Tuesday, 10 February 2009






Cadres and officials of CCM in London chose to put up the most intense celebrations , and easily forgot other vital events tied up with that date, either by fortune or contrivance.





In Tanzania Chairman Kikwete also expressed the need for CCM members to prepare themselves for this year’s local government elections and readying themselves for next year's general election. Other directives included to improve and update permanent voters’ registers and ensure that CCM members register themselves ready for forthcoming elections
















































A number of observers and wellwishers who have the Declaration at heart could scarcely find their feet amidst the celebrations


THE RWENZURURU KING .
Clan leaders under Kithasamba.
Originally the BanyaRwenzururu were ruled by clan and ridge leaders with Kithasamba, a spiritual being, as the overall King. The Banyoro killed the Bakonzo clan leaders between 1830 and 1890. Kabarega having killed the biggest number of them. After the British declared a Mutoro Prince, King over the Bakonzo and Bamba land, the Batooro also began killing the remaining Bakonzo clan leaders by throwing them in a crater lake commonly known in Lutooro as Kaitabarogo.

The King of rwenzururu-Uganda
Omusinga Isaya Mukirania and Charles Mumbere Irema-Ngoma
After Nyamutswa Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu was again spearheaded by Omusinga Isaya Mukirania Kibanzanga I as an overall human ruler of the Mountains. He ruled from June 30, 1962 to September 2, 1966 with Samwiri Mukirania as a Prime Minister. His son Prince Charles Mumbere Irema-Ngoma was crowned king in place of his father on October 19, 1966 with Yolamu Mulima as his Prime Minister who was later replaced by Mr. Yeremiya Muhongya.
The following were the first county chiefs in 1963;
Yosamu Balyananzighu - Burahya County
Yoweri Nziabake - Bwamba / Bughendera County
Fenehasi Bwambale - Busongora County
John Basighirenda - Bunyangabu County
Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu is a cultural institution or Kingdom Ayoub mzee with the King
of the Banyarwenzururu living on mount Rwenzori and elsewhere just like the Aga Khan whose 15 million subjects are scattered in 25 nations of the world[1] without interfering with both local and international boundaries.
Rwenzururu Kingdom was established in response to the inhumane treatment, discrimination, and brutality of Toro Kingdom against the Bamba and Bakonzo. This response united the Bakonzo and Bamba peasants to form a classless society under what they called Rwenzurruru district.
On June 30, 1962 the Bakonzo and Bamba declared their independence from Toro Kingdom just three months before Uganda attained independence on October 9, 1962. At that time, Kingdoms in Uganda (namely Bunyoro, Buganda, Busoga, Toro and Ankole) were political institutions and all of them had a status of a district with two administrators namely the District Commissioner who represented the Central Government under the British Collonial Governor and the King - the Chief Administrator of the Local government within the District. The districts of Rwenzururu was intended to cover the then counties of Bwamba, Burahya, Bunyangabu, and Busongora (Busongora was later divided by Tooro District Administration into two namely: Busongora and Bukonzo counties.





