Riots in Kampala

Kampala erupted with fires, tires, road blocks, demonstrations, tear gas, and looting yesterday. Riots had started in a nearby town called Kyunga earlier this week, but have since moved to Kampala.

The issue is this: the Baganda tribe's king (kabaka) is trying to take a tour of the country (or just regions of the country). Now, the Baganda are the largest ethnic group in Uganda and is the vast majority in the central region which includes Kampala. However, there is a sub-ethnic group within the Baganda tribe called Banyara who actually want to have their own king and do not recognize the Baganda king as their king even though they are part of the Baganda tribe. So, this small group, which is being backed by the government (the government is in the business of divide and rule in order to maintain power), is preventing teh king from visiting these different areas. They and the police are blocking the King's way out of Kampala.

So, the Baganda people are rioting in order to break down the police barriers and allow the king to get through.

President Museveni (who is actually a dictator, not a democratically elected president althought that is what he says . . . Uganda is not a democracy really) is trying to meet with the king but he won't meat with him because the king cannot talk to commoners (Museveni is seen as a commoner and is actually not even Baganda but is Munyankole).

So, anyway, the riots continue and people are freaking out here. In fact in a suburb called Wandegeya, the rioters have taken control of a police post.

The most interesting thing it that teh government is making such a big deal about htis when most government leaders are Munyankole. This really is not their dispute, but they are strongly taking sides with the Banyara. This is not hte first time Museveni has done this. He has been slowly breaking apart the Baganda nation. He as already crowned kings of the Banyala, Baluli, and Sabakoki groups which were all sub-groups within Baganda. So, it seems that Museveni is trying to break down the Baganda tribe and thus weeken it. By doing that, he also gains support of those parts of the Baganda because he is the one that crowned their king and thus they will support him. I am guessing that Museveni sees the Baganda as the greatest threat to his power, so he is attacking them before they attack him. This is a very intersting mix of inter- and intra- ethnic politics and conflict.