OMUSINGA MUMBERE FINALL BACKS OF BUNDIBUGYO TRIP

Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere on Sunday morning succumbed to government pressure and called off the intended travel to Bundibugyo district from which he had been restrict with heavy police deployment.

By Sunday morning, police was still deployed heavily around Mumbere palace in Kasese town as subjects spent the night drumming and dancing amidst reports that he would force his way out of the palace again to try to head to Bundibugyo for the peace day that is celebrated every June 30.

Acting Prime Minister Mr. Ivan Syauswa told a press conference in the palace that the King has postponed his travel to Bundibugyo district as advised by the government for security purposes. The king’s postponement does not mean he has taken heed of the cultural pressure the Bamba/Bawisi are putting on the Rwenzururu Kingdom, Mr. Syauswa said.

He said that the celebrations to make the peace days are ongoing in many places of around the Kingdom but what has been postponed in the King’s travel and the ceremonial performances at the would be venue for the event.

He urged all the Banyarwenzururu to keep peace as celebrations go on in their homes and villages.

He said that no another date will be set this year for the postponed function because people have already celebrated from their places, adding that this is an annual event and the Kingdom will wait for next year.

There were overnight celebrations at Kasulenge Hill in Bundibugyo district as the Rwenzururu flag was hoisted at midnight to commemorate the day when the Bakonzo and Bamba declared their independence from Tooro kingdom which they had accused of subjugation.

The Acting Premier said that hundreds of Banyarwenzururu were celebrating throughout the whole of Sunday despite having no chance to host their King.

In the palace, only the Kingdom flag was flying an indication that they were also celebrating the day.

On receving the news of the postponement of Mumbere’s travel plans, the Deputy Police spokesperson Mr. Patrick Onyango said everyone in the force is happy because there is no any bloodshed expected to happen since he has cooperated.

Asked about the continued deployment in the two districts, Mr. Onyango said “of course we have to keep around to monitor how the people are going to react to the King’s decision not to travel.”.

Mr. Onyango said that there is intelligence reports that a group of Bakonzo wants to kidnap the King and hide him in unknown place in order to put the government at task to explain his whereabouts.

He said the security will keep monitoring the King’s palace until sanity is ensured.

However, police tracks and officers were still deployed in the Kasese town center throughout Sunday afternoon.

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TWO SHOT DEAD IN UPDF SHOOTOUT AT POLICE PATROL IN KASESE

Two crime preventers helping the police in security patrols were on Saturday night gunned down in a UPDF ambush in Ihandiro sub-county, Kasese district.

A survivor of the attack Mr. Fanahasi Bwambale says they heard someone open fire at them as they were planning the next route after stopping at the bridge on Mpondwe River which separates Ihandiro and Bwera sub-counties. The incident happened at about 11pm.

“We had reached the bride in Kasika and because it is the border of our sub-county (Ihandiro) with Bwera, we needed to go back but with a different route, someone emerged from the bush and shot at us. We all took cover only to find out that the two people had been shot and the attackers took off”. Mr. Bwambale said on phone from Ihandiro.

Joint night patrols between the police and the crime preventers have been intensified in all sub-counties of Bukonzo West since the area near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo has been rocked by series of armed attacks that have claimed lives of business people.

The Deputy Police Spokesperson Patrick Onyango who is in Kasese confirmed the incident adding that the two crime preventers who were in a patrol with police officers from Ihandiro police post were shot dead by UPDF officers.

He identified the dead as Kambasu Bukera and Gondwin Kabalegha all crime preventers hailing from Kihoko village in Ihandiro sub-county.

“It is true our police officers and crime preventers were shot at leaving two of them dead. This was unfortunate because they were short by UPDF soldiers who were guarding construction materials at the bridge”. Mr. Onyango said.

He said the cause of the attack on sister forces misinformation between the UPDF and the police regarding security at the bridge that is being reconstructed by the UPDF engineering team following the promised by the army during Tarehe sita celebrations in Kasese last year to work on infrastructure in areas affected by the ADF insurgence over 10 years ago.

Mr. Onyango said that police received the information of the UPDF deployment late when the patrol had left Ihandiro police post it was impossible to alert them because the area suffers mobile phone network challenges.

Soldiers arrested.

Mr. Onyango said all the soldiers who were on guard have been detained as investigations continue and have been charged with murder by shooting.

