Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II returned to the country in the early morning hours of Monday July 22nd, 2024.
The Kabaka, clad in a grey suit with a matching gold and grey necktie on a white shirt, was received at Entebbe International Airport by a delegation led by the Katikkiro, Owek Charles Peter Mayiga.
The Ethiopian Airlines flight ET338 from Addis touched down at Entebbe airport ten minutes in the dew of midnight and the king was received by the Nnabagereka Sylvia Nagginda in the company Prince Jjunju Kiweewa, Nnaalinnya Lubuga Agnes Nabaloga and Nnaalinnya Victoria Nkinzi.
Mayiga later comfirmed the news on his X handle stating; “Omutanda akomyewo mirembe mu nsi ye. Twebaza Katonda amukuumye ate n’okumuzza okwabobwe. Twebaza abasawo, ate n’abaweereza abaatambula ne Nnyinimu, translated as – (The King has returned peacefully to his country. We thank God for keeping him and bringing him back home. We thank the doctors and the ministers who accompanied the King).
Kabaka Mutebi arrived in Namibia on April 14, 2024, for special treatment at the Okonguarri Psychotherapeutic Centre as recommended by his German doctors.
The facility in the Outjo area in Namibia’s north-western Kunene region was also considered a great place for recuperation.
However, his extended recuperation in Namibia was cut short by his host government following a series of controversial clamour by the kingdom’s subjects.
The king’s return ends months of commotion and speculation driven a section of his subjects that led to a diplomatic charade in his place of recuperation in the southern African country of Namibia.
Two weeks ago when ‘Bataka ba Buganda’, a group of clan elders, travelled to Namibia uninvited ostensibly to confirm that the Kabaka had not been kidnapped after only one week when the Kabaka had delivered a recorded video message to his subjects in an attempt to calm the tension in his kingdom.
The commotion that followed led to the Namibian government denying the Kabaka a visa extension.
Etienne Maritza, the executive director of Immigration in the Namibian Home Affairs Ministry, said subjects of the Kabaka made allegations that their king was being illegally detained in Namibia.
The what-next will be an issue in the coming days at Bulange Mengo as the Kabaka gets to physically confront the commotion over his medical leave.
