Kabaka’s fresh federo lamentation compounds Museveni’s poor vote harvest in Buganda as 2026 beckons and NUP tightens grip
That lamentation by the Kabaka came hardly three years shy of 2026 when the next general election is going to be held, and in which, the President is most likely going to feature as a repeat candidate.
By Stephen Kasozi Muwambi
During his last Monday coronation anniversary celebrations, Buganda’s monarch, His Majesty Kabaka Ronald Muwenda the Second, re-echoed his rancour over President Yoweri Museveni’s failure to grant his kingdom its much-cherished federo system of governance.
Whereas the Kabaka was entitled to remind the President about his bush war pledge to Buganda kingdom, the timing of the reminder itself poses political dangers to the President and his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
That lamentation by the Kabaka came hardly three years shy of 2026 when the next general election is going to be held, and in which, the President is most likely going to feature as a repeat candidate.
Equally important, the lamentation by the Kabaka would arrive shortly after Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi had issued the 2026 election road map.
Recall that the President has hardly smarted by now from the unprecedented defeat Bobi Wine, his grandson and political rookie, subjected to him within Buganda in the 2021 election.
For that matter, the President has since that indescribable defeat been doing everything to try to recapture Buganda region from the politically brazen omuzzukulu Bobi and his NUP party.
In his grand scheme of wiping out NUP, Museveni has been employing means which are political and extrajudicial as a desperate move to disorganize Uganda’s babyish political party.
Now for the Kabaka to bring up the outstanding issue of federo would be to deal a big blow to the President’s efforts to reclaim the region of Buganda from the firm grip of Bobi Wine, NUP and the opposition.
As if on cue, see, NUP’s finance shadow minister, Muwanga Kivumbi, has since used Kabaka’s federo lamentations to urge fellow political leaders and elders to go on and on spinning those agitations with the view of inciting Baganda against Museveni and the NRM candidates come 2026.
According to Kivumbi, he is soon going to carry out a clandestine campaign within Buganda region to amplify Kabaka’s message everywhere and with the view of making Baganda more hateful of Museveni well ahead of 2026.
Before the 2021 Museveni’s unprecedented defeat in Buganda, you need to be reminded, Kabaka had previously used his coronation in Nkoni-Masaka to condemn the President over his moves to abolish the mailoland land tenure system.
Museveni had picked on that prickly issue close to the 2021 election to appease the bibanja holders in Buganda as he tried to sell to them the bogey that the mailoland tenure was the key cause of the numerous evictions.
During that rant, the Kabaka memorably angrily informed the President that the Baganda hadn’t fought with him in the bushes of Luweero and elsewhere only to be sabotaged by him later.
Much as Museveni had shortly moved faster and called the Kabaka for a make-up meeting at State House. And even froze the moves to abolish the mailoland, which would not, nonetheless, stop Baganda from denying votes to Museveni in the next election.
Recall, the President had, by the way, reportedly used that make-up meeting to fork out a reported four billion shillings to the Kabaka to access specialized treatment in Germany.
To compound matters for the President in Buganda, Kabaka Mutebi spoke cryptically, at the same time as he was demanding for federo last Monday, about a group of people he didn’t identify, whom he said do not wish Buganda well.
He then urged the youth to be on the alert to resist such haters and whatever they stand for. Granted, the Kabaka didn’t specifically mention the name Museveni as one of the haters he was talking about.
Yet the fact that he had accused Museveni earlier of failure to grant federo to Buganda, would by itself speak much louder than merely mentioning Museveni’s name regarding that insinuation.
Consider that the Kabaka has a great influence on his subjects in Buganda. To understand the kind of weight of what he says would bring to bear on his subjects.
As we head to 2026, we can only wait to see whether or not, such Kabaka’s fresh federo lamentations would not end up burying further Gen Yoweri Museveni’s political fortunes in Buganda.
