In the late 1980s when President Museveni encountered a group of Buganda monarchy agitators, including energetic youths, calling for the restoration of their kingdom, he was startled.

It is reported that he could not imagine why modern people were clamouring for something so ancient.

Mr Museveni is not alone. Many people who see themselves as modern are puzzled, for instance, by the interest in the British monarchy, which they see as a relic of an era gone by. Yet this does not blunt the euphoria when young Prince William weds, or when he and his wife, Kate, get baby-Prince George Alexander Louis.

But such is human nature. In part because human beings are social animals, and because community life is shaped by culture, many people are extremely passionate about the things that define them culturally, even if they may not hit the street to sing about them.

Fortunately for the Buganda agitators, Museveni, apparently out of astute political calculation, later became a promoter of the restoration of cultural institutions, leading, to the coronation of Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II in 1993.

Hence the kingdom is putting on a party tomorrow, to mark Mutebi's 20th coronation anniversary. Congratulations to His Majesty the Kabaka, to the people of Buganda, and to Ugandans.

However, one of the unresolved questions facing the country is relations between Buganda and the central government, which are mired in mutual suspicion and frustration. Buganda, for instance, has outstanding complaints about kingdom assets and billions of shillings in arrears held by the central government.

There is also renewed anxiety at Mengo, the seat of Buganda kingdom government, that Museveni is working to break up the kingdom by propping up would-be chiefdoms to declare themselves kingdoms. The central government is also suspicious that the opposition could use the kingdom to make political gains.

This situation of mutual suspicion does not augur well for enduring national stability. We urge the central government and Buganda kingdom to enter into genuine discussions and resolve outstanding issues. Twenty years after Mutebi's coronation, Buganda needs to be in a stable Uganda. But any instability in Buganda would have adverse implications for Uganda's stability.