BULANGE, Mengo – A decade after Buganda Kingdom mobilized its people around coffee farming, the kingdom is now widening its ambitions.
Standing before the Lukiiko at Bulange, Mengo, Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga used the 34th State of Buganda Kingdom Address to formally unveil “Situla Omutindo,” a Luganda phrase that translates to “Raise the Standards,” and to signal that the kingdom’s development story is entering a new and more demanding chapter.
The State of Buganda Address is delivered annually by the Katikkiro, who serves as the kingdom’s Prime Minister, to the Lukiiko, Buganda’s parliament. Typically held at the start of May, it sets the tone for the kingdom’s priorities in the year ahead. This year, the message was pointed and urgent.
“This is not the time for endless celebrations,” Mayiga told the assembled Lukiiko. “It is time for our people to focus on productive work without expecting quick rewards.”
The new initiative builds directly on the legacy of the “Ommwanyi Terimba” campaign, a program implemented over the past 10 years that helped many people in Buganda improve the quality of their coffee and increase household incomes, contributing to poverty reduction and improved livelihoods. While that campaign delivered meaningful results, Mayiga said the moment calls for something broader.
“The time has come for the ‘Ommwanyi Terimba’ initiative to be expanded and integrated with other areas that will help our people further transform their livelihoods,” he said.
Situla Omutindo does exactly that. The program focuses on six key areas: Coffee and Agriculture, Trade and Business, Health, Education, Family Welfare, and Talent Development. The program emphasizes hard work, innovation, and efficiency as key drivers of socioeconomic transformation, and holds that while cultural preservation remains central, economic empowerment must go hand in hand with it.
“We are going to move across Buganda to promote these themes, and I call upon every Muganda to take up at least one area, work on it professionally, and maintain high standards,” Mayiga said.
The Katikkiro pointed to practical pathways for achieving this. Communities, he said, can uplift themselves through modern farming methods, small scale enterprises, and value addition to local products. The ambition is to move households away from dependence on external support and toward durable self-reliance.
Beyond economic matters, Mayiga used the address to speak to the soul of the kingdom. He called on young people to champion the transformation by maintaining discipline and preserving cultural norms, stressing that values and personal responsibility are inseparable from meaningful progress. He also reassured the nation that Buganda’s royal drums, long regarded as symbols of the kingdom’s identity, remain well protected and continue to earn recognition beyond Uganda’s borders.
Parish chiefs, known as Abaami be miruka, were also reminded of their obligations under the Situla Omutindo framework, which holds them accountable for ensuring order, fairness, and transparency in their communities.
The address set a decisive tone. Where previous years placed coffee at the center of Buganda’s development strategy, this year’s vision is wider, touching every household and every sector. The kingdom’s leadership is betting that collective commitment to high standards, grounded in culture and fueled by industry, will be what carries Buganda into a stronger future.
