Kasese clashes were inevitable, says Dr Kiyonga

KAMPALA - Former Defence minister Crispus Kiyonga has spoken out on the conflict in the Rwenzori sub-region, saying the clashes that led to more than 60 deaths last weekend were “inevitable.” He blamed the degeneration of the security situation in the area on “political and cultural opportunists”.

Dr Kiyonga, who on Thursday night was speaking on NTV, also seemed to back President Museveni’s handling of the crisis in the Rwenzori sub-region.

“What happened in the last three to four days, I would say, given the way things were going, was inevitable. Mr Museveni has been so patient with negative elements in our area; he has been so patient,” said Dr Kiyonga in an interview aired on NTV on Thursday night.

No names
Dr Kiyonga did not name “the negative elements”, but politicians aligned to the ruling party have used similar terms during the ongoing unrest in the Rwenzori sub-region.

Last Saturday, just after the attacks in Kabarole District and before the attack on King Wesley Mumbere’s palace in Kasese, the killing of at least 60 people and Mr Mumbere’s subsequent arrest, Minister of State for Agriculture Christopher Kibanzanga told Saturday Monitor that he was “very distressed”.

Mr Kibanzanga, a brother of Mr Mumbere, was originally opposed to President Museveni’s government but eventually left the Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party and joined the ruling NRM party, winning a parliamentary seat in Bundibugyo District on the ruling party ticket and eventually being named minister.

Mr Kibanzanga said he had been involved in negotiations to resolve the impasse between the government and the people of the Rwenzori sub-region, but that “negative elements” had complicated his job and that he was now “scared” and would not “easily go to Kasese”.

In Kasese and beyond, the battle for people’s hearts seems to have been in a way defined by whether one is aligned to the ruling party or the Opposition.

Dr Kiyonga, like the ruling NRM, was involved in a longstanding disagreement with Kasese politicians and the supporters of the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu cultural institution, and he, for years, led the Opposition to the recognition of the cultural institution. It took a clean sweep for Dr Kizza Besigye in Kasese District in the 2001 elections for President Museveni to soften his stance towards the kingdom and eventually recognise it.

Dr Besigye, who had freshly broken away from the establishment, had promised to recognise the cultural institution as President Museveni still held out against it. This led to the rise of Opposition MPs in Kasese and complicated matters for Dr Kiyonga and his fellow ruling party members.

Although Dr Kiyonga continued to somehow get re-elected to Parliament, his luck ran out in February 2016 when FDC party swept the entire district.

Tempers flared during the elections, especially the vote tallying at Kasese District headquarters, with soldiers attached to then Defence Minister Kiyonga nearly coming to blows with supporters of the rival camp, which accused Dr Kiyonga of attempting to rig his way back to Parliament.

Whereas Dr Kiyonga finally conceded defeat, accusations and counter-accusations did not cease. Two months after the elections, the MPs, led by Ms Winnie Kiiza, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, accused Dr Kiyonga of fomenting insecurity in Kasese.

An altercation between policemen attached to the police’s Flying Squad and the Rwenzururu royal guards had just occurred around King Wesley Mumbere’s palace and two personnel of Uganda’s armed forces had died at the hands of the royal guards.

The MPs accused Dr Kiyonga of using his influence as Defence minister to foment trouble in the region using the police’s Flying Squad.

Dr Kiyonga took exception to the accusations and threatened to sue the MPs.

Asked to comment about Dr Kiyonga’s comments on NTV on Thursday night, Ms Kiiza said: “That tends to reaffirm what we said in that press conference in April. We are not sure that Dr Kiyonga and people like him did not support what happened to our king.”

On NTV, Dr Kiyonga said: “Some political actors must take responsibility for that crisis.” He did not name names.

- Monitor