Bundibugyo district officials want the government to provide money for the construction of a royal palace and an administration block for Obudhingiya Bwa Bwamba-OBB cultural institution.
The leaders argue that since its inception eight years ago, the cultural institution does not have all entitlements like other old monarchs.
They say the absence of a palace and offices has hindered the efficiency of the cultural leader Col. Martin Ayongi Kamya and his administration. Richard Gafabusa, the Bwamba County MP says kingdoms are operationalized under the act of parliament and it’s the responsibility of the government to ensure they are aided to serve their purpose.
He wants the government to extend support to Obundhingiya as it has done for Tooro and Buganda cultural institutions.
Gafabusa said that people have very strong attachments to the kingdom, arguing that such institutions are significant in promoting the government’s development agenda.
His counterpart Moses Acrobert Kiiza, the Bughendera County MP, says there is an urgent need to support the cultural institution to establish a modern palace so that its sovereignty is felt by her subjects. Kiiza agrees that cultural institutions can propagate development programs once enabled by the government.
Kiiza adds that the structures around Kamya’s residence, which also acts as his palace-were constructed with the support of the institution subjects. The MP also wants the president to deliver on a number of pledges he initially made to help the Obudhingiya grow and thrive.
Rev. Geoffrey Kyomuhendo, the spokesperson of the Obudhingiya Bwa Bwamba-OBB cultural institution, says that they don’t have a strong financial base to rent offices and appeals to the government to help them put up office structures for the kingdom.
The state minister for trade, Harriet Ntabazi, says that she is following up on the pledges made by the President, to begin with, the King’s vehicle and his royal escorts. The former district woman MP, says that the President also pledged to construct a palace.
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