By Mulengera Reporters
Realizing he is vulnerable as he always is on the eve of a major election event, Acholi leaders have constituted themselves into a lobbying caucus of some sort to lobby for and get the job of IGG following the expiry of Beti Kamya’s four-year tenure (September 2021-September 2025).
Kamya’s 4-year period expired last week on Monday 22nd September and there is no indication that the President has any appetite to renew it. She last Tuesday eased out and left office along with her two deputies-Anna Muhairwe and Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria.
Mulengera News has established that, led by top clerics and Norbert Mao (who has already switched sides and pledged to place his DP campaign infrastructure and network behind Gen YK Museveni for 2026), leaders from Acholi have lately been making persuasive representations to the President while specifically demanding for the IGG job.
And their candidate is Dr. Patricia Okiria Achan who for the last four years has been serving as one of the Deputy IGGs under Beti Kamya. Okiria previously worked at Uganda Human Rights Commission as a Commissioner and later on the Works Ministry.
She was initially recommended to the President for consideration by fellow lawyer Anna Muhairwe who she had been deputizing as President of Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity. Ironically, with passage of time, the relationship between the two became strained.
“They [Acholi leaders] are pushing hard for Okiria by telling the President that, with Alfonse Owiny Dollo ceasing to be Chief Justice next January because of age, there is need for the Acholis, whose fallen son Jacob Oulanyah would be eligible to serve as Speaker of Parliament up to 2031, to have someone occupying the IGG office for the next 8 years since the CJ’s exit will diminish their visibility at the apex decision-making table in Kampala. They have made it clear to the President that giving the IGG job to their daughter will ease political mobilization and increase the NRM’s chances to retain majority seats in Acholi under the 2026 elections,” knowledgeable sources on Monday told this news website in a bid to explain Dr. Okiria’s chances at getting the IGG job.
Those opposed to her say that Okiria is personally not iron-fisted enough to match the high standards set by Beti Kamya’s predecessors like Faith Mwondha, Raphael Baku and Irene Mulyagonja. Mwondha, whose father Kalikwani had been a Museveni cadre for long, distinguished herself as strong, fearless, uncompromisable and incorruptible too.
Unlike during Kamya’s time when the Inspectorate became timid and hesitated to inquire into alleged corruption at Parliament, Faith Mwondha firmly stood up to all manner of impropriety at the August House and even cracked the whip on MPs who breached the Leadership Code Act; Ken Lukyamuzi being one of the most notorious examples. She declared him ineligible to be MP between 2006 and 2011 after he refused to declare his assets and liabilities.
Time came when Mwondha refused to ever appear before Parliament and this escalated things to the extent that MPs ganged up and blocked her reappointment when Museveni had decreed her retention as IGG. Fearless Mwondha was told to choose between eating a humble pie, apologizing to MPs and losing her job. She chose the later and that was the end. A vacuum resulted which caused her deputy Raphael Baku to act for 6 months up to 2012 when Irene Mulyagonja was appointed.
Baku was alone for six months, without a deputy, and he did his job fearlessly to the extent that he prosecuted a group of cabinet members who included Sam Kutesa, VP Gilbert Bukenya, John Nasasira and others over the Chogm deals. Mulyagonja was also fearless, unapologetically firm, proud and the President always respected her especially legal views; having distinguished herself as a strong stickler on the law. Many times, in Cabinet meetings, Museveni shut up then AG Peter Nyombi and called in Mulyagonja to guide on legal matters in the context of the broader fight against corruption.
There are concerns that Dr. Okiria doesn’t have the thick skin and such pedigree of being strong-willed to stand up to the corrupt, who happen to always be very powerful actors, the way the trio did. Even when she is highly qualified with educational qualifications (including having a PhD), critics assert that she lacks the persona that can frighten the corrupt or cause them to respect the Inspectorate. Some fear that her taking the job will only embolden corrupt-minded actors in government and will further diminish, as opposed to raising, the profile of the Inspectorate as a body that the 1995 Constitution mandates with leading the fight against corruption.
Mulengera News, which has consistently been updating this new IGG recruitment story, understands that not very long ago, President Museveni and his power broking brother Gen Salim Saleh agreed that it was time up for Beti Kamya who the Gulu-based man had been godfather for in government since the year 2016. Gen Museveni made his compelling case why she wasn’t suitable for retention, prompting Gen Saleh to agree to let go.
