William Gabula


William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope IV, the Gabula of Bugabula, is the reigning Kyabazinga of Busoga, a constitutional kingdom in modern-day Uganda. He is the fourth Kyabazinga of Busoga.

Claim to the throne

Gabula was born in Jinja on 1 November 1988. He is the son of Wilson Gabula Nadiope II, onetime minister of tourism in the Ugandan Cabinet, who died in 1991, and Josephine Nadiope, who died in 1993. His paternal grandfather is William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Nadiope III, who ruled as Kyabazinga from 1949 until 1955 and from 1962 until 1966. Nadiope III was also the first vice president of Uganda, from 1962 until 1966. Gabula Nadiope was unanimously elected by the ten Busoga Royal Chiefs who convened at Bugembe on 23 August 2014 for the purpose of electing a new Kyabazinga. Prince Edward Columbus Wambuzi, the eleventh Busoga Royal Chief, who was also contesting for the throne, did not attend the meeting. Gabula was unanimously approved by the Busoga Lukiko on 25 September 2014. Following an unsuccessful last-minute court challenge, Prince William Gabula was crowned as the 4th Kyabazinga of Busoga at Bugembe on Saturday, 13 September 2014. President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda attended the coronation.

Education and work

Gabula was raised by his maternal grandmother in Jinja. He started his Primary Education at Victoria Nile then Lohana Academy from 1995 until 2001. In 2002, he entered Busoga College Mwiri for his O-Level studies until 2005. He continued with his A-Level education, at Kyambogo College School, graduating in 2007. He was admitted to Kyambogo University, graduating in 2011, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Economics. At the time of his coronation, he was employed as an Economist in the Uganda Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. He then went for further studies in the United Kingdom and graduated in 2015 with a First Class master's degree in Business Administration at Coventry University.

Other considerations

Gabula's great grandfather Yosia Nadiope is the father of modern education in Busoga. He gave land to missionaries to build Balangira School for teaching royals, which later evolved to Busoga College Mwiri. Gabula is single. He is of the Anglican faith. He is also the hereditary chief of Bugabula, the semi-autonomous chiefdom which includes the modern-day districts of Buyende and Kamuli.