be purchased by the government in pursuit of S. 42 of the Land Act 1998” reads their October 19, 2010 press release.
The said land covers Royal Tomb sites in Bunyangabu County, Kabarole District and several Saza grounds in Bunyangabu, Burahya and Kyaka.
The human rights activists want government to return all the land titles it acquired to the Kingdom of Tooro unconditionally lest they file a suit in Court of Laws seeking several remedies for the injustices visited to the King’s Subjects.
The Queen mother first came to the spotlight with land issues when officials of the Uganda Land Commission on August 17, 2010 were tasked by parliament to give details of a land transaction in which she was paid Sh4.5b for 9,921 acres of Kingdom land to the Government.
The commission team was appearing before the MPs to respond to queries raised by the Auditor General’s 2007/08 and 2008/09 financial reports.
MPs were mostly concerned that Government had practised double standards by acquiring land for a few tenants in western Uganda, yet many tenants continue to be evicted in Buganda.
“The Orukurato (kingdom Supreme council) must know the sale of any lands in the kingdom, Kemigisa can only sell only what belongs to Kaboyo. King Kaboyo (her late husband) inherited only 90 acres” Mboijana says.
What makes this issue very interesting is that the Kingdom Lands Minister, Mr Yowasi Bukombe and the Land Board Chairman, Kayonga both say they are not aware of this deal.
“I don’t know officially that the Queen mother sold land, but I read it in the news papers” said Bukombe, and adds, “To sell kingdom land, she has to pass through the Kingdom Supreme council and it is wrong for her if she got letters of administration if this is true, the Kingdom land policy is that the King holds the land in trust of his people”
Asked about this deal, Kayonga says, “You should ask the Queen mother or Government who were involved in the deal, me am not aware and when I came to office in 2009, no body handed over to me, I started from scratch”.
Developments in Fort Portal town and around the kingdom stall
Fort Portal town which is the heart of the kingdom has had its share of the kingdom poor management of land by delaying its growth and development in some parts of the town that are on kingdom land.
Some investors in town have failed to transact businesses with banks or develop on plots just because they don’t have proper documents for the land they are operating on for a long time.
The Kingdom land board chairman, Mr Kayonga believes that an independent Land board when established would expedite the process of leasing but those opposed to this idea argue that this move is out to “channel resources of the kingdom into hands unknown to the kingdom administration”.
One of the bankers intimated to Sunday Monitor that “Some people in Fort Portal have failed to do business with the banks because they don’t have land titles”. This has definitely dragged the pace of development in town which leaders have a quest for a city status.
Sources close to the kingdom say the kingdom generates around Shs 100 million a year, however some subjects argue that if the land is well managed by issuing leases to people occupying kingdom land and collect rent fees from them, it would generate more money.
King Oyo and others sued
The king can sue or be sued and this what some subjects have done by suing their king and three others in High court in Fort Portal for alleged “unconstitutional decisions” that have messed up the kingdom administration.
The Plaintiffs: Mr Baranga John, Mr John Kusemererwa, Mr Kakorwa Mordecai and Mr Kawamara Lawrence last week through their lawyer, Mr Johnson Musana sued King Oyo, Head of the ruling Babiito clan, Mr Charles Kamurasi, Mr Mugenyi Francis, the King’s Principal Private Secretary and Mr Augustine Kayonga.
They argue that the respondents have abused the kingdom’s assets and powers granted to them by virtue of their different offices and that King Oyo granted powers of attorney to Kayonga and Kamurasi to close offices of some kingdom officials and opened a parallel bank account “meant to channel resources of the kingdom into hands unknown to the Kingdom administration”.
“The king holds the land in trust so he has no powers to transfer his powers of attorney to Kayonga” says Mboijana. On November 9, High court in Fort Portal advised the parties to settle out of court for the good of the kingdom. Hitherto the case stands in court because the sides have not yet reached a compromise.
Power vacuum “We want the king to come here physically and mediate into these conflicts and not his recorded voice,” says Mr John Baranga, one of the kingdom chiefs.
