The Buganda Kingdom commemorated the 50th anniversary of the historical assault on the palace, on the orders of the then of Uganda, Milton Obote, triggering the 1966 crisis.

Kabaka Edward Muteesa II, the president of the post Colonial Uganda escaped narrowly and fled into exile, after three years of what Obote openly called a puppet government. The attack sparked discontent among majority Baganda and later spurred 1970 coup by army chief Idi Amin against President Obote.

Buganda Kingdom attorney general David Mpanga said commemoration seeks to relay the importance of addressing political challenges with political responses. Mpanga said some of the issues that sparked the Kabaka Crisis have not been answered up to date.

“Political questions should be answered with political answers acceptable democratically. Legal questions should also be answered in court. When Milton Obote attacked Muteesa II, there was power struggle of what was Kabaka’s role politically and undefined sharing of financial resources which have not been resolved to date,” Mpanga said.

“The attack on the Lubiri was answering a political question militarily and 50 years later, we still see political and legal questions being answered militarily,” Mpanga observed.

Buganda deputy prime minister Emmanuel Sendawula said the annual celebrations were ‘ordered’ by Kabaka Ronald Mutebi to remind the young generation of the unfortunate incident that happened to Buganda leaving indelible marks.

Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga led a brief prayer attended by Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala while Msgr Karoli Kimbowa made a paper presentation of the attack.