How Kisozi meeting was made possible
A closed-door meeting between President Museveni and political leaders from Kasese district on Wednesday turned into a blame game. Each side accused the other of fanning the crisis in the western district and Rwenzuru kingdom whose king, Charles Wesley Mumbere, is in jail battling murder and terrorism charges.
According to sources who attended the meeting at Museveni’s Kisozi farm in Gomba district, trouble started when the president accused the political leaders of dragging the Rwenzururu kingdom into politics.
“You cannot drag the king into politics. That is dangerous and I will not tolerate it,” Museveni said during the meeting that started at midday and ended at 5pm.
The MPs, who are all members of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), could not take the accusation lying down.
They, too, accused Museveni of dragging the kingdom into politics.
“In 2011, officials from the kingdom campaigned for you openly in Kasese. They were given money by NRM,” Winnie Kiiza, the leader of the opposition in Parliament who led the delegation, reportedly shot back.
In the 2011 elections, President Museveni won in Kasese, which in 2006 had voted for Dr Kizza Besigye, the former FDC president. Sources said when the meeting kicked off, the leaders made a number of demands. They told the president that the charges against Mumbere should either be dropped or the president should intervene and ensure the king is released on bail.
Museveni reportedly said he could not interfere with a matter which is in court. The leaders complained that some elements within the security forces are blackmailing people, telling them that their names are on the wanted list.
“They tell them that if you don’t give us money, we shall continue hunting you,” one of the MPs told Museveni.
Museveni warned people against using the clashes to settle old scores.
“I want to discourage opportunists who are taking advantage of this situation to create a stampede and frame their friends,” Museveni said.
MP Robert Centenary told The Observer yesterday that there was mutual respect between Museveni and the leaders during the meeting. The meeting came more than a month after clashes between security forces and royal guards from Rwenzururu kingdom left more than 100 people dead. After the clashes, Charles Wesley Mumbere, the Rwenzururu king, was arrested and charged with murder and terrorism. He remains incarcerated at Luzira prison.
Besides Kiiza, the meeting was attended by MPs Harold Muhindo (Bukonzo East), Robert Centenary (Kasese municipality), Atkins Katusabe (Bukonzo West) and William Nzoghu (Busongora North).
Other Kasese leaders in attendance were; Geoffrey Sibendire, the Kasese district chairperson, and Rt Rev Jackson Nzerebende, the South Rwenzori bishop.
Anita Among, the Bukedea Woman MP, also surprisingly attended the meeting. She stayed silent for most of the meeting, having reportedly played a behind-the-scenes role in ensuring the meeting took place.
Before the meeting started, sources said, Museveni typically tried to charm the MPs. He drove them around his expansive farm, imploring them to lead the campaign against poverty in their areas.
Constantly, he would stop and show the MPs some of the projects he has initiated to help the people fight poverty.
AMONG’S ROLE
The meeting initially had been scheduled to take place before Christmas day but it was shelved because Kasese MPs had set conditions they wanted met first. One was the unconditional release of Charles Wesley Mumbere, the Rwenzururu king, who they wanted to be part of the meeting.
Sources told us that early in December, the president’s handlers reached out to Winnie Kiiza and told her the head of state wanted to meet political leaders from Kasese. When Kiiza consulted the leaders, they said the meeting could only take place after Mumbere’s release.
She later communicated this position to State House. State House rejected the condition. In between, Museveni travelled to Juba, South Sudan, for a state visit.
We have been told that to bridge the gap between State House and the Kasese leaders, Anita Among, who has lately emerged as a power-broker, had to intervene.
Among, an independent MP who previously belonged to FDC, reached out to Kiiza and convinced her to tell other leaders to drop their conditions.
She told her it was important for the Kasese leaders to meet Museveni, with or without Mumbere. Kiiza agreed. Thereafter, Among informed State House that the leaders had agreed to meet Museveni.
Among did not pick our calls yesterday.
ekiggundu@observer.ug