Mbale, Uganda: The Mbale High Court has ordered the arrest of individuals accused of defying a court restraining order in a dispute involving the Inzu Ya Masaba Cultural Institution, the cultural leadership body of the Bagisu.
The restraining order was issued by Rania Naluyima, a judicial officer acting on behalf of the High Court in Mbale, warning that several individuals risk arrest if they violate the directive.
The order, a copy of which this website has seen, restrains a group of individuals accused of posing as cultural leaders and operating parallel activities in the Bugisu region. Those mentioned include Mayatsa, alleged to be the leader of the group, alongside Wakane Davis, Eddy Komoli, and Lilian Nabutuwa, among others.
Steven Masiga, the spokesperson of the Inzu Ya Masaba Cultural Institution, told DailyExpress that the institution sought the court’s intervention to stop what it describes as “masqueraders” interfering with the cultural space.
Masiga said some individuals had been establishing shrines in the Mutoto cultural forests and holding meetings in the name of the Bugisu cultural institution. “As a cultural institution, we could not sit back and fold our hands as some hoodlums and wrong elements pollute our cultural space,” he noted.
The Spokesperson added that the institution petitioned court to restrain the activities of the group, which he alleged is receiving support from certain politicians in the Bugisu region.
Masiga claimed the alleged activities were intended to destabilize the leadership of Jude Mike Mudoma, the reigning Umukuka (cultural leader) of Bugisu.
According to him, the administrative order bars the respondents and their agents from convening or holding meetings in the name of Inzu Ya Masaba until Civil Suit No. 040 of 2025 is fully determined by the court.
Masiga warned that any individual who defies the court order risks being charged with contempt of court, which could lead to imprisonment under the law.
He cited provisions under Article 28(12) of the Constitution of Uganda, noting that disobedience of court orders attracts legal consequences. “The implication of the restraining order is that anyone who disregards it will be held in contempt of court,” Masiga said.
However, he added that the cultural institution remains open to dialogue with some of the affected individuals who have reportedly approached the leadership seeking reconciliation.
“As a cultural institution, we are peace makers. Some of the affected persons have approached us, and we shall see how to handle the matter,” he said.
The civil suit was filed by Jude Mike Mudoma, in his official capacity as Umukuka of Bugisu, against ten individuals accused of interfering with the operations of the cultural institution.
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