Kasese district leaders have expressed their excitement for the release and return of the Rwenzururu King, (Omusinga) Charles Wesley Mumbere to his Kingdom, after seven years of being in jail.

The court release follows violent clashes that erupted in Kasese and saw over 103 people die after police raided Omusinga’s palace on November 26, 2016, killing eight royal guards and arresting two others in response to militant attacks on police posts in the region by the royal guards two weeks earlier.

HW Alice Komuhangi, the International Crimes Division of the High Court Judge ordered for Mumbere’s release and over 200 of his co-accused subjects on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) lost interest in the case and withdrew all charges against him.

The Kasese District LCV Chairperson, Elphaz Muhindi Bukombi thanked President Museveni and court for granting freedom to their King.

He said that plans are ongoing to give the king a major welcome party.

The youth of Rwenzururu Kingdom also praised President Museveni and court for the justice given to Mumbere, adding that they await his return to Kasese.

However, the Omusinga’s release has raised various controversies resulting from the bad memories of over 100 people that were killed during the 2016 violence.

The former Leader of Opposition (LOP), Winnie Kiiza, said that they praised and thanked God when the news hit the airwaves that the king had been released.

She added that the people expected him to leave court and move directly to Kasese, but that was not possible since he had no home to go to after his palace was shattered.

“We look forward to seeing our king in his kingdom and hoping that everything that has been given to other cultural leaders will be given to him because it is the state that destroyed his things,” Kiiza said.

Kiiza noted that Mumbere has been away for over six years and therefore cannot just go back home.

“We have to first now think of how we can now reconstruct the palace. If he is to come, we need now to sit as people and see where he first arrives from,” she said.

She said that they need to understand the contents of the amnesty application and possibly the conditions that the government attached to it and devise a mechanism for receiving him.

“We do not know what the State says because it is the State that brought him to Kampala. He applied for amnesty, that is what DPP said and she is allowing the applications for amnesty. We would also like to be guided on the next course of action. When someone has applied for amnesty, what happens?” Kiiza said.

“The most important thing is that at least he can breathe. We need to see if they can allow us to go and see him because all along for the past six years, they would not allow anybody to visit him. All that is at the back of our minds, we are excited that all this is over,” Kiiza stressed.

She added that people are anxiously waiting for him in the Rwenzori region like Kasese, Bundibugyo, Ntoroko and Uganda at large.