The clan leaders say there is power vacuum, they want King Oyo to come back, have the supreme council properly reconstituted because now it can’t sit without a speaker since he resigned, clan representatives come to council, Chief magistrate presides over the election of the speaker who after appoints his deputy, Mboijana observes.
“Let him (King Oyo) come back and elders teach him the culture because he is out of touch from his culture and subjects” Mboijana says.
Efforts to stem the feuds In a bid to stem the feuds currently rocking Tooro kingdom, the Clans council last month elected a clans committee to meet different stakeholders around the kingdom.
On November 15 and 19, 2010 the committee headed by Mr Stephen Nyamutale met subjects and opinion leaders in Kyenjojo district and in Kabarole respectively.
The committee was mandated to mediate the feuding parties and restore harmony in the kingdom. Their aim is also to mediate the feuding factions as advised by High court in Fort Portal to settle out of court.
“These days kingdoms follow constitutions but not dictatorial kingships” observes Nyamutale.
Land management, finances and interpretation of the kingdom constitution are among the key issues separating the current feuding factions in the kingdom. The Nyamutale committee is yet to realize the fruits of their efforts.
Clan leaders have also used other means to stem the current conflicts by seeking intervention of the guardians of King Oyo.
“The kingdom is in a predicament situation which calls for all possible measures that can ensure peace and continuity in the kingdom,” Mr Rukidi Mpuuga, the kingdom’s legal adviser says. Mpuuga says measures that are being sought include meeting the President and other guardians to brief them on the current state of affairs in the kingdom.
President Yoweri Museveni is Omujwara Kondo (Crown bearer) and one of the caretakers of King Oyo Nyimba. A crown bearer is a title given to some of the highly respected members of the king of Tooro. Other guardians include Kabaka Ronald Mutebi and King of Bunyoro, Dr Solomon Gafabusa.
But Mboijana believes that the guardians have not played their part and are just ceremonial.
“The guardians never played their roles, they are just ceremonial, that is why there is all this confusion” says Mboijana, adding, “The only solution is the king to come back home”
Wider context
Conflicts in kingdoms are not new or limited to Tooro. Between 1639 and 1651, there were an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch. The conflict was then dubbed “Wars of the Three Kingdoms”
The wars were the outcome of tensions between king and subjects over religious and civil issues. Religious disputes centred on whether religion was to be dictated by the monarch or the choice of the subjects.
Subjects argued that they ought to have a direct relationship with God unmediated by any monarch or human intermediary. The related civil questions were to what extent the king's rule was constrained by parliaments — in particular his right to raise taxes and armed forces without consent. Like in Tooro, some faction says the king is the appointing authority and therefore can fire and hire anyone at any time, while the clan leaders say no, they are the ones to approve. END
In summary · In 1995, King Oyo ascends the throne at 3 · On April 17, 2010 he celebrates his 18th birth day and after leaves for UK for studies. · 3 months later he does not appoint regents to administer the kingdom on his behalf as the kingdom constitution stipulates. · On March 19, 2010 Land board chairman, Mr Augustine Kayonga is sacked by the Prime Minister but King Oyo reinstates him in August. · On August 27, 2010 Supreme council Speaker, Rev Clovis Kyalimpa resigns without giving reasons. · On October 16, 2010 King Oyo fires Prime Minister William Nyakatura. A power vacuum is created as several kingdom offices are closed. · On October 19, 2010 clan leaders insist that Nyakatura remains in office but he is later evicted from office by allegedly by Mr Charles Kamurasi, head the ruling Babiito clan. · October 22, 2010 King Oyo is sued by his subjects for alleged unlawful decisions. · On November 9, 2010 High court in Fort Portal advises the two conflicting parties to settle out of court through dialogue for the good of the kingdom. · Clan leaders form a 13 man committee to stem the feuds. · On November 15 and 19, 2010 this committee headed by Mr Steven Nyamutale meets stakeholders in Kyenjojo and Kabarole districts in a bid to re-unify and stabilize the kingdom administration but has not yet seen success.
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