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Katikkiro, Lukiiko to be elected
KAMPALA - Mengo supports the idea of having an elected Katikkiro and Lukiiko, the kingdom's spokesman, Mr Charles Mayiga, has said.
This contradicts earlier reports that Buganda was opposed to the election of the two through universal adult suffrage.
Mayiga said on Wednesday the Kabaka should have some level of influence in the election of the Katikkiro to bring cohesion within the kingdom.
"We want the Katikkiro to be elected democratically but the Kabaka should have some influence," Mayiga, who is the kingdom's Information Minister, said. He said as the country goes multiparty the Katikkiro should be elected from the winning party with the Kabaka involved in the process.
"Mengo wants to balance democracy with cultural preservation. We support the majority of the Lukiiko to be directly elected through universal adult suffrage but we also want special representation to protect t
he
heritage of Buganda. These (special representation) will be clan representatives and Kabaka's nominees" Mayiga explained.
The Government proposed that Mengo should have two councils one traditional, appointed by the Kabaka and the other administrative directly elected.
But Mayiga says this will create discordance as the Lukiiko with political role may try to torpedo the cultural one.
He said since the country is going multiparty, the Katikkiro should come from the winning party but the Kabaka and cultural representatives should be involved in the nomination of the persons from whom the Katikkiro should be elected.
"If for example the Movement wins the elections in the Lukiiko, our proposal is that the cultural representatives nominate three names from the Movement and then the directly elected members of the Lukiiko, select one name from among the three and whoever is elected is pronounced Katikkiro and Kabaka hands him the instruments of authority,"
Mayiga
added.
He said that way, the process would have elected a Katikkiro who can work well with the Kabaka. Mayiga said the Mengo leadership has been running on interim basis.
The government inserted a clause in the White paper on the political roadmap to 2006 that could allow Parliament to remove kings if they violated the law. The government has since withdrawn the clause leaving the matter to be decided by courts.
The clause raised political temperature, especially in Buganda, since it was seen as an attempt to intimidate the Kabaka into toeing the government line.
The Vice President, Prof Gilbert Bukenya, recently met Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi at Banda Palace.
The Movement interim Vice Chairman, Haji Moses Kigongo was this week quoted as saying that if Buganda does not accept the cabinet proposals, the government may resort to other means.
This was a departure from a statement Kigongo issued on September 24 advising cultural leaders not to
be
alarmed by the media and contents of the white paper.
Some Baruli leaders recently told President Yoweri Museveni at a wedding reception in Nakasongola that they wanted to secede from Buganda claiming they were marginalised. Museveni said he would support the installation of a Ssabaruli.
In Kayunga district, sections of the Banyala and Baruli communities are struggling for control of the district claiming they should not be part of Buganda Kingdom.
Last week a magistrates court declined to rule exparte in a case against the Kabaka after Mengo failed to file a defence in a suit filed by Bunyoro Kingdom against Buganda over the past tribal rivalries. |
