The administration of Buganda Kingdom has announced that it will hold prayers for the Kabaka Ronald Mutebi as the king’s 67th birthday celebrations remain suspended pending return from a trip to Europe where he went last month.
The Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga had earlier said that the Kingdom suspended all celebrations, hoping to hold them sometime next month in May due to among others the absence of the Kabaka.
Mayiga said the Balangira clan heads have organized special prayers at Namirembe Cathedral in celebration of the Kabaka’s Birthday and appealed to his subjects to join in prayer to thank God for the gift of the Kabaka’s life and to ask for his protection as he presides over the kingdom.
“We are happy for the 67 years God has given to the Kabaka and we are pleased for what Buganda has so far achieved. He returned from exile at an age of 31 and was enthroned at 38. Today at 67, a lot has been transformed in the kingdom,” Mayiga said.
Mayiga said whereas the Buganda kingdom is faced with some challenges, there is a reason to celebrate the fact that the Kabaka is on the throne and the kingdom is progressing.
The celebrations were meant to be held either on this past weekend or at least before today (Wednesday) April 13th, 2022, when the king of Buganda marks 67 years.
In such celebrations, Mayiga says the focus should be on the livelihoods of the kings’ subjects especially in the space of development, and real celebrations should manifest in adherence to the Kabaka’s advice on several issues like avoiding catching of HIV/AIDS, vaccination against Covid-19, prioritizing education of children.
The premier also appealed to the Kabaka’s subjects to fight poverty through commercial farming like planting coffee, bananas and livestock rearing as well as youths’ engagement in profitable ventures. Over the years, the Kabaka’s birthday celebrations have been a cocktail of many events including the marathon- the Kabaka birthday Run, prayers and birthday party with a dance fete. Almost all these have been put on hold for various reasons.
While addressing journalists at Bulange Mengo yesterday, Mayiga said the development was due to two main reasons.
“The 13th of April will be Kabaka’s birthday, he will be turning 67. The Sunday preceding Kabaka’s birthday is when we have the Kabaka’s birthday run. One, we weren’t able to run (on Sunday) for two reasons; one, the (birthday run) kit, while it has been delivered in Uganda, it is still at the customs department, our partners are working on the modalities to have the kit released,” Mayiga said.
“Secondly, Kabaka is out of the country. As you know, he flags us off, so for those two reasons, we did not run,” Mayiga added.
The Katikkiro said that the kingdom has temporarily suspended any celebrations, but they are hoping to hold them somewhere next month, in May.
Last month, Katikkiro Mayiga revealed that the Kabaka had flown out of the country, via Dutch national airliner, KLM, to Germany for a medical check-up.
The Kingdom’s premier said that the Kabaka would also use this trip to meet several Buganda development partners in various European states including the Netherlands.
As Eagle Online team, we sincerely wish Kabaka the happiest 67th Birthday and pray that God keeps him safe as he presides over Buganda Kingdom.
