1995: When Kabaka Mutebi Spoke to Uganda at a Defining Moment in Buganda’s History
+256 702 23 93 37: UgandaToday invites readers, especially historians, cultural leaders and those who witnessed the events of the 1990s, to watch the interview and reflect on how far Uganda and Buganda have travelled since 1995. “A voice from 1995 offers today's generation a rare opportunity to revisit Buganda's aspirations at a defining moment in Uganda's constitutional history.”
UgandaToday: 1995: When Kabaka Mutebi Spoke to Uganda at a Defining Moment in Buganda’s History
A Rare Interview from a Crucial Chapter of the Kabaka’s Reign
A rare 1995 interview featuring Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II offers an opportunity to revisit one of the most consequential periods in the modern history of Buganda and Uganda.
The interview, recorded only two years after the restoration of the Buganda Kingdom and around the time Uganda was debating and preparing its new Constitution, provides a historical window into the thoughts and public outlook of a young Kabaka navigating a kingdom emerging from decades of political upheaval.
WATCH THE 1995 KABAKA MUTEBI INTERVIEW
[Embedded YouTube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68D7EyquXn0]
1993 Restoration Had Changed the Political Landscape
Kabaka Mutebi II was crowned at Naggalabi Buddo on July 31, 1993, following the restoration of Uganda’s traditional institutions.
His return to the throne came after decades during which the institution had been abolished and the Kabaka had spent much of his formative years in exile.
The restoration represented an important moment for Buganda. However, it also opened difficult questions about what the restored institution would mean within the political and constitutional order of Uganda.
Historical accounts indicate that the restoration itself did not automatically resolve the larger political questions surrounding Buganda’s status, property and aspirations for federal government.
1995 Constitution and the Question of Federo
The year 1995 was particularly significant.
Uganda was in the process of adopting a new Constitution following the work of the Constituent Assembly, which had been elected in 1994. Among the most contentious questions was whether Buganda should regain a federal status similar to the position it had enjoyed before the political upheavals of the 1960s.
Contemporary historical accounts indicate that Buganda strongly advocated for federalism, commonly referred to as Federo, during the constitutional debate.
The issue eventually went to a vote in the Constituent Assembly, but the federal proposal did not secure the required support.
A Kabaka at the Centre of a Historic Transition
Against this background, the 1995 interview assumes particular historical significance.
Kabaka Mutebi was not merely a newly restored cultural monarch. He was a young king presiding over a kingdom attempting to redefine its relationship with the central government and with the wider Ugandan state.
The interview therefore provides an important archival reference point for examining how the Kabaka presented himself and Buganda’s aspirations during those formative years.
Rather than judging the interview through today’s political lens, viewers can consider it as a historical record of a period when questions of identity, culture, constitutionalism and the future of Buganda were being intensely debated.
From Restoration to Constitutional Recognition
The 1995 Constitution eventually provided constitutional recognition to traditional and cultural leaders while restricting them from exercising administrative, legislative or executive powers of government.
This arrangement established the constitutional framework within which the Kabaka and other traditional leaders would operate in subsequent decades.
For Buganda, however, the constitutional settlement did not bring an end to debates over federalism, land, kingdom assets and the relationship between Mengo and the central government.
These issues would continue to feature prominently in the kingdom’s political and cultural discourse.
Why the 1995 Interview Matters Today
More than three decades after Kabaka Mutebi’s coronation, the resurfacing of an interview from 1995 offers younger Ugandans an opportunity to hear the Kabaka during the early years of his reign.
It also provides historians, researchers and students of Uganda’s political history with an archival resource from a period when the country was undergoing major constitutional and institutional change.
The interview can be viewed not simply as an old television recording, but as a historical document capturing the voice and public outlook of the Kabaka at a critical stage in Buganda’s post-1966 journey.
A Moment Worth Revisiting
The 1995 interview invites today’s generation to revisit the questions that confronted Buganda and Uganda at the time:
What did the restoration of the monarchy mean for the people of Buganda?
What constitutional relationship did Buganda envisage with the central government?
What lessons emerged from the debate over Federo?
And, perhaps most importantly, how did Kabaka Mutebi articulate the aspirations and responsibilities of the restored institution?
The answers can be found partly in the historical record — and, now, in the Kabaka’s own voice preserved in this rare interview.
UgandaToday invites readers, especially historians, cultural leaders and those who witnessed the events of the 1990s, to watch the interview and reflect on how far Uganda and Buganda have travelled since 1995.
