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Museveni: You told me that Oyo left a son. Where is this boy, and why is the kingdom now boiling like beans forgotten on a stove?
Kemigisa: Your Excellency, my grandson is safe in Texas, USA, with his mother. Those Bah-beetles wanted to kill him. We had to protect him.
Museveni: But how does Oyo, whose father entrusted him to me as guardian, have a child and I do not know? More importantly, how does a king produce a possible heir and the kingdom for which he was enthroned knows nothing? Is royal succession now conducted like an underground pregnancy? Wait, Best. You hid the boy in Texas because the people of Tooro supposedly wanted to kill him, but now you want to retrieve him from Texas and make him King of those same people? Iwe! Boojo! Is the throne bulletproof? If they were dangerous enough to require transatlantic evacuation, why are they suddenly suitable subjects? You cannot call people vultures while the child is in Texas, then call them loyal subjects when you need a kingdom for him to inherit.
Kemigisa: Those hyenas never liked us. That is why we retreated to Texas and Buziga.
Museveni: That was always your problem. You wanted to become the face, mouth, gatekeeper and immigration department of the entire cultural institution. Eventually, you effeminised Oyo until he forgot that he was a king and concentrated on being your son. A king may remain somebody’s son, of course, but the two offices are not identical. Sometimes, Best, you should simply shut up and allow the crown to breathe.
Kemigisa: Oyo was my son! His child is my grandson.
Museveni: Nobody is disputing the maternity register. But you cannot have your royal cake and eat the kingdom too. The moment Oyo was enthroned, being your son became secondary to his institutional role as king. To you, he remained your beloved boy. To Tooro, he was their king. You personalised the man while enjoying the prestige and privileges surrounding his crown.
Kemigisa: He was my lovely son. My only son. There was no way I could allow other people to own him. And there is no way I shall allow those same people to own my grandson.
Museveni: Then forget about the throne! You cannot privatise the human being and nationalise his crown. If you wanted Oyo’s lineage to continue upon the throne, you should have allowed the institution to function around him. A recognised marriage, children introduced according to the applicable customs, and a succession understood by the kingdom. Instead, you erected a maternal customs post around the king and demanded visas from his own subjects.
Kemigisa: Had I known matters would end like this, perhaps I would have let him be. I thought I was protecting him from vultures.
Museveni: Those people you call vultures believed they were defending their relationship with their king. And the king had obligations to fulfil. But you kept him under your armpits. Every attempt to reach him became, in your mind, an attempted kidnapping of your son. That is how an institutional disagreement became a zoological dispute. Everybody became a hyena or vulture because Mama Hen refused to let the chick leave the nest, even after an entire kingdom had placed a crown on its head.
Kemigisa: But I was his mother.
Museveni: Nobody abolished motherhood, Best. The problem was persuading you that motherhood did not make you the kingdom. You behaved as though Tooro had married into your family and therefore needed an appointment to visit. Eventually, the kingdom became your identity. Now you appear unable to imagine yourself without standing beside its throne.
Kemigisa: Mzee, you are being unfair.
Museveni: No. Now eat your humble pie. And do not ask State House to provide the fork or spoon.
Lizard on the wall: Ehhh, banange! We hear of a baby somewhere in Texas, while the mother is scarcely visible in the public account and grandmother and auntie appear to be running the child’s communications ministry. Yet a claim to a throne is not a deceased king’s WhatsApp account where somebody arrives with the password and automatically becomes administrator. Before anybody begins measuring the boy for royal robes, the kingdom must establish what its customs require concerning lineage, recognition, introduction and succession. Royal custom cannot suddenly become an inconvenience merely because somebody has produced a claimant from Texas. Otherwise, succession ceases to be an institution and becomes Find My iPhone: possible heir located, last known position, United States of America.