Did anyone care to ask themselves where and how the boat-shaped Royal Carriage that transported the Kyabazinga of Busoga and her Queen Jovia Mutesi as they made their way from Church to the palace for their wedding reception, came to be or what it symbolizes?
Here is the answer; the customized boat-shaped carriage with an elevated canopy was built locally by engineers from Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) to make the event glamorous and give it a sense of loyalty.
“I extend my appreciation to
@KiiraMotors for Manufacturing the Royal Carriage which was Originally designed by Engineer Madanda (a great son of Busoga)” Dr. Joseph Muvawala posted on social media X formerly known as Twitter.
Kiira Motors is a state enterprise established to champion value addition in the nascent Motor Vehicle Industry in Uganda through Technology Transfer, Contract Manufacturing and Supply Chain Localization.
As for it’s shape and design, the kingdom Prime Minister reffed to as ‘Katukiro’ stated that the Royal Carriage was designed like a Boat to represent water bodies including Lake Victoria, River Nile and Lake Kyoga that flow around of Busoga.
But why the carriage?
Well, it’s a scene straight out of Cinderella which is a tradition of royals in England: a princess in her royal wedding dress, riding around in a horse-drawn carriage through majestic streets despite there being a fleet of state Bentleys and Rolls Royces in the garages of Buckingham Palace.
The custom-made carriage was initially intended to chauffuer the royals -both the Kyabazinga and his queen on a tour of Jinja City, as the two wave at the jubilant crowds who were lining along the streets. In that manner, the Kyabazinga would also be introducing the ‘inebantu’ (mother of all) to kingdom subjects.
The initial plan was to also have the royals travel to Kakindu Stadium where they were expected to cut a cake and serve it before heading to Igenge Palace where a wedding reception was held. The planned tour was however cut short on account of time and massive crowds on the streets which posed a security risk.