From where The Observer sat, it soon became clear that either President Yoweri Museveni or his deputy, Jessica Alupo, would be in attendance going by how SFC took over ushering services in the church!
We were soon told Alupo would represent her boss. At one point, they even told the organisers to stop people from entering, causing quite some commotion at the main entrance, where guests dressed to kill tried to access prime seats inside the cathedral.
Meanwhile, all the other entrances had been closed; so, one could only access the cathedral through the main entrance.
WHO SITS WHERE?
Despite the big number of congregants, SFC had reserved the first two pews behind Alupo’s chair; no one, except her security detail, was to sit there. When the main entrance was finally reopened for people to resume entering, it was both interesting and ironical seeing former Vice President Prof Gilbert B. Bukenya walk in without ceremony and humbly sit where he was directed to sit, before busying himself with the souvenir magazine as yards away the fuss over the yet-to-arrive current vice president continued.
Occasionally, Bukenya would turn to see who was being turned away from the front pews. He was particularly attracted by the altercation the SFC soldiers had with Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere – an uncle to Archbishop Ssemogerere – and former finance minister, Gerald Ssendawula.
Like Bukenya, both men have once known all the trappings of power under the NRM government, yet here they were reasoning with young people from the SFC that cared less who and what they were. Ssemogerere had proudly walked in with a few relatives of his, and his long-time friend, Henry Bazira Ssewanyana.
Were it up to the new archbishop, this group was possibly entitled to the choicest seats in the cathedral, but the SFC men were not listening to explanations of their relationship to the younger Ssemogerere. The former Democratic Party president finally lost his cool and raised his voice, attracting the attention of the Buganda Kingdom protocol team that found him seats in the pews reserved for kingdom officials.
NUP AND BOBI WINE
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine, the National Unity Platform (NUP) president, still has his charisma in crowds. He arrived with Leader of Opposition Mathias Mpuuga, throwing the SFC in turmoil as Mpuuga refused to proceed without his principal, Bobi Wine.
While Alupo’s security detail were agreeable to Mpuuga sitting in the third pew directly behind the vice president, they were not willing to have Bobi sit anywhere close. Political party leaders had been allocated a not-so-visible corner behind the MPs, but Bobi had continued to walk with Mpuuga to the church front. The SFC rushed to stop him from continuing to the front and ended up seating him in one of the slots reserved for ministers, not far from the altar.
Later during the main ceremony, the church was evidently at pain not to make this day about anybody else other than the day’s guest of honour, the archbishop. Overzealous church ushers were overheard grumbling that the archdiocesan chancellor was ignoring all chits sent to him asking him to recognise Bobi Wine’s presence; no wonder, when Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga and later Prince Fredrick Wasajja were invited to speak and they formally recognised the NUP former presidential candidate, ululations filled the cathedral.
ALUPO VS AMONG
Meanwhile, before the speeches started, the battle for the revered seats in the cathedral had not abated. Just before Alupo finally walked in, a gomesi-clad deputy speaker Anita Among arrived with some women in her entourage, and they boldly walked up and occupied Alupo’s security pews, as SFC was busy ushering in the veep.
By the time they walked in with their principal, the seats they had kept reserved for hours had been occupied. While they had earlier succeeded in evicting even a group of nuns from those pews, all efforts to remove Anita’s women fell flat. By then the cathedral was full and probably not wanting to cause any more commotion than they already had, the security men backed off and guarded their principal from the shadows.
A NEW DAWN
All the VIP drama aside, the new archbishop was installed in a very colourful ceremony presided over by the papal nuncio, Archbishop Luigi Bianco, who installed Dr Ssemogerere in the cathedra and presented him with a mitre (ceremonial headdress) and crozier (pastoral staff ).
Ssemogerere had officially become the fourth archbishop of Kampala archdiocese, after Emmanuel Cardinal Nsubuga, Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala, and Cyprian Kizito Lwanga. Ssemogerere’s episcopal motto is: Let us grow into the Life of Christ.
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