Who is Dan Muliika? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, achievements, and relationship with Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogerere, Engineer John Baptist Walusimbi, the early life and education of the former Katikkiro (prime minister) of Buganda
Daniel Muliika also known as Owek. Dan Muliika is a Ugandan cultural leader known for his staunch conservatism and monarchist beliefs.
Muliika is a former Katikkiro (prime minister) of Buganda, Uganda’s constitutional monarchy.
His reign as Buganda Kingdom’s Katikkiro ended in controversy in December 2007, following only thirteen and a half months in office.
Early Life and Education
Dan Muliika was born in Uganda in January 1943. He is a member of the Namungoona clan.
Muliika received his elementary education at Mityana Junior, which has since been transformed into Mityana Secondary School.
For his secondary school, he attended Lubiri Secondary School, which was situated within the Kabaka’s palace in Mengo.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Daniel Muliika was the second Katikkiro of the Buganda Kingdom under Kabaka Ronald Mutebi’s reign. He replaced Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogerere, who had been Katikkiro for 12 years and was essential in initiating talks concerning the restitution of kingdom properties.
Before serving the Kingdom, Daniel Muliika worked in a variety of roles throughout his life.
From 1963 to 1965, he worked for East African Posts and Telecommunications, then in 1966, he worked for East African Airways, which later divided into Kenya Airways, Uganda Airlines, and DAS Air.
He also served as a human resource manager for Uganda Breweries.
Muliika, as a senior member of East African Airways, was also instrumental in the formation of the East African Airways Trade Union.
Armed with trade union expertise, he and colleagues founded the National Organisation of Trade Unions of Uganda (NOTU), which works for employee rights in the country.
As a NOTU leader, he was always at the forefront of the fight for workers’ rights. Muliika was later appointed to the National Social Security Fund’s board of directors.
Later, he secured a contract to provide Makerere University with student supplies. Muliika was named private secretary to Crown Beverages’ then-director Eng. Dan Kigozi in 1992.
Muliika took part in the first Lukiiko when the Kabaka was authorised to nominate members before such powers were decentralised to clans as the electoral colleges.
He was also a Buganda Lukiiko member who represented the Namungoona clan. While he was there, he was chosen chairman of the Bataka Council, a unique organisation made up of Baganda clan leaders.
He was later appointed Mengo minister without portfolio in the Katikkiro’s office, but he was dismissed from his duties in 1996 when Kabaka Muwenda Mutebi II dissolved the whole Buganda cabinet.
Muliika was then appointed Katikkiro after Ssemwogerere’s departure, which took him by surprise.
Muliika stated that he took the role humbly because, first and foremost, no one is required to consider the king’s wish. He further claimed that at the time, the king was dissatisfied with the regional tier structure that the parliament had enacted.
This work, however, was not without difficulty. He soon found himself at odds with the federal government.
Daniel Muliika served as the Katikkiro for barely 13 and a half months (Dec 28, 2005-13 Feb 2007), which Buganda analysts claim is unusual under Kabaka Mutebi’s leadership.
Engineer John Baptist Walusimbi succeeded him as the third Katikkiro of Buganda during Mutebi’s reign.
Achievements and Awards
Katikkiro Dan Muliika was Kabaka Muwenda Mutebi’s second Katikkiro.
Despite the fact that he was only in office for a short time, he has some accomplishments to his name.
He brags about being a part of the effort to reclaim Muteesa Royal University, which had been taken over by the government.
He also brags about the return of the kingdom administration office to Bulange, which he claims has become a Republican House, as well as the re-establishment of kingdom structures such as Ssazas (counties) and the establishment of the Masengere block committee, among other things.
Controversies
Muliika was a hardliner on the verge of extremism during his time in Buganda Lukiiko. Many of his efforts astounded many individuals on the lukiiko. He once stunned the lukiiko by telling the Buganda kingdom to halt its negotiations with the federal government immediately.
Muliika remarked in the same lukiiko that met on March 13, 1995 that Buganda should design its own constitution in order to be fully absorbed into the Uganda constitution.
Furthermore, he pushed the lukiiko to pass a resolution prohibiting chakamchaka training in Buganda, claiming that such programmes provided no purpose for the public.
During the lukiiko sitting, the speaker at the moment, A.D. Lubowa, had to halt his story mid-sentence. Some lukiiko members demanded Muliika apologise for his callous contribution in response to the outrage and fury, but he stubbornly refused.
Muliika stated at a press conference on March 21, 1995, that he had not engaged in the negotiations between the central government and Buganda since the latter’s requirements had not been granted.
Muliika, a Buganda Lukiiko member and the Chairman of the Bataka Council at the time, was opposed to decentralisation and the Buganda Charter, both of which were contained in the 1995 constitution.
If the charter had been followed, the Buganda kingdom’s districts may have created a single cooperative organisation.
Muliika published a 53-page study titled Eddoboozi lya Buganda erisembayo (Buganda’s Last Voice) in September 1995. Muliika said that Mengo should oppose the 1995 Constitution because, among other reasons, it did not recognise Kampala as a part of the Buganda Kingdom.
In answer to the federo issue, Muliika proposed that Buganda establish its own government with a functioning government system and the authority to collect taxes.
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