Who Killed Muteesa?

Who Killed Muteesa ?
There are some figures in this era who cannot be repackaged , but must be revealed. These are outsized figures whose achievements defy attempts at trivialisation. Because their influence is so profound myths, legends and mysteries cloud the actual facts of their lives. In Uganda's case one man in our history relates immensely to such a figure and his death has remained a mystery to many.A dark cloud of fear and uncertainity descended upon the kingdom of Buganda on the morning after Nov . 21, 1969 the date on which the royal fire had stopped burning. Fredrick William Luwangula Walugembe Muteesa had succumbed to the treacherous hands of his lifelong tormentors. Muteesa like his father Daudi Chwa had met a mysterious death and like many assasinations , a complexity of theories have been manufactured to shroud his demise in uncertainity with many pointing to Milton Obote as a possible accomplice. His death like his father's was humiliating. According to Crawford Young, The Politics of Cultural Pluralism, Muteesa had died the of a lonely death of exile in a drab east end London flat. The coroners jugdement was alcoholic poisoning ,a verdict which failed to allay all suspicions. Muteesa, a victim of the 1953 deportation to England, the survivor of the 1966 Palace attack ochestrated by Obote, a veteran of the Pre-independence politics did not live long enough to retur to his kingdom from axile and most regrettably did not attend his birthday the next day, a ceremony he usually marked with pomp and pleasure amidst his subjects at his london encalve. Most certainly his killers must have been known him at a close level and must have been well briefed about his movements and schedule on the eve such that eve the solsier he was and a man of many enemies he atempted not to smell any air of foul play at the kasiki party usually attended by close relatives and inseperable friends. While it was identified by the Official British Police report as suicide, the death has been viewed as assassin ation by many who claim Mutesa may have been force-fed vodka by agents of the Obote regime. A British journalist, John Simpson, who interviewed King Freddie in his flat just a few hours before his death,stated that he was sober and in good spirits. This was confirmed by people who were around him in his last hours. Simpson actually reported this to the police upon hearing of the King's death on the following day. Incomprehensibly, this line of inquiry was not pursued by the Britishpolice who ruled out the possibility of foul play instead claimed that the King died of excessive drinking even when he was not known to be a heavy drinker and most of all indulging in excessive drinking amidst his most trusted friends and family.
Where the Scotland Yard covering something?
To uncover the mystery sorrounding the death of Muteesa emotions and wounds are re-opened but always the truth is settled by history. As Obote is implicated among the accomplices in the murder of his former UPC-KY ally, objectives attempts are paramount in tracking what could have been his role. Observers point to the climax of the UPC-KY fallout in 1966 resulting in the attack of the Lubiri by Obote's forces led by Amin and the exile of the Kabaka in UK. That Obote followed Muteesa in exile to end his life is a basic fact of life to many Baganda across generations. Muteesa was in Obote's words 'the ugly head of feudalism' which required beheading. Since the stability of the Ugandan state much depends upon factors playing in Buganda which are dictated by the Mengo hierachy headed by Muteesa, it follows reason that to counter Buganda and consolidate power the activities of its leadership had to be curtailed. Muteesa was known to have potential to direct events even when in exile and this can be confirmed by the British who failed to put constitutional changes in place even when he was in exile bwtween 1953-1955.
Was an exiled Muteesa a threat to a socialist leaning Obote?
The question is as good as an obvious answer. Was Obote fearful of the Israel and theWest returning Muteesa as an alternative to his socialist ideology? Was Muteesa a viable alternative caught in between cold war politics?. Since no single politician gathered as much popularity and acceptance as Muteesa certainly Obote must have felt insecure but even then the relationship between Buganda and the Queen's government were not much admirable to excite any fear of working together to oust Obote.It is true that Obote was suspicious of Muteesa and his British connections. It must be remembered that Muteesa was a Grenadier Officer and a Knight and according to one of Obote's reasons for the attck of the Lubiri in 1966 were intelligence reports that Muteesa had procured arms from Britain to topple his government.
