22th April 2013
To the Peoples of the Original 15
(Kingdoms, Territories and Districts
That formed Uganda at Lancaster)
Dear Sir/Madam!
Olukiiko Lwa Bazzukulu Ba Buganda International is Buganda Kingdom’s worldwide grassroots organization. We are writing in great distress over the signs of the times that proclaim a regime change around the corner. This in Uganda is always a violent process with many lives lost and properties destroyed. Even though this usually happens mostly in Buganda, severe atrocities have been committed in other regions too. For this reason, we are calling to all of you, individually and collectively, to join us in working towards a change management strategy. To start with, we have to go back and look at Uganda’s past and present and decide on the most logical and effective course of action.
In the year 1962, groups of people from the Kingdoms of Buganda, Ankole, Toro and Bunyoro, the Territory of Busoga, Districts of Acholi, Lango, Teso, Bukedi, Bugisu, Kigezi, Karamoja, West Nile, Sebei and Madi went to Lancaster in the United Kingdom to take part in a conference for the formation of the country Uganda. These were the original 15, designated as kingdom, territory, etc., according to their preferences. They represented every individual man and woman from their respective areas. Coerced as the Union was, choosing it over conflicts with our conquerors burdened us with a responsibility towards its member groups. Nevertheless, many who occupied the leadership positions ever since chose to become colonial agents. They did not hesitate to speak and act in ways detrimental to some groups. Their subservient mentality drove them to conduct an aggressive brainwashing program on their people, pushing them to commit crimes with far-reaching consequences. The people’s fault was failure to search for the truth, in some instances ignoring it even when obvious, thus condoning injustice and refusing to think their own thoughts. This is a problem, which we must solve in order to reverse this trend of total destruction threatening us all.
The colonialists and their agents had a plan, to assimilate the different peoples into a common culture at breakneck speed. The intent of this was the extinction of any remnant of indigenous characteristics that would inspire rebellion against the British Empire, over the long term. They called this, breaking eggs to make an omelette. The trouble was that each agent in charge wanted the final product to be a hybrid of his own and the English cultures. The other groups resisted. Buganda being at the center of all this, did so relentlessly. The differences persisted, albeit wrapped in hypocrisy. What would have been natural borderlines in a true and voluntary multicultural union ended up being splits in a dysfunctional unit. Through these cracks, enemies from within and without would take hold and pull to complete the damage. Today, it is a common secret that people feel loyalty only to their Kingdoms, Territory and Districts. At times like this, each of them sits in council discussing their group struggle. They scheme to fight, conquer and oppress others to secure for themselves the lion’s share of what Uganda has to offer, though some just struggle for their survival in the only way that appears possible. However, the past has taught quite a few sharp lessons to those who unreservedly thought and acted as Ugandans. The betrayals, arrogance, lies, theft, insults and gruesome crimes have been a tough drill to forget. As a result, this time around, hoodwinking the public is extremely difficult. Moreover, without trust the prospects of working together look dim. Anyone feigning ignorance of this is either self-seeking or incompetent. Meanwhile we hang between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Here in Buganda, children are murdered in sacrificial rituals, people of all sexes and ages are raped in broad daylight, bludgeoned with iron rods, burnt with acid, whole families butchered and many innocent people locked up in prisons, while frequent poisonings threaten to undo our social fibre. All this has made ours a fertile ground for diseases. There is land grabbing, disinterment of our dead, burning of schools and work places, destruction of shrines, desecration of our norms and traditions, as well as violation of the ecosystem and distortion of our history. Public funds are stolen, health and education are in the gutter, properties robbed, people displaced and our ancestral land auctioned off to foreigners. All these together qualify as high-key systematic genocide of the Baganda. Uganda is on a free-fall descent down into the pit. It is indisputable now that only the truth shall set us free.
All over the world, the Baganda are demonstrating a great will to come to terms with our past and present, as well as take responsibility of our future through brainstorming. We have put together the ideas we have gathered from these meetings, to help boost individual and group endeavours in finding lasting solutions to our common Ugandan problems. From these we have chosen ten redemption points attached to this letter. It has been said that wars begin in the mind, and that is where they must end first. It is imperative that we understand the impossibility of building order on disorder. Uganda was built on a bad foundation for all the wrong reasons. Nevertheless, we are all leaders at different level of society. Fullfilling this responsibility should be high on our list of priorities. We need to start thinking and working seriously about saving lives above everything else. For the lives we save might be our own or those of our loved ones.
Please pass on this letter and the Ten Redemption Points to as many people as you can.
God and Buganda, One Spirit, One Living Heart
Long live the Kabaka of Buganda Ssaabasajja Muwenda Mutebi II
Yours faithfully
Major General Elly Kigozi
……………………….
OBBI – Secretary Diaspora (London)
CC: Ssaabasajja Kabaka Muwenda Mutebi II
CC: Traditional Leaders of the other 14 of the Original 15
MinBane 