To remove one AK47 rifle, a pistol and dozens of pangas and knives from the palace of the Rwenzururu king, Uganda’s military and police had to deploy armoured vehicles (mambas), bombs and all sorts of artillery.

Images of mutilated bodies on social media and some local tabloids on Monday told the story of the nature of weaponry deployed to quell alleged ‘defiance’ by spear and knife-wielding royal guards of King Wesley Mumbere. The nature of weaponry used is the reason over 100 lives have so far been lost. It is also the reason Uganda remains poor, relying on expensive Chinese loans for her major infrastructural projects.

The story of this state brutality and the arrest of the king were posted on the BBC website and other websites of international news agencies within hours of happening. The Kasese bloodbath happening on the same day a UPDF major was easily gunned down in the capital city presented an image of an unsafe country.

I am not surprised that Hajji Najibullar Ssonko, one of those Tabliq sheikhs targeted for elimination, has fled to where he feels more secure. I am not a security expert but I think the murder of Muslim clerics was possible to resolve if this government was committed. All it required was some financial investment and patience.

When Sheikh Mustafa Bahiga was gunned down in December 2014, we were told at Kibuli mosque that a list of Muslim leaders allied to the Supreme Mufti administration at Kibuli had been published in a leaflet.

In June last year, Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Kirya, whose name and photograph appeared on the leaflet, was, indeed, shot dead in Bweyogerere. This Saturday, it was Sheikh Muhammad Kiggundu. Dr Haroon Jjemba, who heads one Tabliq faction, has himself survived several assassination attempts.

What a sane and caring security system should have done is to place these targeted sheikhs under 24 hours’ surveillance. You can actually deploy some armed men unknown to the sheikhs to trail them for over a year. It is these armed men that should have apprehended the killers in the case of Kirya or Kiggundu.

All you hear now is that some of the sheikhs didn’t move with all their guards deployed by the state. The lives of the sheikhs are important but getting to know who is killing them is even more important. If not careful, we may miss both and, instead, get more assassinations.

And for me the Kasese incident illustrates how incapable this government can be. It appears to me now that if this government wants to chase one person armed with an AK47 rifle, it must deploy a UPDF brigadier and hundreds of soldiers. Since the sheikhs were each given two guards, their tormentors will never be dealt with.

But most fundamentally, in both cases, I think more investment should be made not in acquisition of firepower but in resolving contradictions and unfairness in the country.

In the case of Kasese, the Mumbere and his subjects feel disrespected. Like the king of Buganda, Mumbere’s movements within his kingdom are restricted. You remember how, about three years ago, government stopped him from travelling to Bundibugyo for his kingdom’s peace day? The reason was that the Bamba and Babwisi in Bundibugyo didn’t want him.

This is exactly what happened to Buganda in September 2009. Some people in Kayunga, headed by UPDF soldier Capt Baker Kimeze, a self-styled cultural leader, threatened to riot if the Kabaka of Buganda visited. Instead of arresting them, government gave them security (police and army) and asked the Kabaka not to travel there for security reasons.

The Kabaka was also blocked from travelling to Bugerere to commemorate Buganda’s independence day. I think at the time Mumbere was stopped from travelling to Bundibugyo, Mr Museveni retired Major Martin Kamya, promoted him to the rank of lieutenant colonel and presided over his coronation as the chief of Bamba/Babwisi, further heightening tension in the region.

During the Kayunga riots, I kept asking myself whether Buganda should also stop Bamasaba from celebrating their imbalu day, which they occasionally do along Kampala streets.

This is what Mr Museveni has been promoting. There is no leader who has divided this country and promoted ethnicity like Museveni, and he feels very proud about it. You all saw how he spoke about his great achievement of creating a constituency for the Ike. The moment you create administrative boundaries along ethnic lines, you are stocking fire and, indeed, in Kasese, it is burning.

He has done the same with the Muslim leadership wrangles, recognizing and buying each faction leader a vehicle. The Tabliqs themselves were literally taken over by the state.

If you don’t pay allegiance to him, then Mr Museveni will ignite a smear campaign to portray you as a monster. There was a time when he accused the Kabaka and Baganda of cultural chauvinism, yet all sane people saw and knew we were victims.

Now that Buganda has lessened on its demands, the Kabaka can visit Kayunga and Nakasongola (Bugerere and Buruuli) even when the government-installed cultural institutions are complaining. I, therefore, fully understand what the Bakonzo and people of Kasese who have lived together peacefully for centuries are going through.
 
 semugs@yahoo.com

The author is Kira Municipality MP.