A unifying factor that bonds the young and the old; this is how the Basoga describe William Gabula Nadiope IV, who is credited for the renewed passion for obwa Kyabazinga bwa Busoga.
As the young rally behind him, the old reminisce of his ancestors and the role the institution of the Kyabazinga plays in uniting Busoga.
The Kyabazingaship Unlike the other hereditary traditional kingdoms in Uganda, is unique in so many ways distinctive in its nature of creation, structure and diversity in the ethnicity of its people.
According to the former Vice President Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, it is only in Busoga that you will find Bateso, Bagisu and they are all Basoga,
Professor Charles Oweyagha Afunaduula says Busoga is like a basin made of a variety of people who became Basoga.
A creation of the British and a product of succession with an origin from Bunyoro even the ancestral roots are theoretical in nature.
"The princesses and princes migrated because they had no chance in Bunyoro, and everywhere they stopped they created chiefdoms," Kazibwe says.
Whether by Royalty or migration, one thing stands tall, the different ethnicities that found homage in the obwa Kyabazinga bwa Busoga.
Andrew Ntange, the Busoga spokesperson explains that different chiefdoms managed to reign over their people until an agreement was reached to install a titular head.
"Before 1939 before our great forebearers sat and agreed to have one titular head called Kyabazinga the chiefdoms that existed were under chiefs in their own palaces this explains the delay to construct a palace," he said.
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"The Busoga institution has been one in building all the time. It doesn't have many years of historical continuity so we build according to relevance of the current times" Kazibwe.
The Basoga have maintained these structures through rotational, say work for them.
"( At the helm is the Kyabazinga then the 3 organs of the Clan system, the lukiiko that activates and passes law, Clan executives these are treasury of norms and culture, and Royal fraternity." Ntange
But after 6 years without a Kyabazinga, this structure was under threat leaving many of the subjects in disarray, lost and without direction.
William Wilberforce Gabula Nadiope IV is what they say has been their saviour
"We pay allegiance to him. He is the first citizen of Busoga, and he holds most of our heritage in the trust of his subjects. He's an Uniting factor and if you love unity the Kyabazinga is the one," Prof Afunaduula.
The youth love him and the old rally behind him, we ask what magic bullet does Gabula IV have that has the entire Busoga in high spirits, his Youthfulness helps the young people relate with him, and the old associate him with the likes of Mulooki," he adds.
His upcoming Union is a call for celebration and a symbol of more unity for the Basoga with another brick added to crystallizing their Culture through the Inebantu mother of the region