The rise of Obote as a politician was a counter-surge against Buganda domination of politics. His activities in the LEGCO as a Lango representative and later leader of the anti-Buganda wing of the Uganda National Congress reflect a dislike of Ganda grandeur which Muteesa represented. The formation of UPC with Obote’s inspiration out of the amalgamation of Uganda People’s Union {an anti-Baganda party} and Obote’s UNC wing was to counter Buganda ’s demands to the Colonial government. Yet the tactful Milton married a Muganda wife and crowned his victory with the conclusion of the KY-UPC alliance. The general feeling in Buganda after the 1966 crisis was one of distaste for Obote. Interestingly Milton revealed in a 12 August 1980 memorandum to close party members during the election period to remember ‘how much the Baganda hate me personally’. According to a witness during the Commision of Inquiry on the Violations of Human rights 1995, Obote had at a rally in Soroti warned the people their not to behave like a certain tribe they knew very well. He ended his speech with the now famous dictum, a good Muganda is a dead one. Could he have forgotten his Muganda wife or was she as good as a dead one? The arrest of prominent Baganda including royal family members and kingdoms indicated to the Baganda that Obote had potential to kill Muteesa. The countrywide search for Muteesa amidst the 1966 imbroglio and the energy used in the exercise informed many Baganda of what could have happened to Muteesa had he landed into the hands of the feared General Service Unit. It rests therefore that Obote not only had the capacity but the intention too of killing Muteesa. It rests therefore according to Obote that Muteesa became a good Muganda with his death in 1969. Since no great man has a blameless record, Obote should take his share of reproach and while regard must be shown to the dead, more respect is to be paid to history without exalting fame or aggravating infamy. The charge which history will make against him is that he was the architect of the 1966 palace attack that resulted into Muteesa’s exile under which he was assassinated.
The Anglo-Israel Connection
.Despite the fact that the death of Obote was celebrated in Buganda for his percieved role in the death of Muteesa, members of the Uganda Peoples Congress have put Muteesa’s death to the machinations of Obote’s enemies. If we are to be swayed by this conviction and that an identification of Obote’s enemies is of any assistance then fate leads us to Israel and Britain working in collaboration with Amin. The enmity between Amin and Obote was phenomenal climaxing into the British-aided and Israel-abetted January 1971 Amin coup. Why would Amin want to appease the Baganda by promising to return the late King’s body with barely one day in office? How could he the commander of the search and destroy attack on the Lubiri in 1966 become Buganda ’s best friend in so little a time? Was the death of Muteesa an advantage to Britain ? Was containing Obote more easier than containing a stubborn Muteesa, the victim of the 1953 deportation? Both Muteesa and Obote had strained relationships with the British with Obote’s move to the left and Muteesa’s stalling of the constitutional process proving too cumbersome to Her Majesty’s government. Was it better for Britain to return a dead Muteesa in post-Obote Uganda ? No man could single-handedly assume acceptance than Muteesa with a deposed Obote. Was Muteesa a hindrance to the Colonial exploitation project with the overthrow of Obote. If by retuning Muteesa’s body, Amin was projecting himself as a pro-Buganda leader, were there attempts to install the new king with all the trappings of the position and office? Wasn’t Amin’s policy towards Buganda copied from Obote’s Notebooks? Can it be denied that Amin was a full member of the UPC and therefore was well grounded inObote’s anti-feudalist ideology? At one meeting of all cultural leaders in 1971, Amin informed those present that Uganda was to remain a republican state. It therefore highlights an influential role played by Amin in covering up for the murder of Muteesa. According to the Obote Family, the Nyamurungu never attempted even to kill a lice (even when he had a heavy hairstyle). It is argued that he did not through out his two presidential terms sign a death warrant. To crown his kindness it has been argued that even Sebadduka, the Lugogo assassin whom Obote narrowly missed, was never killed and is still alive today after serving his life sentence. They have blamed Muteesa’s death on the western powers working to disorganize Obote’s socialist Uganda by creating dissent to spark off a revolution in Uganda between 1968-1971. Yet Obote’s choice of Lusaka and Dar-el-salaam as points of refuge holds some pint of truth. Did Obote know a thing or two about exile in the western world especially for naughty African nationalists?Is my guess as good as yours?