Kabaka rushes to Nairobi

Buganda monarch Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi missed Saturday’s Masaza Cup final after rushing to Nairobi.

Gomba beat Buddu 3-1 to win the tournament.

Buganda Prime Minister Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga revealed that Kabaka Mutebi had travelled to Nairobi to meet a group of friends and partners of the kingdom.

“He would have loved to attend but travelled out yesterday [Friday] to meet these partners,” explained Mayiga.

“It was urgent and the partners could not change their programs since they had to travel elsewhere.”

Some reports claimed the Kabaka was set to meet royals from Monaco, France, to discuss business and cultural interests.

This is the second time the Kabaka is flying to Nairobi — at least according to what is known by the public — in about a year.

The last time he was in Kenya, rumors of his alleged ill health and death hit social media.

The king had travelled to Nairobi by road, reportedly for routine check-up after it became impossible for him to fly to Europe for such medical examinations as had been the case in years before Covid19 that necessitated the closure of air travel.

Reports of the Kabaka’s rumored death due to alleged poisoning even caught President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s attention.

“That social media is becoming a centre of funny behaviour. Some people just put anything. They said that somebody had poisoned the Kabaka and then later on said he had actually died,” Museveni said in August 2020.

“How can people behave like that? We shall go for them, I think police has arrested them.”

These rumors would only end after Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta shared photos showing the Kabaka paying him a visit.