Rwenzururu veterans have warned politicians from Kasese district to stay out of the conflict between the kingdom and the Uganda government.
Matters came to a head last November, when the army raided the Rwenzururu palace in the western district, resulting in the prosecution of king Charles Wesley Mumbere and at least 150 royal guards.
The Rwenzururu veterans, who fought in the 1962-1982 rebellion against domination of the Bakonzo by Tooro kingdom, recently confessed to President Museveni that they plotted the attacks on security installations in July 2014 and November 2016.
Politicians, mostly from the opposition Forum for Democratic Change, have since demanded that the veterans be prosecuted for causing death of dozens of people.
Kasese municipality MP Robert Centenary accused the government of ‘dilly-dallying” with self-confessed criminals while innocent suspects rot in prison. For his part, Busongora South MP Jackson Mbaju Kathika threatened to drag the ex-combatants to court for offences they confessed to have committed.
But the veterans have hit back, warning that the hard-line stance of the politicians will only plunge the area into more violence. Addressing youths at Kasese’s Tropical Safari Inn recently, veteran Vincent Kapilongo said they should not be blamed for their confession to Museveni because it can aid reconciliation and peace in the kingdom.
Kapilongo, a former kingdom deputy minister for royal security, told the youths that the kingdom had been involved in subversive activities for some time, even with backing of politicians.
“Some of these people have been our commanders; they are afraid that when we speak the truth, we shall say out their names,” Kapilongo said. “But let them be informed that that is not the case; our major aim is to bring peace in the Rwenzori.”
Kapilongo was granted amnesty in 2014, after he confessed to have been involved in attacks on security forces in Bundibugyo, Kasese and Ntoroko districts.
Kasese district chairman Geoffrey Sibendire Bigogo had earlier complained that the state was lenient with the veterans even after their confessions.
“Why shouldn’t the government order the arrest of Kapilongo and his friends who have been causing us problems in this area? We hear he is member of the Presidential Initiative for Peace and has been given a double-cabin vehicle by government. Why should Mr Museveni dilly-dally with criminals as the innocent rot in prison?” Sibendire said.
Kapilongo and other veterans have been seen in a black double-cabin truck registration number UAZ 962U. Indeed, Atanus Masereka, another Rwenzururu veteran, said there was nothing wrong in government giving a vehicle to agents of peace.
“All politicians drive vehicles provided by government; the king has a motorcade of over four vehicles; the queen mother has two vehicles. Why should it be an issue if one of us is given a vehicle to help him move around talking peace? We also fought for this area,” Masereka charged.
Masereka appealed to politicians to avoid inciting the public against the veterans, who confessed for the good of the kingdom: “Let the politicians do their work of bringing us development funds. Let them leave us to handle the release of the king and his subjects; when we fail, that is when we shall call them.”
Opinion on the veterans’ confession has been split along political lines. Kasese district NRM publicity secretary Johnson Kamalha said area politicians had been burying their heads in the sand until the veterans came out.
“As the NRM, we are happy with this revelation,” Kamalha told us. “We shall continue to support the veterans in expunging the lies and false propaganda from the public.”
However district FDC chairman Saulo Maathe described the veterans’ confession as a trick by President Museveni. He accused the president of trying to cover up for the crimes that the security forces committed at the Buhikira palace on November 27, where more than 100 people are feared to have been killed.
Maathe, a former police officer, said if the confession was not meant for “politricks”, a judge or a police officer at the rank of assistant inspector of police would have been present, for it to have legal implications.
Maathe cautioned the veterans and other members of the public, against being hoodwinked into denting the image of the Rwenzururu kingdom and the king.