HEAVY DEPLOYMENT OF SECURITY AS REPORTS OF ALLEGED PLAN TO KIDNAP KING EMERGE

Police last night deployed heavily at Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere’s palace in Kasese town following what is said to be intelligence information that there were [people wanting to kidnap him.

Deputy police spokesperson Patrick Onyango says there were some people who had planned to kidnap Mumbere to unknown place so that Bakonzo demand for his whereabouts from government.

He says that police has also reinforced the King’s personal security to make sure he is not harmed.

Police still maintains that Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere is not going to be allowed to proceed to Bundibugyo district today as a way of preventing tribal clashes.

Meanwhile, Mumbere still insists on proceeding to Bundibugyo with the Kingdom spokesperson Patrick Nyamunungu saying the officials are regrouping to embark on the journey.

He says, that the King will not back of the demand to go and celebrate with his people until, government writes to him officially to postpone the annual event.

In a related development, four people are behind bars after being arrested by the police in yesterday’s protests on the streets of Kasese.

Mr. Patrick Onyango says they four men were the ringleaders of the protestors who were throwing stones at the police officers manning security on the streets.

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COUNCIL FAILS TO APPROVE BUDGET AFTER CONSUSION OF LAWS

Mpondwe-Lubiriha town council in Kasese district has failed to approve the budget for the financial year 2013/2014 due what looks like misinterpretation of the law.

The Shs. 180m budget that was laid early this month was coming for approval in the council held at the Bwera primary teachers college.

There was drama in council when the speaker Mr. Francis Bamenya ruled that the budget cannot be approved without town council water body estimates, describing it as incomplete.

Mr. Bamenya involved in verbal exchange with the town clerk Mr. Ever Biira who rose to guide council that the issues of water managed by a body instituted by law cannot be incorporated in the budget.

The councilors sided with the speaker and postponed the budget approved to July 1^st, as they gave the town clerk four days to have sort out what they called an incomplete budget.

However, in an interview , Ms Biira insists that council acted in an unlawful manner to block the approval of the budget because the town water board revenues are not integrated in it.

Biira explains that since the water board manages its own account, their budget estimates can only be discussed as an addendum to the council budget.

She describes the blocking of a budget supposed to be implemented on July 1^st as a hiccup to the implementation of different activities of the urban council.

The leader of opposition in the council Mr. Majid Ntumeli supports the town clerk adding that the mistake was caused by the issues of numbers in the meeting. END 

LAST AMNESTY CHANCE FOR ADF LEST THEY FACE FIRE

The United Nations Organizations Stabilization Mission in DRC (MUNOSCO) has embarked on soliciting messages from Ugandan leaders, former combatants and relatives to convince the remaining Allied Democratic Forces fights to denounce armed rebellion.

After their defeat in early 2000s, the ADF rebels that devastated most parts of the Rwenzori region went into hiding in the jungles of North Kivu province in the DRC.

Military sources have continuously reported that the ADF rebels are regrouping in Congo, recruiting more to their forces with intentions to re-attack Uganda.

A military officer from the Disarmament, Demobilization, Repatriation, Reintegration and Resettlement section of the MUNOSCO Capt. Majura Magende and amnesty commission officials have been traversing Kasese and Bundibugyo district to record peace messages to be broadcast on UN’s radio Motto in Beni aimed at convincing the rebel combatants to seek amnesty.

Speaking in Kasese while soliciting peace messages from leaders, Capt. Majeme revealed that ADF rebels still have camps across the jungles in the North Kivu but have completely refused to engage in physical contacts with MUNOSCO and amnesty commission.

According to Capt. Majeme, the ADF rebels are being offered the last chance to take advantage of the amnesty because an UN intervention brigade is already in DRC with instructions to hunt down all the negative forces that have failed to talk peace.

An officer from the Amnesty Commission office in Kasese Ms. Irene Tumusiime says that the ADF rebels most of whom are Ugandans still have a chance to denounce rebellion because the UN force that is yet to be deployed “is not a soft cake”.

Ms. Tumusiime says that some reporters (amnesty seekers) were received from the ADF ranks in 2009 and 2010 but since them, there have been no other significant returnees.

Early this year, a family of ten was relocated to the ancestral home in Kamasasa village, Karambi sub-county in Kasese after returning from the bush where five of the eight children most of whom girls were born. END