SECTOR 4 Endnote: 2 Uganda’s constitution recognises kingdoms, which had been abolished in the mid-1960s, as cultural institutions and their leaders as cultural heads without “political” authority. Ever since the kingdoms were reinstated in 1993, Buganda has been pushing for a federal form of government under which the Kabaka (king) would have political authority over his kingdom. The government has resisted this campaign and entrenched in the constitution a provision creating “a regional tier of government”, a much watered down form of federalism which Buganda opposes. On 12 September 2009 the Kabaka had been scheduled to visit the Buganda district of Kayunga where the kingdom was to hold Youth Day celebrations. The police and the central government had warned that the king should not travel to the area as his security could not be guaranteed. This was because the Banyala, a minority group living in Kayunga, do not recognise the Kabaka of Buganda but pay allegiance to their own cultural leader, called Sabanyala, installed with support from President Museveni. The Buganda government insisted that the Kabaka would travel to Kayunga as scheduled. The political opposition condemned the government for violating the right to freedom of movement and accused the President of attempting to undermine the Buganda king’s authority. The standoff over the Kabaka’s travel to Kayunga was therefore every inch a political fight between Buganda and the central government. In the run-up to the disputed event, some airwaves were filled with calls (mainly on talk shows and call-back programmes as well as personal announcements) for the Kabaka to stand his ground and travel to Kayunga as well as attacks on the President and central government. These calls were mostly aired on the Central Broadcasting Service (CBS) – an FM radio station owned by the Buganda government and private shareholders – and other Luganda language radio stations. On 10 September, the prime minister of the Buganda Kingdom and his entourage, who were travelling to Kayunga to ensure that preparations for the Youth Day celebrations were proceeding smoothly, were stopped by a heavy police and army deployment on the major roads leading to the area. The police maintained that the king would not be allowed to travel to Kayunga. The same day riots broke out in the city and in other towns in Buganda. (quoted from: George W. Lugalambi et al. , Public Broadcasting in Africa Series: Uganda, Johannesburg 2010) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2010 73