On Sunday, November 27, 2016, the Uganda Police launched an offensive on the palace of the Omusinga of the Rwenzururu kingdom, Charles Wesley Mumbere. During the attack, more than 40 royal guards loyal to Mumbere were killed and over 100 of them arrested.
In total, at least 130 people have now died in the confrontations that followed. Bukonzo West MP, Atkins Katusabe, who was at the palace during the attack, narrated to the media what happened before the attack occurred. We bring you a transcription of his narration during a press briefing held at parliament on November 28, 2016.
I have not yet recovered from this because I still imagine I am in a bad dream. But I think it is very important to say that this did not just occur. There was a build-up to this as my colleagues and I raised this matter before the committee on Defence and Internal Affairs. Honourable William Nzoghu (Busongora North MP) raised the same on the floor of parliament.
I was in the palace [but it is] not that I was trying to fight and promote violence. I was in touch with the military leadership because the clock was ticking. While my colleagues were busy organising and working out peace within downtown, I was in the palace.
When I called [the UPDF commanding officer] Brigadier Peter Elwelu, he said, “Well, the clock is ticking but we are working out that.”
But I knew that Mr Elwelu as an [approachable] commander certainly picks instructions from above and I had to contact him at that time because we had around three minutes to the collapse of the order.
So, I called the chief of defence forces (CDF), General Katumba Wamala; not sending a message, but calling him. And I said,
“Well, I am with the king right now on the table. We have agreed and prepared everybody in the palace and the royal guards and these guys are ready to exit. Can you send us the trucks so that we have a safe passage or exit for these royal guards?”
I am shocked really [by], you know, the things that I am reading and I have heard from Mr Andrew Kaweesi [Police spokesperson], who is just talking from Kampala and was not there. I was there. They are talking about bombs…. of course that is theirs to find out, but certainly knowing this kind of process or system, it is possible that they take charge of the palace and they bring in that stuff, sneaking in weapons not even from the palace.
I was with these guys [royal guards] and I had the opportunity to speak with them and I said; You know we have no option. You have always talked about peace but people keep sending a message and pointing fingers that we are fanning violence. Now this is time for peace as we have always pursued. Get ready to get on the trucks. We got to get you out because President Museveni has instructed.
Everybody conceded and we were there waiting for the trucks and what did we see? The mambas. We were forced out and evacuated. What followed was just a massacre; killing innocent lives. They were just waiting for the trucks, not ready for war. I was there…I was in the palace for 45 minutes and I was literally pleading with the CDF.
We are telling the world what was really taking place; that there was nobody really ready to go to war with government. We love peace; we enjoy peace and we were just ready to do this and follow it up to the logical conclusion. This is what the response was from the CDF (reads out message on his phone)
“Honourable, I have reconfirmed my instructions. They should come without the daggers, knives or pangas. They should show that their hands are free of any form of weapons. They should not wait for darkness.”
That was one minute past one. In other words, the order has collapsed by one minute and I was at the palace when I received this message. As we were waiting, then the killing; the massacre happened and the world has to know that this had nothing to do with the fighting or resistance.
You recognise that on Saturday, eight royal guards were just found seeking shelter or protection in the [Obusinga] prime minister’s office in Kasese town. They were not armed; they didn’t even have a handkerchief or anything in their hands and were pleading for mercy but the UPDF just shot at them; brutally terminating the lives of Ugandans.
I just want to correct the impression that Kaweesi transmitted on the TV that these people were being resistant. We have to come and tell the world that this was pure genocide, pure massacre because the king has always promoted peace and requested for investigations and government, as usual, Mr Museveni has been ignoring this.
newseditor@observer.ug