In a bid to ease tensions between the Bamba and Bakonzo ethnic groups, the Rwenzururu King, Charles Wesley Mumbere, has been told to restrict his movements to Bundibugyo district.
This follows clashes on Friday between the two ethnic groups over the shrine that was constructed for Mumbere at Kibindi village in Busaru Sub County. The clashes started when the Bamba wanted to burn the shrine but the Bakonzo resisted.
In a meeting with Bamba and Bakonzo elders in Bundibugyo town shortly after the clashes on Friday, Ruhakana Rugunda, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, said that since Mumbere is the cultural leader of the Bakonzo, he should not anger the Bamba and visit Bundibugyo, because more clashes are likely to occur.
Rugunda said that Mumbere should also respect the Bamba since they are the majority in the district.
According to Rugunda, more talks will be held between the two ethnic groups, aimed at reconciling them.
Rugunda was sent by President Yoweri Museveni to mediate in the conflicts, after Bamba elders wrote to the president requesting him to intervene. The letter to the president was given to Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi last Sunday, when he attended the second coronation anniversary of the Rwenzururu King.
However, the Bakonzo in Bundibugyo have distanced themselves from Rugunda’s remarks, which they say is a violation of their king’s rights.
In a telephone interview, Michael Kahungu, a member of the Bakonzo elders association, says that Mumbere can’t be stopped from visiting his subjects where ever they are.
Kahungu said that since there are Bakonzo in Bundibugyo, Mumbere will often be invited to visit his subjects and even perform rituals.
Meanwhile the police and army have been deployed heavily in Bundibugyo town to ensure there are no more clashes.
Several anti-riot police personnel and the amoured vehicles were seen along the Fort portal-Bundibugyo road heading to Bundibugyo.
Samuel Kazinga, the Resident District Commissioner Bundibugyo, says that the police and army will remain deployed in the town and at Kibindi, the scene of the clashes, until the situation stabilizes.
Kazinga said that a security meeting will be convened on Sunday, to discuss the matter.
Two motorcycles and property belonging to Bakonzo traders in Bundibugyo market were burnt during the clashes.
This comes hardly a week after another tribe, the Basongora sought to break away from Rwenzururu by installing their own king.
Ivan Bwebale Rwigi IV Rutakirwa Agutamba Kabumba was crowned as the Basongora cultural leader on Sunday by elders in Busongora South Constituency at Muhokya along the Kasese-Kikorongo Road.
This function came 49 years after the death of Rutakirwa’s grandmother, Queen Kogyere II Ikamiro, in 1963. His installation was criticized by the Rwenzururu Kingdom officials, who accuse him of forcefully imposing himself on the people of Kasese.
