NDOBYE! Busoga King refutes claims that he has been replaced.
Columbus Wambuzi has been at the center of the Kyabazingaship's instability, having played the role himself in 2008.
The Kyabazinga of Busoga Wilberforce William Nadiope Gabula IV has denied rumors that he has been replaced as the newly duly elected King of Busoga Kingdom by Edward Columbus Wambuzi, the Zibondo of Bilamoji.
The kingdom insists that Gabula IV is the true Isebantu Kyabazinga, according to a statement from Busoga Premier Joseph Muvawala, which was copied to the President of Uganda, the Inspector General of Police, and the Minister for Presidency.
“Obwa kyabazinga to it: the Busoga Lukiiko, the cabinet, clans’ council, Abambedha council, Chief Royal Council among others duly discharge their mission and there should be no cause for fear,” the statement reads in part.
Earlier, a statement supposedly from the Busoga Chiefs Royal Council stated that Gabula had been replaced by the ever-willing Colombus Wambuzi after a vote of no confidence from the respective kingdom chiefs.
Muvawala, on the other hand, believes that the reported statement from Busoga’s chiefs should be “regarded with the contempt it deserves.”
“All peace-loving Basoga and Ugandans should shun and condemn the supposed dismissal and or election of a new Kyabazinga, which is fraudulent, illegal, misleading, and intended to create confusion and divisiveness in the Kingdom,” Muvawala added in his statement.
He went on to say that Gabula is still the rightful ruler, having been elected in 2014 and enthroned in September of that year. He stated that Gabula is still gazetted as the kingdom’s apex under the law.
Wambuzi is always a problem.
Columbus Wambuzi has been at the center of the Kyabazingaship’s instability, having played the role himself in 2008.
Wambuzi was elected Kyabazinga in 2008, however he was removed from the office due to irregularities in his election, with members agreeing that there was no quorum on the day he was elected.
The Kyabazinga is intended to be chosen by the 11 kingdom chiefs, but Wambuzi failed to meet this requirement.
In August 2014, Gabula officially ascended to the throne after receiving 10 votes from the 11 chiefs. He was crowned in a glitzy ceremony at Bugembe Stadium, just a short distance from his opulent home on the suburbs of Jinja.
Wambuzi promised the media after Gabula’s coronation that he would seize the throne “any minute.”
Gabula was hauled to court a few months later, and groups loyal to Wambuzi demanded that his election be annulled.
Three Busoga supporters, including Dan Kawanguzi of the Busiki Chiefdom’s Balangira clan, Gideon Isooba of the Bulamogi Chiefdom, and Harriet Nanyanga of the Bulamogi Chiefdom, petitioned the Constitutional Court to declare the decision to elect Nadiope as the cultural leader of Busoga in the absence of a vacancy on the throne as unconstitutional.
They also urged the court to rule that the police’s behavior in preventing their legitimately elected and legitimate Kyabazinga of Busoga Edward Columbus Wambuzi from entering his kingdom office in Bugembe to carry out his duties as the Kyabazinga was unconstitutional.
Their plea, however, was dismissed by the court.