Bukonzo county was was named so by the BaToro intellectuals in order to down play the social-psychology of people who were not aware of the human geography of the Rwenzori region by implicationg that the small section of the mountain was the place where you find the Bakonzo people. The reality is that from time memorial the Bakonzo occupied the whole of the Rwenzori Mountains and its neighboring plains - all around teh Rwenzories. It was Kabarega of Bunyoro and later Kasagama of Toro and the British colonialists who pushed the Bakonzo on the Mountains during the rule of Nyamutswa. George Rukiidi massacred teh remaining and pushed others farther on the mountains). Later when Idi Amin became President he drew a map of Rwenzururu on a piece of paper in the presence of Mr Daudi Muhindo Ise Biira, Dr Henry Bwambale, Mr Blasio Maate and others but by the time he declared it, he had already divided it into two districts of Bwamba which he re-named Semliki (covering the current Bundibugyo and parts of Burahya county) and Rwenzori District (covering the then Busongora and Bukonzo counties and the whole of Bunyangabu county near a place know as Kazingo). In the original map of Rwenzururu district, Rwenzori and Semliki districts curved teh mountain. Toro district did not touch the mountain at all. This was the wish and aspirations of the Bakonzo and Bamba people. The Bakonzo and Bamba wanted it to be so because Toro Kingdom and Toro District Administration with the Colonial master -the- British, had for centuries denied them of development in form of roads, construction of schools, political adminstrative units, hospitals, clinics, secutiry, public market places, cultural activities adn other services. They wanted to plan for their area also which the establishment of Rwenzururu Kingdom was now doing, although with difficulties of being presecuted and harassed by the Toro Administration with the help of the Uganda Government.
Mr Ozo, the Idi Amin's appointed Governor in charge of Western Region was concinced by the Batoro people to let them have their district reach up to the Rwenzori Mountains. This was said to have been a plan to help Toro have a corridor that separates Bwamba from Rwenzori district as a point of disuniting the Bakonzo and Bamba from being a political and cultural tangible unit. It was also rumored that it would be used as an access road to the mountains for the Batoro to infiltrate teh Rwenzururu Kingdom and if possible make the Bakonzo in Bundbugyo look as if they were different from those in the other two districts. Mr Ozo had been specifically appointed by President Amin to satisfactorilly iron out the conflict between the Batoro and Bakonzo-Bamba district boundaries. In fact, the Bakonzo and Bamba know Idi Amin as a man who tried to solve their problems democratically, but who because of low academic training lacked a democratic method to do so. But he had a good will and had a clear conscious about it.
Mr Ozo later changed the boundaries by having Semliki district ending at Kichwamba Technical College in Burahya, and Rwenzori ending at Ruimi (Lhume) river which as a result left thousands of Bakonzo people in Toro district. This created more conflicting situations which the Bakonzo in Kabarole still undergo, nevertheless, President Museveni is slowly though reluctantly to create sub-counties to serve the Bakonzo people in that area. Katebwa sub-county has been created for the same reason, and Karangura sub-county to end at Mahoma river instead of Kazingo bark cloth tree.
Later on President Godfrey Binaisa changed the name of Toro district to fort Portal - a British nick name - which the Batoro refused to acknowledge and re-named it Kabarole. Rwenzori district was re-named Kasese district and Semliki district was re-named Bundibugyo. President Binaisa did this to all districts of Uganda in order to minimize the tribal naming and dominance all over the country. When Idi Amin gave the Bakonzo and Bamba the two districts, he had created many others all over the country. He raised the number of districts from 18 to 33 country wide. And when Godfrey Binaisa became, he renamed all the district names to town names.
Incidentally, the 1963 constitutional change emphasized that the President of Uganda should be one of the traditional leaders, and it was on the basis of this change that His Majesty Kabaka Edward Mutesa II became the first President of Uganda. Accordingly, the BanyaRwenzururu instituted a Kingdom in order to, at one time, have a leadership role in Uganda and overcome the unjust treatment to which they were subjected by the colonial rule through Toro Kingdom.
Upon this logic, Banyarwenzururu clan leaders declared Isaya Mukirania King of Rwenzururu in the transitional night of 29th and 30th June 1963.
The Rwenzururu Kingdom came into being in the same way as the ancient Egyptian Kingdom whereby peasants from various independent villages united with nearby neighbors, and formed a United Kingdom which formed a generation of nobles and princes known as Pharaohs. By the year 3100 B.C. King Menes was the overall ruler of United Egypt.[2]
The Greeks had similar experience. Alexander the first Emperor of the Greek Empire was a son of a warrior by name Chaeronea Philip of Cedonia.[3] Philip fought between 395 and 338 B.C. and united hundreds of city states. He thereafter installed his son Alexander who continued with military expeditions until he attained the title of Emperor.
When Isaya Mukirania passed away on 2nd September, 1966, the Rwenzururu clan elders came together and agreed to have him succeeded by his first born son Charles Mumbere Kibanzanga II. On 19th October, 1966 the Kingdom assembly sat and on 22nd October 1966 Charles was installed King. He was later referred to as Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere Irema-ngoma.
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Re: Global Xchange Community Farewell

We the global Xchange team(Team 80) have come to spend 12 weeks in Newham and gradually our time here is coming to an end.

In view of this, we will be having our free community celebration and farewell and would like to invite you..

The details are as follows:

Date: Monday 23rd of February 2009.

Time: 6pm - 9pm.

Food and refreshment would be provided

Venue: Aston-Mansfield

Durning Hall

Earlham Grove

Forest Gate

London

E7 9AB

Buses: 25, 86, 58, 308, 330, 678. Stations: Wanstead Park [National Rail], Forest Gate, Upton Park [London underground].



It will be a free night of music, dancing and cultural celebration. The celebration aims to show how a community can come together to celebrate its’ individuality, how its’ true identity is multi-faceted and also to celebrate and showcase our achievements in Newham..
By inviting diverse social groups to perform and attend, we hope to strengthen community cohesion and bridge the social gap that is sometimes apparent within such an ethnically rich community.

Please RSVP and let us know of groups who would be interested in coming.. or even taking part, this is a community event.