Charles Wesley Mumbere was last evening charged with murder at Jinja chief magistrate’s court, as the falling out between the Rwenzururu kingdom and the government over the Kasese killings plumbed to low depths.
Mumbere became the first cultural leader to be arraigned in court since kingdoms were restored in 1993. Some analysts believe this action could contain a veiled message for other traditional leaders: that no one is beyond reproach.
The Rwenzururu king, who has spent four days in detention after government accused him of hiding criminals in his palace was driven to court in a while Toyota Land Cruiser of the V8 series. Dressed in a light black shirt and a gray pair of trousers, Mumbere occasionally smiled and later waved at a packed courtroom which comprised mainly security operatives and journalists.
Mumbere was charged under sections 188 and 189 of the penal code. He is alleged to have killed a police constable Edward Kasiba on March 24, 2016. Mumbere was remanded to Kirinya prison until December 13. But unconfirmed reports said he could have been taken back to Nalufenya or even driven to Luzira prison.
After the brief session, he talked to his wife Agnes Ithunga and Winnie Kiiza, the Kasese Woman MP. Dr Kizza Besigye and Nandala-Mafabi, the Budadiri West MP, arrived after the king had been whisked away. The two are attending a party workshop in Jinja. Mumbere could not enter plea as court which was presided over by John Francis Kaggwa, has no powers to try the case.
His lawyer, David Bwambale, only said the case was “simple” and that the king “will be out very soon”.
Jeje Odongo, the minister of Internal Affairs, told journalists yesterday that government would take good care of Mumbere.
“Care was taken to protect the Omusinga; we ensured that he is safely transferred to Nalufenya, and we hope he will clear his name within these days,” Odongo said.
SENSELESS DEATHS
For years, tensions with ethnic undertones have been building between the Museveni government and the Bakonzo ethnic group, under the strong-headed Rwnzururu king, Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere. In April, up to 50 people were reportedly killed in Kasese.
But the latest spate of bloodshed has firmly placed Mumbere and his kingdom at the centre of it all. What remained unclear is the extent of Mumbere’s complicity. Is he only guilty of failing to control his Royal Guards (RGs) some of whom are allegedly promoting an independent Yiira Republic? Or did Mumbere tacitly approve of the alleged rebellious activities of his guards?
The formal charging of Mumbere – with murder and not treason, as police had speculated – added to the confusion over what could have prompted security personnel to raid his palace on Sunday, leaving many people dead. Odongo’s statements yesterday – before the media and in parliament – only raised questions and created room for speculation and conspiracy theories.
Odongo claimed that the Kasese attacks on November 26 were triggered by the cultural guards (Kilhumira Muthima) after they “hurled a petrol bomb at a joint security patrol team in Kasese town and later stabbed and injured a soldier.”
But kingdom officials disputed this account.
“There was no attack on anybody,” Thembi Kitsumbire, the prime minister of Rwenzururu, told The Observer by telephone yesterday.
Asked what prompted the attack, he said: “I don’t know. You should ask government.”
Talking to journalists on Sunday after the attacks, Brig Peter Elwelu, the commander of UPDF second division, said the kingdom was training militias to carry out subversive activities against the state.
He linked Rwenzururu to the militia camp at Nyabuswa village, Karangura sub-county, Kabarole district, which the UPDF destroyed on November 24. Eight people were killed.
An opinion leader from the sub-region told us that the latest attack is related to the “defiance” by Mumbere to reduce the number of royal guards attached to him as requested by President Museveni when the two met in April after the earlier clashes.
Then, the leader said, Museveni had promised that the guards would be rehabilitated and would benefit from government’s income-generation projects such as Operation Wealth Creation (OWC).
But to the chagrin of government, Mumbere decided to keep his guards, estimated at about 300, who wield more influence than the nine UPDF soldiers attached to his kingdom.
On Sunday moments before the palace was attacked, Museveni spoke twice to Mumbere and asked him to surrender the guards into government custody. He asked for more time to think about it but before he could fathom a reply, his palace was attacked and he was arrested and taken to Nalufenya police station in Jinja.
The opinion leader who requested anonymity said Museveni wanted to send a strong message to Mumbere about who is in charge. Yesterday at the press briefing, Odongo said government will limit royal guards of cultural leaders. He said under the law, it is government that is supposed to provide protection to the leaders.
TRIGGER-HAPPY?
Dr Kizza Besigye, the most prominent opposition figure in the country, wondered yesterday why government had been quick to attack the palace without exhausting all options.
He said: “Why attack a palace when you could have kept the palace under siege, if there was any reason to impose their military might on the guards? This method has been used all over the world. Even town and cities are besieged; why should armed forces attack a palace and kill everybody inside the palace walls? What happened was regrettable. Mr Museveni takes the blame for what happened. The problem with Mr Museveni is self-ego – trying to prove he is the Ssabagabe (King of kings).”
Basing on the gory images of the dead, some human rights civil society organisations have said what happened in Kasese was gross abuse of human rights.
“The full picture of the weekend’s events is yet to emerge, but there appears to be shocking examples of unlawful killings and a complete disregard for human rights during the arrests,” Abdullahi Halakhe, Amnesty International’s East Africa researcher, said in a statement on Monday.
However, senior presidential press secretary Don Wanyama defended government’s action, literally accusing the guards of intolerable provocation.
“Indoctrinating young people into subversive activities is wrong. If you attack police stations and kill policemen, close health centres, deny your fellow citizens access to their gardens, attempt to break away from the country, what do you expect the state to do?” Wanyama queried in a facebook post on Monday.
Still in dispute is the number of people who have died so far. Yesterday Odongo said at least 62 people had been killed including 16 security officials but Sowed Mansur, the Rwenzori East police spokesperson, said on Monday that the death toll had hit 104.
ekiggundu@observer.ug
sadabkk@observer.ug