Where does Kabaka get power to rule over me?
By Bernard M. Ddumba
13th Sept 2010
Kabaka Mutebi
Dear Editor, allow me share something with your readers that has been bothering me for a long time. Immediately I became politically aware some 13yrs ago, one question has been bothering me.
And it is this: Where do our Kings, Kabakas, Rwots, Kyabazingas, Omukamas and whatever you might want to call them get the authority with which they rule over us?
It’s not the first time I am asking this question. I have asked my elders the same question before. In fact, not only have I asked my own tribal elders, I have also put the same question to people from other tribes who are much older than me. Trouble is that none of them has ever given me a satisfactory answer; at least not one that justifies the authority and privileges our Kings enjoy.
For example, a 74yr old Muganda elder to whom I put that question answered me back with a question of his own. It was a question that clearly spelt disbelief at my audacity. “That is the problem with you educated children. Are you also going to ask me why people worship God”, he asked.
The message was very clear. The old man obviously thought that like religion, the question of a King’s source of power was a sacred matter. That the belief in it must be dogmatic; never to be inquired into! This is pretty much the same response I got from two other elders from other tribes that I asked the same question.
Like I said, as an individual, I think none of those answers are good enough to justify the authority and privileges that our Kings enjoy. As a matter of fact, I would rather be ruled over by men like Museveni, Kagame, Mugabe, and Kibaki who steal elections to acquire and retain state power than a King who has never even attempted to steal an election.
Mandate! Yes; that for me is the biggest issue. As far as I am concerned, it is the only thing in this world that gives any leader legitimacy. Without it, in my 20 something year old eyes, you are an illegitimate ruler. Nothing can ever change that.
I simply will not accept the notion that a man should be allowed to rule over other men purely by reason of his birth. Those who support the inheritance theory of acquiring power [that I detest] should remember one thing: A son or daughter only has the right to inherit material things that rightfully belonged to his or her father.
Power is most definitely not material. It’s not a cow, goat, house, car, or saucepan. Political power is not and can never transferable. Every leader who wants to exercise it must go out win from the electoral from whom all political power derives. If he hasn’t earned it, then he is exercising it illegally.
I am sure you have already worked out where this is going. Yes, you are right. I think the Kabaka of Buganda, the Paramount Chief of Acholi, the Omukama of Bunyoro, Oyo Nyima of Toro, the Emorimor of Teso, and the Kyabazinga of Busoga among many others are all illegitimate rulers who are exercising illegitimate power over us.
The law may recognise them, but they will never be legitimate rulers. An illegitimate ruler deserves neither recognition nor respect. So, for whatever it’s worth, I will say that while I respect other people’s right to worship their Kings, I am a very proud Muganda who neither recognises nor respects the Kabaka of Buganda.
He means absolutely nothing to me. Where does he get the power to rule over me? I am not a great Museveni supporter by any stretch of the imagination. I never will be. I am a democrat and the Democratic Party is and has always been my natural home; its present troubles notwithstanding.
That said, I totally agree with Museveni’s decision to legislate political power out of the hands of illegitimate tribal rulers like the Kabaka, the Rwot, and the Kyabazinga. There is simply no place for such freebies in the 21st century. If they are not prepared to go out to the electorate and seek their consent to govern, then they should be contented with what Museveni gave them. And that is the honour to ensure that we don’t forget our cultures and traditional dances! No more than that.
If any later leader were to return real political power to these tribal leaders, then Uganda will immediately become ungovernable. That is a given. In fact, I fear that it might even spell the beginning of the end for Uganda as a nation state. END. If is Monday, it’s Uganda Correspondent. Never miss out again!
The writer is a political science graduate student based in the Boston-USA
