Jon Swain | July 06, 2009
AS Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi hosted an African Union summit last week, his name was romantically linked in a court case with the queen mother of an ancestral Ugandan kingdom.
Two editors of a Ugandan daily newspaper are being prosecuted for alleging that he is having an affair with her.
The Libyan ambassador, who initially brought the case seeking $500 million in damages, said in his affidavit that the editors had launched an almost daily campaign to defame Colonel Gaddafi.
The Ugandan director of public prosecutions, which has taken over the case, accused the editors of defaming a foreign dignitary with intent to disturb peace and friendship between Uganda and Libya.
The prosecution's lawyers said the stories were false and degrading, and exposed the Libyan leader to contempt.
The case has been brought against Richard Tusiime and Francis Mutazindwa, the editors of Red Pepper, one of Kampala's most popular newspapers. If found guilty, they face up to two years' jail.
The prosecution arose from articles that portrayed Colonel Gaddafi, 67, as being in love with Best Kemigisa, 42, the attractive mother of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV of Toro, one of five ancient kingdoms that make up Uganda.
The first story, published on February 5, was headlined "Gaddafi, Toro queen in love". More stories followed, entitled: "Toro queen sex secrets revealed", "Gaddafi asks Toro queen for a baby boy" and "Gaddafi buys Toro queen a plane".
That story was a reference to a private jet Colonel Gaddafi allegedly bought Ms Kemigisa, who has travelled with him on official trips.
Colonel Gaddafi's interest in the tiny kingdom of Toro and his reported relationship with Ms Kemigisa, who was widowed in 1995, has aroused considerable curiosity in Uganda.
King Oyo, 17, first met Gaddafi in May 2001 when the Libyan flew to Uganda for the installation of President Yoweri Museveni, following his re-election. The king is the world's youngest serving monarch.
The relationship with his mother and the time she has spent in Tripoli have troubled Toro's one million inhabitants. "The people are upset. It is as if she has been taken over by Gaddafi," one official said.
As head of the African Union, Colonel Gaddafi has made a point of courting Africa's traditional leaders. He sees them as a road to African unity, furthering his dream of a "United States of Africa".
His moves to empower the chiefs are mistrusted by many of the continent's political leaders, not least Mr Museveni in Uganda.
The Sunday Times
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