Today marks one year since the Uganda Peoples Defence Force-UPDF launched an assault on Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere’s Buhikira palace in Kasese town.
The attack led to the death of more than 100 royal guards and Mumbere’s arrest. The palace located a kilometer away from Kasese town is now a shadow of its past, a year after it was attacked.
URN reporters in Kasese were on Sunday morning given a rare access of only five minutes inside the palace by police officers. Outside the palace, Barricades manned by the army and police have been erected 200 meters away from the main entrance.
There is also no sight of the huts outside the palace which accommodated royal guards. They were all burnt during the attack.
Inside the palace grass has overgrown in the vast compound. There is no indication that it was once a royal palace. There are also remains of seven small grass thatched huts which belonged to the royal guards.
The large grass thatched building that housed the Rwenzururu Parliament and storage of royal regalia is no more. No single remains of the building can be traced.
The main house with a royal emblem of the Obusinga remains intact. The windows and walls however have bullet holes.
A glance inside the house reveals abandoned chairs, tables and other household items belonging to the Omusinga. The Omusinga’s bedroom and office remain closed. Dirt and dust are all in the corners of the house. The grey paint has all peeled off.
URN
