By Arthur Mwenkanya Katabalwa.
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| The Kabaka (in baseball cup) goes for a brisk walk (Monitor Photo) |
The kabaka of Buganda
has spent the last few days in Mawogola celebrating 21 years as the Kabaka
(King) of Buganda. The festivities have been truly amazing. The displays of joy
and love for this man are incredible. People laying dusty roads with red carpets,
night long parties and spontaneous dancing by the roadside is all part of a
spectacle one needs to see.
I am a self-confessed
monarchist. I am fascinated by monarchs all over the world especially those who
rule their subjects for the good of those people. One or two I don’t personally
like but his subjects occasionally regal him with naked dancing women for him
to choose another bride. That’s for them to chose and it’s a personal view.
Otherwise, most of the others I can ignore some of their perceived imperfections.
Yesterday morning, The
Kabaka did something that I thought was really awesome. He walked out of his
palace, casually dressed in jogging pants and wrapped in a fleece to wade off
the early morning chill. In his ears, he had earphones which looked like they
were iPod earphones. I wonder what he was listening to. He was wearing
inexpensive trainers, surrounded by a pose of armed guards. Baseball cup on the
head, he went for a brisk walk!
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| Kabaka carried by his subjects later in the day (New Vision Photo) |
I understand that the
people of Bamunanika where he has a palace are used to seeing him jog through
the town. But to the people of Mawogola this was completely out of this world.
The Kabaka is used to being seen surrounded by cheering crowds in carefully
planned crowd settings. Other times one is going to see him surrounded by all
the traditional paraphenelia one can imagine, men sat on the floor next to him,
sometimes a leopard skid draped around his shoulders. And if he is walking,
someone is holding what seems like a large parasol over his head to keep the sun
away. He is always dressed smartly and formally.
Seeing him like that in
public was a huge publicity coup. If it was a planned photo op I would want to
shake the hand of the person behind his publicity machine. But I doubt it was
planned because I hear that it is a normal occurance. Only that it hadn’t been
caught on camera before. In so doing, the Kabaka, who waved at well wishers
showed that he still has a certain connection with his subjects. His palaces
dotted around Buganda have grounds that are large enough to maintain that
bubble around him.
The choice of clothing
as well was very telling. Here the message was very evident. The Kabaka also
wants to wear that comfortable clothing that the rest of us want to wear. He may
be shown in gold thread laden robes but at times he takes a relaxed take on life and
relaxes. He isn’t afraid of people seeing that, which is very confident.
Other leaders around
the world have been seen to try this natural touch. Obama, the President Of The
United States has been seen on a walk about in Washington which has created
havoc with security. He carries it off well though. David Cameron the United
Kingdom Prime Minister sometimes walks to his office at Parliament and he is
seen running through hide park with his body guards. George Bush also used to
run every morning until The US Secret Service put it to a stop. So did Bill
Clinton.
In Uganda, finding a
local leader walking on the streets is very difficult. I dream of the day when
I hear that HE Yoweri Museveni is having a casual walk along some random
street, having a look around the shops with his grand kids. That would be such
a vote winner. But I guess that’s a pipe dream. I think we should remain used
to all of them, even some who are of no significance, driving around these
narrow streets of Kampala each in a screaming convoy.
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