By Henry Ford Miirima
September 30, 2003
This is in response to your article “Banyoro ministers in anti-Bakiga meeting” in The Monitor of September 26, 2003. Please kindly allow me to give you the correct version of what took place in that meeting of September 2, 2003 at Kolping House, Kampala.
The Hard Facts.
l The gathering was a joint Mubende Banyoro Committee/Kibaale District leaders’ consultative meeting to exchange views on chronic irritating problems in Kibaale district. It was as regular as the Abanyakigezi meeting held in Toronto, Canada, in August 2003 also attended by Uganda cabinet ministers.
l Mubende Banyoro Committee is the oldest civic body, a pressure group, founded in 1918 to fight to recover the seven Lost Counties and to fight for the rights of Bunyoro-Kitara
l Every human being, wherever he may be, with Kinyoro blood is automatically a member of Mubende Banyoro Committee.
l The September 2 meeting at Kopling House, Kampala, was prompted by the failure of the Uganda government to implement the 2002 Kiyonga Parliamentary Probe recommendations, which are:
a) to immediately halt further migrations into Kibaale District because it is over-populated.
b) to relocate migrants who illegally settled in Kibaale District,
c) to activate the Land Fund Section of the 1995 Land Act, so that absentee Baganda land title owners are compensated and the land so recovered automatically reverts to the indigenous population who shed blood to recover it from Buganda.
d) to adopt a Uganda national domestic re-settlement policy,
e) to establish a commission of inquiry into Kibaale district chronic perennial, historic problems, etc.
This meeting was in response to the stepped up flood of illegal Bakiga migrants to Kibaale district defying not only the Kiyonga Recommendations, but also Kibaale District Council resolutions stopping further migrations into the district.
Kibaale District Council based its resolution to ban further migrations on the statistics of the 2000 Census, which revealed an abnormal doubling of the population in Kibaale from 200,000 in 1990 to over 500,000 in year 2000.
That is an alarming population explosion caused by illegal migrations, unacceptable by any standards.
This meeting discussed the catastrophe Kibaale district is facing if illegal Bakiga migrants continue flooding the district. It discussed ways of curbing this flood by regularising, guiding and directing the flood.
Regularisation of the flooding of Bakiga migrants is what The Monitor termed Anti-Bakiga Meeting. The meeting observed that the flood of migrants originates from Kabale, Rukungiri, Kisoro, Kanungu, etc. The continued population explosion from these districts has over flowed to Kibaale, Kyenjojo, Kamwenge, and, to make matters worse, it’s continuing unabated.
The meeting discussed ways and means of curbing this population explosion spilling into Kibaale district uncontrollably. There must be ways of directing and guiding this population explosion.
This meeting was also in response to the challenge the Abanyakigezi meeting in Toronto, Canada in August where they plotted to fund increased Bakiga migration to Kibaale district so that, come year 2006, Bakiga will overwhelm Banyoro during the general, parliamentary and local elections.
Inflating voter register to achieve political control of Kibaale district reminded Banyoro of British and Baganda oppressive colonialism.
It reminded them of Buganda government in 1964 ferrying Baganda veterans to inflate the voter register ahead of the Buyaga and Bugangaizi Referendum so that Baganda could overwhelm and dominate Banyoro.
Milton Obote quickly saw the trick the Baganda were playing. He ordered Buganda government to quickly recall the veterans. Had Milton Obote folded his hands, today Buyaga and Bugangaizi counties, Kibaale District, would still be in Buganda.
Banyoro are watching, with awe, the numbers of illegal Bakiga migrants being registered on the voter roll increase by the day. Indeed, as of now Bakiga numbers on the voter register are so huge.
There is no chance of Banyoro electing even one Member of Parliament in 2006, let alone the District chairman.
In addition to the above, this meeting was prompted by the threatening shadow of the domineering presence of sectarian enemies of Banyoro in security organisations, the Police, Army, DISO, Prisons, in Kibaale, Hoima and Masindi.
Banyoro are wondering why all these security organisations, in their areas, are manned only by Bakiga, and not Banyoro.
Banyoro feel deserted, neglected, and the Government is turning a deaf ear to all their petitions, memoranda, and cries trying to attract attention to the plight they are facing in their areas.
They feel they are under siege. Any minute they will be engulfed and destroyed.
Banyoro top leaders had to close ranks and meet to find out why the Government they always give nearly 100 per cent support at elections, is callous and treats them so.
l Falsehoods in The Monitor article:
l Hon. Henry Kajura was not chairman of the meeting.
l Kajura arrived at 5 p.m. when the meeting had began at 12.30 p.m. He left 30 minutes later.
He returned at 7 pm. and left half an hour later. Kajura’s role was basically to hear the views being expressed.
Kajura advised consultation of lawyers before suing British and Buganda Governments for invading Bunyoro-Kitara in 1890-99 and for inflicting economic sanctions on Bunyoro- Kitara, Kibaale district in particular, up to today.
l There was no debate on crushing Bakiga, a stand said to be sponsored by Hon. Matiya Baguma Isoke and Henry Ford Miirima, and vehemently opposed by Hon. Henry Kajura.
l Hence there was no question of Baguma Isoke and Miirima ordering Kajura to walk out.
l The minutes of the meeting said to have been seen by The Monitor, do not exist. Hon. Juliet Kabonesa was the secretary of the meeting, and to date, she has not yet typed and presented her drafts to any meeting official for approval.
l Hon. Juliet Kabonesa was made to read to the meeting the drafts of her minutes. These drafts are available. There is no talk about crushing Bakiga. There is no report of Baguma and Miirima ordering Kajura to walk out.
l Why did The Monitor rely on reports by spy enemies of Banyoro instead of asking Henry Ford Miirima, a fellow journalist, to give you a proper account, a factual report, of the proceedings?
l You talk of oathing at this meeting at Kolping House. Banyoro, by tradition, do not administer oaths before going to war.
Banyoro have waged many wars before, but there is no record anywhere in history books, and British army commanders recorded their experiences, today available in archives, to show that Banyoro had a culture of oathing before going to war.
l Your spy is incompetent. And, by implication.
(a) Chairman Kibaale District, George Nyamyaka was there, but your reporter calls him Katta Musoke.
(b) Your spy says the meeting was organised by Masindi Banyoro Community. There is no such organisation.
(c) There is no gist, or report of the resolutions we adopted.
l Briefly:
What your spy, and your headline writer call, Banyoro Ministers in anti-Bakiga meeting, is about Banyoro, demanding implementation of Kiyonga recommendations, which expressly stops Bakiga from migrating to Kibaale. Kiyonga recommends re-locating those Bakiga who have settled in Kibaale illegally.
l Kibaale is a young district, barely coming out of the fangs of colonialists. We are struggling to begin economic reconstruction. Please, do not assist a re-colonisation of our district.
© 2003 The Monitor Publications
