A Ugandan king is demanding a trillion pounds in compensation from the British monarchy for decimating the population of his kingdom in the late 1890s, a spokesperson for the king said on Thursday.
Solomon Gafabusa Iguru, head of Uganda’s Bunyoro kingdom, also accuses British soldiers of plundering property, cattle and crops from his land during the British military occupation from 1894 to 1900.
Though military occupation ended in 1900 the British remained as a colonial power in Uganda until 1962.
In a lawsuit, to be filed with The Hague-based International Court of Justice this month, and with the British Commission in Kampala, he claims that British colonial forces wiped out Bunyoro’s two-million-strong population in just six years.
”We are seriously suing the queen of England and the British government for atrocities committed and the genocide carried out during the invasion of Bunyoro Kitara. Our grandfathers never took it up because they were dehumanised, lost glory and pride,” said the king’s spokesperson, Ernest Kiiza.
The British Commission in Kampala confirmed it had received a copy of the lawsuit, but said it would seek legal advice before releasing an offical reaction. — Sapa-DPA