By Mulengera Reporters
All isn’t well inside jailed Obed Lutale Kamulegeya’s immediate family orbit. This is so because his own father legendary deal maker, Sheikh Abdul Obed Kamulegeya wants him isolated and shunned by his next of kin even when this is the time he needs them most.
Obed Lutale is the political activist who last November was abducted in Nairobi and subsequently locked up by the Ugandan authorities, along with his boss Dr. Kizza Besigye, over treason allegations. They have remained incarcerated up to this day. Lutale has been Besigye’s influential PA for more than 20 years.
His dad Mzee Obed Kamulegeya (an eminent Muslim cleric aged 88) is on the other hand a diehard supporter of Gen Museveni who he has publicly been praising. Ironically, he originally was an anti-Museveni militant cleric along with FDC founding President Dr. Suleiman Kiggundu. Sheikh Obed Kamulegeya is a frequent visitor at Museveni’s private ONC offices at Kyambogo who he last December publicly prayed calling on Allah to make Museveni reign as President of Uganda for life.
Mulengera News has established that Sheikh Kamulegeya hasn’t only declined to use his First Family connections to plead for his son and potential heir’s release from prison but has also been mobilizing Lutale’s children to become indifferent and ignore him to rot in Luzira. Sheikh Obeid Kamulegeya’s other son is Hamza Ssewankambo who belongs to UPC of Milton Obote, who as President was a close confidant of Mzee Kamulegeya.
Lutale’s children greatly respect Sheikh Kamulegeya (their grand father) and initially feared to go publicly visit their dad at Luzira fearing that the same would upset and cause him to curse them. “Mzee’s position was that, by participating in treasonous activities, his son Lutale had embarrassed the family’s good name and caused them humiliation. And because of that, he wanted everybody to keep away from him to avoid making the President think that the family was sympathetic to Besigye’s treasonous cause,” says a knowledgeable source close to the Kamulegeya family.
Sources add that indeed, the old man from Mirembe village in Butambala hasn’t travelled to Luzira even once to check on his jailed son Obed Lutale. Sources add that this initially put Lutale’s children in a huge dilemma on how to go about the whole thing.
But recently, the children grew bold and opted to disregard Sheikh Obed Kamulegeya’s reservations and have been associating with their jailed dad more openly. In fact, one of them, counsel Mariam Obed Lutale, is deeply involved in the Katonga politics to the extent that he will be running for Kampala Woman MP seat on the PFF ticket. On Tuesday, the children even attended the PFF inaugural convention at Katonga Road in Kampala and the event organizers ensured they got conspicuous recognition by the MCs.
Years ago, Sheikh Obed Kamulegeya (who has since lost many allies including Prince Kassim Nakibinge of Kibuli) was a very close counsellor of Dr. Kizza Besigye who appreciated his Duwa prayers by treating him very generously to the extent of gifting him with several acres of prime land at the Kasangati neighborhood of Kyankima Kuluyinja.
This is something that some Besigye family members, including Winnie Byanyima, vigorously protested and thereby putting Dr. Kizza Besigye into some bother.
All that notwithstanding, Sheikh Obed Kamulegeya (who has been a cheerleader for almost every government in power since independence) from stabbing Gen KB in the back. He abandoned him long time ago and these days he is a diehard supporter of Gen YK Museveni and his enabler Mufti Shaban Mubajje based at Old Kampala UMSC headquarters. He no longer shows up at Kibuli because Prince Nakibinge, the titular head of all Muslims in Uganda, passionately hate him.
The fallout began when Nakibinge got intelligence that Mzee Kamulegeya had resorted to stabbing him in the back by secretly taking Kibuli-affiliated Sheikhs to State House to meet the President. One time, Museveni used Kamulegeya to buy brand new SUV vehicles for all Sheikhs loyal to Kibuli which gradually softened their stance towards the Mubajje faction at Old Kampala-based UMSC.
Gen Museveni’s State House has for decades been very comfortable with Mubajje because he never allows regime opponents a platform at Old Kampala to demonize the veteran leader from Rwakitura, the way Prince Kassim Nakibinge’s Kibuli does. Even the Nakibinge-Ndirangwa fallout had a lot to do with Mzee Sheikh Obeid Kamulegeya’s treacherous ways. Indeed, when Ndirangwa died recently, Prince Nakibinge was conspiceously absent at all hias send off events where the now pro-Mubajje Sheikh Obeid Kamulegeya loomed large. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
