Mutesa II of Buganda
 |
Edward Mutesa. |
Edward Mutesa II (
November 19,
1924 -
November 21,
1969) was
king of the
Buganda region and
President of
Uganda from
1963 to
1966.
His full name was
Sir Edward Frederick William David Walugembe Mutebi Luwangula Mutesa but was often nicknamed
King Freddie by his supporters. As king he was also leader of the
Ganda tribe which dominated Buganda.
Mutesa became king in
1939 upon the death of his father, King
Daudi Cwa II, and would attend university at
Cambridge University (
Magdalene College) in
England. At the time Buganda was part of the British
protectorate of
Uganda. He continued his father's practices of reforming the largely self-governing kingdom into a
constitutional monarchy system of government. When discussions began among British officials of making Uganda into an independent country, King Freddie lobbied them in an attempt to secure independence for Buganda as a country sovereign from Uganda. The efforts were both ineffective and unpopular, however, and he was briefly deposed and exiled.
Mutesa returned to Uganda and his throne in
1955. In
1962 Uganda became independent from Britain with
Milton Obote as Prime Minister and
Walter Fleming Coutts as
Governor-General. In
1963 Obote abolished Uganda's status as a
Commonwealth realm and replaced the post of Governor-General with a
figurehead Presidency. A largely
rigged election saw Mutesa get elected as Uganda's first President, a result Obote had deliberately orchestrated in order to appease the Ganda tribe.
Mutesa was not content to serve as a mere figurehead, however, and continued to feud with
Milton Obote over the future of Buganda. In
1966 Obote suspended the Ugandan constitution and proclaimed himself as the new president, exiling Mutesa to
Great Britain. President Obote proceeded to abolish all of Uganda's kingdoms, including
Buganda.
Mutesa died of
alcohol poisoning in his
London flat in
1969. Attributed to suicide by the British police, the death has been viewed as a possible
assassination by those claiming that Mutesa may have been forcibly administered large amounts of
vodka by agents of the Obote regime. Mutesa was interviewed in his flat only a few hours before his death by the British journalist
John Simpson, who found that he was sober and in good spirits. Simpson reported this to the police the following day on hearing of Mutesa's death, although this line of enquiry was not pursued.
*
Uganda*
President of Uganda*
Politics of Uganda*
History of Uganda*
Political parties of Uganda*
Buganda - The Abalasangeye Dynasty - Genealogy
