By Bamuturaki Musinguzi
Jan 9 - 15, 2005
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Mr Erisa Kagoro Byenkya, the prime minister of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom, talked to Sunday Monitor�s Bamuturaki Musinguzi about the issues surrounding his kingdom�s move to sue Britain for colonial atrocities: - Why has it taken this long to bring this case? Do you think the evidence you have is enough ground for the case? It is, yes, because in most cases we have got evidence in the original handwriting of the British officers who were here reporting back to their home government the atrocities they were committing on a daily basis. What is it you want from Britain: money, justice or compensation? We want justice as the first thing. It�s a fact that when the British were here, because we resisted their rule, they treated us as a conquered people. In the whole of Uganda it is only this region � the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom � where there were no secondary schools [in the colonial days]. Those of us who studied during the colonial time if you wanted to get secondary education you had to go out of Bunyoro-Kitara.
And many other things which were deliberately denied to us. They killed all our cows. They chased us from the fertile grounds and bundled us to barren land and left the fertile grounds where we used to grow and graze to wild animals and forest reserves. So these are the sorts of things where we want justice to be done. Certainly, they should compensate us. It doesn�t have to be cash really but if a programme could be worked out to address these injustices, I think we would be okay. Is there room for an out-of-court settlement? You claim that the population of Bunyoro-Kitara was reduced from 2.5 million to 100,000 by 1900. True? It is true. And again this is from their own records. Britain says you have waited too long to bring legal action and that the laws you base your case on did not exist at the time the British were ruling in Uganda. These were injustices and atrocities committed against us, so they can�t talk of time barred. I think there are other precedents that have already been set. There are some people who have really taken them to task and they have listened to them and they have tried to redress the problems. And in any case it�s not for them really to stop us at that level. Let us go wherever we want to take them then they will argue it out there. Have you received support from the Ugandan government? The Ugandan government is aware of this matter and even before I took up this office I think President Museveni had talked to the Omukama about this case and had advised that we send some of these documents to the Attorney General. What was the Attorney General�s response? The British argue that they are committed to the development of Uganda, Bunyoro-Kitara inclusive, so why do you have to sue them? We were treated as conquered people and we were denied so many things. We wouldn�t mind, as they say they are committed to the development of Uganda, if the funds, aid or whatever they are sending comes here specifically stated that a certain percentage must go to Bunyoro. Isn�t the �3.7 billion you are demanding too high? I don�t think it is too high but many of these technicalities will be looked into when we � both sides � start looking at this case seriously and by whoever will be arbitrating this matter. Because even to come to that figure it must have been based on something, it was not something that was dreamt of and we said this one. It is up to them to argue against what we based on. |
� 2005 The Monitor Publications.
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