Press Statement
Issued by: Office of the King of Busongora
Date: Monday 28 March 2016
Re: The Security in the Rwenzori Region of Uganda
On behalf of Busongora Kingdom, We would like to commend the police and other security services, for their efforts and interventions in securing the freedoms, lives and property, of all law-abiding residents of Kasese district during these difficult times. We wish to remind all persons to exercise their rights and freedoms responsibly, and to desist from doing any actions that endanger civil order and public safety.
The elders of Busongora are ready and willing to meet with police commanders and other authorities - including the leaders of other cultural institutions - in order to offer any and all possible assistance in securing peace in the region. Over the course of the past several years Basongora community leaders have repeatedly participated in constructive dialogue with other cultural institutions in the Rwenzori region for the purpose of helping to resolve concerns between our respective communities.
However, members of the Basongora community remain targets of criminal gangs involved in ethnic-cleansing, cultural-genocide, and land-grabbing.
We are therefore calling upon all persons employed in all cultural institutions in the Rwenzori region, to commit themselves to promoting Pan-Africanism - which is always conscientious and respectful of community rights, of human rights, and of judicial due-process.
Cultural leaders - and other public authorities in the Rwenzori region - should use their time and resources to create awareness of our region’s positive history, and to promote constructive community projects that involve such things as organic farming, environmental protection, healthy dietary habits, public libraries, training in the arts and social-work, etc ... all things that can help unemployed youth and elderly individuals to be economically and psychologically self-reliant - so that they can live and work in peace with members of other communities.
Kindest regards to all,
Omukama [King] Ndahura II Imara Kashagama
Ikamiro Palace
Busongora Kingdom