By our reporter
In March of this year, the minister of state for ICT, Ssebuggwawo, orchestrated a meeting between President Museveni and purported Buganda clans leadership.
During this encounter, Ssebuggwawo lauded the gathering as representatives of Buganda’s clan heads, asserting that it would contribute to reconciling the strained relationship between Mengo and the president after three decades.
However, insider sources at Mengo reveal that this assembly does not authentically reflect the kingdom’s interests or its constituents due to the significant presence of fake Bataka.
According to sources, among the approximately 30 individuals present at the meeting, only about four held true leadership positions within Buganda’s extensive clan system. The rest were not Bataka despite Ssebugwawo presenting them as such.
“You can’t assert to have engaged with Buganda clan heads when you’ve only met with three out of 50. When did Ssewava Sserubiri become a mutaka?”
So, how did Joyce Ssebuggwawo manage to dupe Museveni?
In 2021, Robert Kyagulanyi resoundingly defeat president Museveni in Buganda, and numerous NRM candidates, including ministers, suffered defeat at the hands of his National Unity Platform (NUP) flag-bearers.
President Museveni has on several occasions vowed to retake Buganda from Kyagulanyi and the National Unity Platform(NUP). He has thus devised several ways to win back the support of Baganda.
Mindful of that, Joyce Ssebuggwawo whom president Museveni considers an insider in sold to him the the strategy of meeting clan heads of Buganda, showering them with money and other material gains and she told him that in return, they will rally their bazzukulu to vote for him and NRM in 2026.
Sources asserts that president Museveni right away bought the idea and asked Ssebuggwawo to arrange for a meeting with the bataka of Buganda. Ssebuggwawo then went on a hunting mission to hunt for the bataka, sell to them the idea and have them meet the president. As the days for the meeting with the president drew near, most bataka had turned down the offer of meeting the president without the authorisation of the Kabaka. Only 3, Omutaka Walusimbi Mbirozankya (head of the Ffumbe clan), Omutaka Nakigoye of the Kinyomo clan, and Samson Nabbimba Lukabya from Kyasa in Kyannamukaaka, Buddu were on board.
Joyce Ssebuggwawo felt that if a meeting with the president happened with only 3 bataka present, her relevancy to the president as one who can mobilize people in Buganda for him would cease to exist. That would probably put her Cabinet position at stake. She became creative and invited the Katikkiros of the clan heads who turned her down to come to the meeting to represent their bataka. She then also got some individuals and had them masquerade as bataka.
That is how people like Ssewava Sserubiri became “Omutaka Ssewava Sserubiri,”sat in the meeting with the president and thanked him for bringing peace and prosperity in Uganda.
President Museveni, excitedly made promises to this group including buying land for them after they had told him how they were landless, had been abandoned thinking that he was meeting a substantive number of Buganda clan heads. He also allegedly gave them shs.30m each. Unknown to him, he had successfully been duped by minister Joyce Ssebuggwawo.
In the gathering held at State House Entebbe, Omutaka Walusimbi Mbirozankya (head of the Ffumbe clan), Omutaka Nakigoye of the Kinyomo clan, and Samson Nabbimba Lukabya from Kyasa in Kyannamukaaka, Buddu, emerged as notable clan leaders.
Omutaka Kayiira Gajuule of the Mbogo clan, a member of the leadership council of clan leaders, said that this group independently approached the president and should not claim to represent Buganda’s interests.
He remarked, “It was simply wrong. I think they need some guidance… someone may have misled them. We need to sit them down, understand their motivations, and resolve this issue.”
During the Entebbe meeting, Walusimbi appealed to the president for assistance in acquiring two and a half acres of land near Bulange Mengo to establish their offices and undertake developmental projects benefiting the kingdom. Museveni pledged to secure Shs 9 billion for this endeavor in the 2023/2024 financial year.
During an address to the Buganda Lukiiko on August 28, Katikkiro Mayiga warned the three bataka who attended president’s meeting without the authorisation of the Kabaka. He stressed that the Kabaka holds the authority to remove any clan head and even disband entire clans. He, therefore, cautioned these leaders against straying from the foundational principles of the Buganda kingdom, asserting that meaningful achievements require diligent effort.
