Buganda Kingdom Prime Minister Charles Peter Mayiga has said, having an incompetent Muganda as president of Uganda will not help Buganda actuate its aspirations as a Kingdom.
The premier, also addressed as Katikkiro, was responding to a question about the progress of the Kingdom in achievement of its aspirations during his 7 year tenure as Katikkiro.
He said his major achievement in the last seven years is that the people of Buganda have undertaken development of the Kingdom as their own project which solidifies the independence of any cultural institution.
Mayiga made the remarks in an interview with NTV’s Patrick Kamara in a program -NTV on the Spot.
Mayiga noted that efforts to achieve some of the Kingdom’s most cherished aspirations including a Federo government in Mengo, and solving the land question have not been possible due to forces beyond the kingdom.
Asked why Buganda, which is by far the largest ethnic group with undisputed leverage in Uganda’s politics, has not mobilized to have a Muganda president in order to actuate Buganda’s interests, Mayiga said Buganda’s aspirations go beyond just a president.
“I don’t think the point is having a muganda as president. It has also to do with the competence. I don’t want a muganda in a name; it must also go with the competence of the candidate” He said.
Mayiga said Buganda does not desire an incompetent president, and he is not ready to vote for such, just because he or she is a Muganda.
He said Buganda has had experiences of incompetent Baganda presidents like Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa, who he described as extremely unserious and a joker, citing a 1979 incident when President Binaisa proposed an aircraft assembling plant in a country bleeding from war.
“Binaisa was a muganda and actually from Balangira clan but he was a joke! The country needs somebody who has got his head right” Mayiga stated.
“What Uganda needs is rule of law and good governance. With rule of law, every region gets what they aspire for. It doesn’t need to be a muganda president but efficient institutions of the state” he said.
He said Buganda Kingdom currently has four major challenges including the land issue and the unfulfilled quest for a Federo government in Mengo.
Mayiga said the political dynamics in different countries have changed and therefore the numerical strength of Baganda may not influence the ethnicity of the next president.
He said being a muganda candidate can no longer guarantee one a ticket to State House, but the competences the individual has. He cited cases of the late Nelson Mandela who hailed from the Xhosa –a minority ethnic group, Stalin from Georgia, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and several others who became presidents yet they originated from minority ethnic groups.
He said what Buganda needs are effective structures in the central government which he faulted for not building capacity to enforce the land laws right from the investigation department to jurisdiction in courts. He says this has opened doors to political interference in land matters, corruption resulting into illegal land evictions.
Mayiga said the problem of land in Buganda is a governance issue and has nothing to do with the law. He said unless the land police unit is equipped to do the job, and the courts are independent and empowered, the land question will not be solved.
He however said his projects like Kyappa Mungalo through which the Buganda Kingdom was issuing land titles to tenants on its land, were sabotaged by self-seekers who do not want the Baganda to be empowered.
He said the progress the Buganda Kingdom has registered during his 7 year reign as Kattikiro, has created him many enemies in Mengo, especially those who don’t want to see an empowered Buganda Kingdom.
Mayiga dispelled rumor that he intends to join politics, claiming he is busy with the current assignment but he could not entirely rule out this possibility in future.