Dr. Frank Nabwiso Phd
5 September 2008
column
His Royal Highness Henry Wako Muloki: 1921-2008
A lot has already been aired and published in the electronic and print media about the life of the late Henry Wako Muloki so this eulogy will focus on just a few things which have not been said so far.
Birth and Education
Prince Muloki was born on February 18, 1921 to Ow'ekitiibwa Ezekyeri Tenywa Wako and Yunia Nakibande, who got married in 1915. Ezekyeri Wako had become the first Musoga president of Busoga in 1919 and in 1939 became the first Isebantu Kyabazinga of Busoga for 10 years up to 1949 when he retired peacefully from power.
Young Muloki attended Budo Junior School from 1927 and ended as Head Prefect at King's College Budo for two years (1941-42). At Budo, he excelled in English and won a prize - a book titled The Complete Works of William Shakespeare as a commendation for being an outstanding student leader. The prefects under him included Edward Mutesa (former Kabaka of Buganda) as Football Captain and George Wilberforce Kakoma as Music Prefect. Kakoma went on to get the first degree in Music in East Africa and to compose Uganda's National Anthem in 1962.
Between 1943-46, Muloki read a diploma in Agriculture at Makerere College and was a contemporary of Julius Nyerere (Tanzania's first President) who read a diploma in education. Muloki also excelled in cricket and served as president of the students' guild.
After Makerere, Muloki was posted to Serere Agricultural Research Station where he excelled in crop and dairy farming and later got a transfer to Ministry of Agriculture in Entebbe. Afterwards, he was posted to the then Busoga District, as an aAssistant agricultural officer.
In 1955, Muloki replaced Prince William Wilberforce Nadiope who had served as the second Kyabazinga for six years (1949-1955). Nadiope was elected in 1949 to succeed E.T. Wako.
Muloki's first tenure as Kyabazinga: 1955-62
Numerous Basoga historians have called the Muloki's first regime as Kyabazinga in 1955-62 as the "Golden Age of Busoga". The Busoga Government of these years was under the leadership of very highly educated persons. They included:
* Yeseri Kazungu Mulondo (Secretary General) who was also a Member of the Legislate Council in Uganda and a Member of the East Africa High Commission Assembly;
* Yekonia B. Walukamba (Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry) who was also a Member of the Uganda Legislative Council and
* J.B. Lubandi (Treasurer) who was an efficient finance manager and ended up as Mayor of Jinja in the late 1970's.
Under Muloki's leadership, these four men engineered numerous socio-economic development programs for Busoga including:-
* Promoting coffee and cotton production which increased family incomes and helped Busoga Growers Cooperative Union to grow into a formidable and well managed economic organisation.
* Building secondary schools e.g Iganga Girls S.S. (1955), Kiira College Butiki (1959), Wanyange Girls S.S. (1960), M.M. Madhvani College, Wairaka and Wairaka Farm School (1961).
* Building local government infrastructure at county and sub-county levels.
* Planting forests.
* Establishing leprosy treatment units.
* Establishing a Busoga Bursary Scheme which enabled thousands of poor Basoga children to attain secondary education and a Busoga Overseas Scholarship Programme which created opportunities for brilliant Basoga young men and women to study abroad especially Great Britain.
* Constructing well maintained feeder and bulungi bwansi roads.
* Sending Basoga chiefs for leadership training programmes at Nsamizi Social Institute and abroad.
* Building the Kyabazinga's palace on Igenge Hill, to make way for the construction of Bugembe Cathedral on Bugembe Hill.
* Establishing Bugembe Sports Stadium and Bugembe Library.
* Promoting women development programmes which included literacy and handicrafts education.
* Encouraging the establishment of newspapers to promote pro-development ideas and programmes in the entire Busoga Region.
In a nutshell, the first Muloki Era created more confidence among the Basoga and gave them more hope about their future in both the economic and political arenas.
It was because of this hope that Busoga boldly asked for and were granted a semi-federal government on Independence Day.
Contributions to Uganda's Nationalism
The first Muloki Government vigorously promoted cooperation with other kingdoms and districts in Uganda. On every Kyabazinga Day (February 11) the Kabaka of Buganda, the Abakama of Bunyoro and Toro, the Omugabe of Ankole and other traditional leaders would turn up at Bugembe to show their solidarity with Busoga.
