A council meeting at Wakiso district was this evening turned chaotic after an opposition councillor referred to President Museveni as ‘Bosco’ as she was debating.Zamu Kyeyune, the Nabweru Division representative, who had risen to inquire about the functionality of toilet facilities at the district headquarters, ended up diverting from the topic under discussion.
She asked why the Buganda king (Kabaka) Ronald Muwenda Mutebi’s portrait in the council chambers was so faded and old compared to that of the president.”Mr speaker let me take this opportunity to ask the Works committee chairperson why the Kabaka’s portrait hanged in this chamber is more faint than that of Bosco [Museveni]?” she said.
‘Bosco Katala’ is a derogatory name that many Ugandans on social media adopted in reference to President Museveni following the Arua arrests which saw a number of legislators and their supporters detained and later charged with treason.
The name was lifted from an advert promoting the use of cashless transactions by telecommunication giant, MTN.
The advert tells the story of village man who came to the city and rides his bicycle through metal detectors, escalators and supermarket aisles.
When he enters the shopping mall, Bosco is shown how to pay using mobile money much to his amazement.
Parody videos of the advert have been circulating on social media showing President Museveni riding a bicycle at his demonstration farms and carrying cash handouts in sacks.Kyeyune’s reference, however, sent the meeting into disarray as the ruling party National Resistance Movement (NRM) councillors started fighting – throwing plastic chairs at the councillor.
The NRM councillors pleaded with the speaker to order Kyeyune to withdraw the ‘Bosco’ reference or suspend her from the council. However, the speaker insisted that there was no cause of alarm ordering the Works committee chairperson to proceed with the presentation.
The speakers’ decision angered NRM members who later walked out of the meeting in protest. Although the speaker had ruled that the meeting continues, the NRM councillors caused chaos outside the chamber, forcing the meeting to end prematurely.
Busi sub-county councillor Hood Kaweesa says they could not tolerate such disrespect to the person of the president by their colleague.
Hajji Abdu Kaggwa, another council, says that nicknaming and calling the president with whatever names is intended to marginalize NRM representatives to the district council.
“That ‘young girl’ referred to our president as Bosco. Whether you don’t believe in him, he’s still the president. Moreover she did it from an official council meeting. She said Bosco nga anyilira (Bosco is looking awesome). How could she? You just can’t belittle the president like that. Let her go and belittle her husband.”
Tom Muwonge the Kasangati town council representative said he does not know why their NRM colleagues had to storm out of the council over a mere nickname.
“The NRM councillors are just amazing. Who is Bosco? It seems these councillors have nothing to discuss. She simply said the Kabaka’s portrait looks faded just as she’d seen one at Bosco’s house. Let these councillors go home since they have nothing to discuss but the electorate will vote them out.” Muwonge said.
In an interview later, Kyeyune denied calling the president ‘Bosco’, saying that the accusation was intended to tarnish her image.
“I simply asked the Works committee to replace the Kabaka’s picture because it’s faded. I did not refer to anybody as ‘Bosco’. They know where they got it from and they have their unknown reasons for attributing it to me.” she said.
Since the beginning of this financial year 2018/2019, Wakiso district has held two council sittings which have both ended in chaos as a result of disagreements between the NRM and opposition councillors.
