On 23rd February 2011 Ugandans went to the polls to elect their district leaders who included the district chairpersons (LC V Chairpersons), City Mayors and their Councilors (LC V Councilors). It was quite peaceful unlike Kampala where a pastor is alleged to have tried to rig elections resulting into cancellation and some cases of violence.
In Fort Portal, the heart of Tooro Kingdom, something unheard of happened during the elections – Bintamanya Joram, an FDC flag bearer for South Division in Fort Portal Municipality won an election as the LC V Councilor for South Division trouncing an incumbent and an NRM flag bearer Lindah Irene. For starters, Fort Portal is predominantly an NRM stronghold with most of its people widely known across the country to sleep, dance and eat the ruling NRM party and president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
I have been closely following Bintamanya’s campaign trail and one interesting thing in his campaigns has been his fierce criticism of Tooro Kingdom leadership and most especially the Queen Mother, Best Kemigisa.
'Ekirale' Song meaning 'Legacy' - Tooro Kingdom good Legacy risks being eroded by the current poor leadership
In one of his rallies in a Fort Portal Suburb called Kisenyi, he compared the hatred the people of Tooro have for the Queen Mother to the hatred the Muslims have for a pig. People even went ahead to donate him money to buy a radio program to unleash all the dirt about the kingdom.
South Division in Fort Portal Municipality which Bintamanya will represent in the district council when he officially swears in, is home to the King’s Palace ‘Karuziika’, its home to the Kingdom’s administrative centre ‘Muchwa’ and home to most of the Kingdom’s properties compared to other divisions in Fort Portal Municipality.
Bintamanya’s growing popularity on grounds of his fierce criticism to the Kingdom leadership is a blow given now that he has got a better and reliable platform to make his criticisms. However, it is at the same time a learning point to the whole institution to either change or perish.
He hasn’t been alone in his fierce criticism of the Kingdom’s leadership, early this year members of the Fort Portal based Human rights NGO called Twerwaneho listenership Club led by Kankya Gerald spent days in Prison for demonstrating against the Queen Mother ‘illegal’ sale of the Kingdom’s land to the government but the kingdom’s administration only takes a blind eye on all the issues raised by its subjects.
Apart from widespread corruption and mismanagement, the Kingdom hasn’t also been in good terms with its subjects for failing to make itself relevant to the people in terms of initiating development projects, and incidences of conflicts as a result of internal power struggles. All these have made the Kingdom a darling of the media mostly, for bad news.
I stand to be corrected but currently people perceive the kingdom as a project of some individuals to enrich themselves when they hear such stories in the media of the Queen Mother selling the Kingdom’s land for billions of money, stories of the queen mother diverting Libya leaders Gaddafi’s money meant for economic projects for the kingdom’s self sustainability to buy a personal mansion in London.
Therefore, Bintamanya’s win is a red card to the Kingdom and it should not be taken lightly or risks putting a once famous Kingdom in the history books.
To win the people’s hearts and minds, administration should now focus on attracting investments on its vast pieces of land, initiating development projects like schools and hospitals, build cultural heritage centers to attract tourists which creates jobs at the same time promoting culture.
The former Minister of Karamoja Tom Butime once said that “anything which doesn’t change doesn’t progress” therefore, such political developments should remind the kingdom that it is also accountable to its subjects and if it doesn’t change, it will perish.
In Fort Portal, the heart of Tooro Kingdom, something unheard of happened during the elections – Bintamanya Joram, an FDC flag bearer for South Division in Fort Portal Municipality won an election as the LC V Councilor for South Division trouncing an incumbent and an NRM flag bearer Lindah Irene. For starters, Fort Portal is predominantly an NRM stronghold with most of its people widely known across the country to sleep, dance and eat the ruling NRM party and president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
I have been closely following Bintamanya’s campaign trail and one interesting thing in his campaigns has been his fierce criticism of Tooro Kingdom leadership and most especially the Queen Mother, Best Kemigisa.
'Ekirale' Song meaning 'Legacy' - Tooro Kingdom good Legacy risks being eroded by the current poor leadership
In one of his rallies in a Fort Portal Suburb called Kisenyi, he compared the hatred the people of Tooro have for the Queen Mother to the hatred the Muslims have for a pig. People even went ahead to donate him money to buy a radio program to unleash all the dirt about the kingdom.
South Division in Fort Portal Municipality which Bintamanya will represent in the district council when he officially swears in, is home to the King’s Palace ‘Karuziika’, its home to the Kingdom’s administrative centre ‘Muchwa’ and home to most of the Kingdom’s properties compared to other divisions in Fort Portal Municipality.
Bintamanya’s growing popularity on grounds of his fierce criticism to the Kingdom leadership is a blow given now that he has got a better and reliable platform to make his criticisms. However, it is at the same time a learning point to the whole institution to either change or perish.
He hasn’t been alone in his fierce criticism of the Kingdom’s leadership, early this year members of the Fort Portal based Human rights NGO called Twerwaneho listenership Club led by Kankya Gerald spent days in Prison for demonstrating against the Queen Mother ‘illegal’ sale of the Kingdom’s land to the government but the kingdom’s administration only takes a blind eye on all the issues raised by its subjects.
Apart from widespread corruption and mismanagement, the Kingdom hasn’t also been in good terms with its subjects for failing to make itself relevant to the people in terms of initiating development projects, and incidences of conflicts as a result of internal power struggles. All these have made the Kingdom a darling of the media mostly, for bad news.
I stand to be corrected but currently people perceive the kingdom as a project of some individuals to enrich themselves when they hear such stories in the media of the Queen Mother selling the Kingdom’s land for billions of money, stories of the queen mother diverting Libya leaders Gaddafi’s money meant for economic projects for the kingdom’s self sustainability to buy a personal mansion in London.
Therefore, Bintamanya’s win is a red card to the Kingdom and it should not be taken lightly or risks putting a once famous Kingdom in the history books.
To win the people’s hearts and minds, administration should now focus on attracting investments on its vast pieces of land, initiating development projects like schools and hospitals, build cultural heritage centers to attract tourists which creates jobs at the same time promoting culture.
The former Minister of Karamoja Tom Butime once said that “anything which doesn’t change doesn’t progress” therefore, such political developments should remind the kingdom that it is also accountable to its subjects and if it doesn’t change, it will perish.
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