Additionally, Mr Mulondo became the Chairperson of the Prime Ministers from Kingdoms and the Secretary Generals from districts in 1959-62.
These two types of political activities showed that Busoga was pro-unity and pro-nationalism in Uganda. Lastly, it should be highlighted that Muloki was the only traditional leader who attended the swearing in of the first Prime Minister of Uganda, Ben Kiwanuka, at Parliamentary Buildings on March 1, 1961.
In a short speech he made on that occasion, Muloki said among other things that political parties had come to stay in Uganda and would not just disappear into oblivion. These were indeed prophetic words from a foresighted leader, unlike those who were or who have been preaching that Africa does not need multi-party systems of governance.
Contributions to East Africa
When Muloki ceased to be Kyabazinga in October 1962, he was appointed a Senior Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Works at Entebbe from where he was transferred to East African Airways.
In 1970, he became Manager of East African Airways and in 1974 became the 1st African Director of Soroti Flying School, until the breakdown of the East African Community in 1977.
Man with diverse talents
He was a passionate reader of different books on different subjects. For example, when I visited him on one Sunday afternoon at his Nakabango Palace, I found him reading George Orwell's "Animal Farm".
"Are you expecting the cows on your farm to overthrow your regime?" I asked jokingly. "Of course not" he answered, "but I need to understand anyone who claims to be a revolutionary. Some revolutionaries end up doing the opposite of what they were preaching before".We both laughed hilariously and talked a lot more about NRM afterwards. He had a great sense of history and keen on preserving his property.
While having a casual conversation with him in 2000, I asked him what type of relationship he had with his mother. To my amazement, he wiped a tear from his eye, stood up and walked to his pantry and brought an old plate in his hands.
He told me that the plate had been given to his mother at her wedding day in 1915 and that she had in turn given it to him 40 years later (1956) on his wedding day with his bride Alice Kintu. He further revealed to me that his wife had been serving him food on that same 85-year old plate.
Contributions to higher education
In 1987, Muloki requested the then Minister of Education (J.S. Mayanja Nkangi) for permission to establish Jinja Teachers College, Wanyange.
In 1994, he presided over the launching of Busoga University at Iganga and thus helped the Rt. Rev. Cyprian Bamwoze, Bishop of Busoga Diocese realise his 15-year dream.
In 2000, Muloki became the first Chancellor of Namasagali University, which has happily become part of Busitema University.
Earlier, he had been an active Member of the Board of Governors of National Teachers' College Kaliro which has also become part of Busitema University.
Muloki's Second Term as Kyabazinga 1995 - 2008
In 1995, after the NRM Government and National Resistance Council had restored traditional institutions (which had been abolished in 1966 by the Obote I Regime), Muloki was re-elected Kyabazinga by his fellow Baise Ngobi princes. And his re-installation was attended by many dignitaries including H.E President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
As I waded through the huge crowd on that day to have another glimpse of my hero, I heard one old man ask another a very intriguing question.
"What sort of man is Prince Muloki, who has bounced back to the Kyabazinga throne after 33 years in the wilderness?"
This question made me realise that Muloki was not just a leader with a great sense of humility, but also a foresighted and charismatic leader who loved his family and people dearly. He had retained moral authority even when he was out of power.
He was a gentleman in every sense of the word in the same mould as Mahtma Gandhi, Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela. He had beautiful handwriting like the former Presidents of Kenya and Zambia (Daniel Arap Moi and Kenneth Kaunda) respectively and a high sense of humour.
His last message to the people of Busoga
The last time I attended one of his addresses to the people of Busoga was at Bugembe. He gave a brief memorable speech. He advised Basoga to concentrate on the 5 vowels A, E, I, O, U which he said stood for the following:-
A- Agriculture - the mainstay of our economy.
E- Education-which nurtures people's brains and turns them into engines of revolution in individual heads.
I- Industry- which enhances human innovation and creativity.
O- Organisation- which enables people to harness individual talents for the good of all.
U- Unity- which helps people of diverse interests and aspirations to move in one direction at a time.
I hope that all the people of Busoga and other Ugandans, both big and sundry will listen to these words of wisdom.
Lastly, I am making a humble appeal to our church leaders to allow us sing the personal anthems of the late Inhyebantu and the late Isaebantu in recognition of their commendable contributions to Busoga, Uganda and beyond.
The anthems are Hymns 161 and 137 in the old hymn book.
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