An organization representing Buganda living in New York and New Jersey supports federalism to bring benefits to all regions, not just Baganda, Joseph Senyonjo, secretary of Ggwanga Mujje of New York & New Jersey told The Monitor in New York City.

Ggwanga Mujje recently submitted a memorandum to the Constitutional Review Commission backing a federal system for Uganda. Although Senyonjo said Ggwanga Mujje has not yet consulted with organizations representing Ugandans from other regions living in the diaspora, he said the organization plans to do so.

He emphasized that Ggwanga Mujje does not support the form of federalism soon after independence, in which the only region that really had federal status was Buganda. "That created a lot of resentment," Senyonjo said, "and feelings that we had a state within the state."

In an email to The Monitor, Senyonjo explained his organization’s position that "ethnicity can better be controlled when it is expressly recognized as a key component in Ugandan politics." He wrote that in the current unitary form of government, people must vie for positions and resources at the center, which has led to some ethnic groups complaining that they are neglected.

While details of the federalist proposal have yet to be ironed out, one element Senyonjo mentioned is a bicameral legislature much like that of the United States. In this legislature, in one house regions would be represented proportionally, while in the each region would have an equal number of representatives. The proposed Buganda region, with its relatively high population, would thus be disadvantaged in the second house. Senyonjo pointed out that this should assuage the fears of a federalist system unfairly favoring Buganda.

"A large part of our message is to reach out to all the different regions," Senyonjo said. "Our focus is to really show benefits to all the regions." He a understanding that in order for federalism to be implemented, "it cannot be a Bugana campaign alone. All the different regions would have to buy into it."

Senyonjo, who grew up in Masaka, said 100 people typically turn up for Ggwanga Mujje meetings, but that the organization reaches many more. He estimated that one to two thousand Buganda live in the New York-New Jersey region.

Ggwanga Mujje, in Luganda, literally means "nation, come." Senyonjo said it refers to mobilizing the Buganda in the U.S. to come together. In the case of the memorandum for federalism, the Ggwanga Mujje executive committee mobilized the membership by drafting the proposal, and the members resoundingly approved it at a meeting.

Independent of his position with Ggwanga Mujje, Senyonjo is working with the federalists on the online forum www.federo.com on drafting a more technically rich proposal for a federalist system. He is supposed to be drafting the proposal, but his work has kept him busy recently. Senyonjo is an IT manager.

While he acknowledged that it is sometimes difficult to impact Ugandan policy from thousands of miles away, Senyonjo said, "We can get our messages through to the media and maybe to some key stakeholders, and maybe get our message published now and then in the newspapers." He added, "It is frustrating, but we have to do something."

Senyonjo is confident that by working with leaders of other regions and pro-federalism MPs, Ggwanga Mujje can achieve its goal of a federalist state. "We don’t know when federalism will happen, but we know demand for it is so consistent and strong that if it doesn’t happen this time, it is going to happen at some point."