Omutaka Yusuf Mbirozankya the clan head of Ffumbe clan has confirmed to theGrapevine that he has received summons from Buganda Kingdom cultural Court (Kkooti ya Kisekwa) that judgment on the contestation of his legality to head Ffumbe clan his ready to be delivered.
According to the summons seen by this reporter, the judgment is expected to be delivered on 28th August, 2024 at 2.00pm at the headquarters of Buganda Kingdom at Bulange in Mengo.
Mbirozankya said that he is ready to receive the judgment because he is very sure that the whole process was followed when he was appointed and confirmed by Buganda Kingdom King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi as the head of Ffumbe clan.
A group of Ffumbe clan members who include former Buganda Kingdom premier Owekitiibwa JB Walusimbi petitioned Kkooti ya Kisekwa claiming that Mbirozankya was illegally appointed head of their clan.
The group appointed one Mbwateyewoola to replace Mbirozankya and all the rituals were done to initiate him as a clan head.
However, Mbwateyewoola is not going to be present in court to receive the judgment because he is on remand in prison on charges of aggravated robbery.
He was arrested in possession of a gun.
The judgment date was announced at a time when Mbirozankya is in bad books with Kabaka Mutebi.
Kabaka Mutebi was briefed that Mbirozankya was the brain behind mobilizing fellow clan heads through Owekitiibwa Joyce Nnabossa Ssebugwawo to meet President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at Entebbe State House and on several occasions, without the knowledge of Kabaka Mutebi’s government, he himself as a person has been meeting the President.
Mbirozankya is also accused of leading the mobilization drive to look for part of the money that was used by clan heads to travel to Namibia to see Kabaka Mutebi without his consent or that of his closest people.
Mbirozankya is accused by his competitors of using State security because of his closeness with President Museveni and Minister Ssebugwawo to stop them from accessing their ancestral home in Bakka in Wakiso district.
Sources within Mengo unveiled that Mbirozankya’s dismissal is going to be the beginning of Kabaka Mutebi’s plan to clean Buganda Kingdom clan council where a section of its members have been threatening his throne.
In his message to his subjects during celebration to mark 31 years as king of Buganda Kingdom, Kabaka Mutebi assured the world that the Kabaka of Buganda is not elected by clan heads as some have been claiming.
He warned the trouble causers that he has powers to amend Buganda Kingdom norms.
theGrapevine established that there are more than 10 clan heads who are still battling with petitions challenging their legality in the kingdom court (Kkooti ya Kisekwa) and those in bad books with Kabaka Mutebi or his Premier Charles Peter Mayiga are in fear that they will not survive.
Mubiru Njuuki, a Buganda Kingdom conservative and also historian, told theGrapevine that Kkooti ya Kisekwa has lost value because it is now being used to fight clan heads who are not in good books with Kabaka Mutebi’s style of administration.
He warned that if nothing is done on the way this court handles clan matters, incidents like what happened to fallen Ndiga clan head Eng Daniel Bbosa Lwomwa who was assassinated by his competitor will continue to happen.
He pleaded with security bosses to investigate and establish the forces giving guns to people who are fighting for clan leadership which they are using to threaten others.
He gave the example of Mbwateyewoola who was arrested with a gun.
He added that even though Mbirozankya losses in the Kkooti ya Kisekwa, he still has a chance to appeal before Kabaka Mutebi who is the supreme judge on issues concerning Buganda Kingdom culture.
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By Hadijjah Namagembe