A significant development unfolded in western Uganda as Charles Wesley Mumbere, the King of Rwenzururu, made a triumphant return to his region after a prolonged legal battle. Back in 2016, he faced severe charges of treason, murder, and terrorism, following violent clashes that resulted in the tragic deaths of over a hundred people.
Mumbere's return to the town of Kasese was met with jubilation from a cheering crowd, and the air was filled with the sounds of horns and whistles. As he waved to the crowd from the sunroof of his car, hundreds of people followed in celebration.
The turning point came in June when prosecutors decided to drop the charges against Mumbere. These charges had stemmed from the violent confrontations between the Ugandan army and his palace guards in Kasese on November 26 and 27, 2016.
Mumbere had been detained for approximately two months before his provisional release in February 2017, but he was prohibited from returning to his kingdom. Instead, he was placed under house arrest on the outskirts of Kampala, the capital.
The 2016 clashes erupted when the army stormed the royal palace in Kasese, accusing Mumbere of seeking to establish an independent state with the support of his palace guards, whom authorities labeled as a "militia." The confrontation had its roots in earlier attacks by the palace guards on police officers.
Official estimates put the death toll from the two days of clashes at over 100 people. However, in a 2017 report, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) contended that the violence had begun when government forces forcibly entered a local administrative office, resulting in the deaths of eight guards. This event triggered a series of retaliatory actions, with the palace guards resorting to machetes in self-defense. According to HRW, the clashes claimed the lives of more than 155 people, including 15 children.
The Kingdom of Rwenzururu, situated near the Rwenzori Mountains and spanning the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a traditional monarchy comprised of the Bakonzo ethnic group. Its history is marked by a shift from separatism to reconciliation. In 1962, the Bakonzo declared their kingdom, which led to unrest. This conflict was ultimately resolved in 1982 when the Bakonzo agreed to lay down their arms in exchange for local autonomy.
The official recognition of the kingdom by President Yoweri Museveni in 2009 was a significant step, but ethnic and political tensions persisted due to a sense of marginalization among the local population. Since 2014, there have been several attacks by the local population on the police force, exacerbating the underlying tensions]-