As a consensus arrangement, the two powerful brothers accepted to vet the two deputies (Muhairwe and Okiria) with a view to elevate one of them to full IGG. The other would be retained as Deputy. But besides these two, one other person was added and security was asked to vet and advise on the trio’s suitability. That other third person is an outsider currently working as a private lawyer in Kampala besides doing parttime teaching at LDC. This gentleman (names withheld) hails from Western Uganda, just like Muhairwe and well briefed sources say he was recommended by the Gulu-based man.
As for Muhairwe, she is young, fearless, intelligence-minded, tough and very close to the First Lady Janet Museveni whose private birthday event she recently co-organized with a few other Balokole ladies at the UWESO School in Migera Nakasongola. Largely attended by family members, Janet’s friends and a few government officials like Thomas Tayebwa, that Migera event was themed on the message of anti-corruption. All the speeches focussed on the stalled corruption fight.
In presence of Beti Kamya, who was provocatively invited by people who desired to appreciate and recognize her unsuccessful efforts to save the ex-KCCA ED Kisaka, Janet made it clear the anti-graft fight had lost steam and momentum and declared readiness to lead and infuse it with new momentum like she did with the HIV fight in the early 1990s.
Just like Museveni, Janet made no conspicuous reference to Beti Kamya but instead made complementary comments about Anna Muhairwe’s Christian Lawyers Fraternity, whose members took the readings during the prayer session and were also the MCs at the birthday bash.
There was generous reference to Uganda Youth Forum into which Janet recruited young Christian youths to amplify her UWESO-linked fight against HIV/Aids in the 1990s. Muhairwe was among Janet’s pioneer recruits into the Uganda Youth Forum, which is officed in Kololo and works very closely with First Lady’s office. Both Yoweri and Janet Museveni observed that there was need to re-energize the fight against corruption through recruiting cadres through the network of Christian Lawyers Fraternity and the Youth Forum.
After praising her for being tough, fearless and clear-headed in the fight against corruption, Museveni (overlooked the fact that her largely ignored boss Beti Kamya was present and) praised Anna Muhairwe.
He went as far as saying that if he had a 100 Muhairwes leading at graft-fighting institutions like the Inspectorate of Government, the fight against corruption would have made a lot of progress by now. He added that he was looking forward to unleashing hundreds of Christian lawyers (who he demanded have to be young, energetic and incorruptible) to re-energize and accelerate the fight against corruption. He tasked Janet and Muhairwe to help him identify people with that pedigree for facilitation and deployment.
In the same speech, Museveni thanked Janet for recommending to him Anna Muhairwe whose clear reports, he said, had always made it easy for him to see the action points and effectively intervene against perceived wrongdoers in government. He said her reports are always full of clarity and make it easy for him to understand what is at stake and take firm action against the corrupt.
Beti Kamya turned uneasily in her seat as Yoweri and Janet Museveni showered praises on her deputy who had also taken the first reading during the prayer session that was led by Pentecostal Bishops Laban Jjumba and Joshua Lwere. The two Balokole pastors are close allies of Muhairwe who also has good rapport with the First Son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, having served as a senior lawyer inside the Mbuya-based Defense headquarters for many years. She is also politically well networked and works well with many power centers in Uganda, beyond just State House any of whose powerful occupants she can access and see without being required to first make an appointment.
Just like Dr. Okiria (who is very deliberate on community engagement whereby she is always going to the field to amplify the graft fight in local government, districts, municipalities and cities upcountry), Muhairwe is also passionate about empowering local government-based stakeholders with information which can instigate and incite them to contribute whistle blower information, which is so core in the IG’s efforts to detect, identify and fight corruption promoters.
Upcountry-based whistle blowers are vital sources to enrich the fight against corruption because back home is where majority of the corrupt invest to hide their loot using money they successfully steal from Ministries and other MDAs while doing government work in Kampala.
Available online information shows that the two relatively young female lawyers (Muhairwe was until a few months ago the President Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity while Okiria deputized her) are also vastly qualified, education-wise. Okiria is a lawyer initially trained at both Makerere University and LDC. Her record as a human rights defender, expert at legal drafting and corporate lawyer is undisputed. She has a PhD from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and a masters degree too.
On the other hand, Muhairwe, who for many years served as a UPDF prosecutor in the General Court Martial, holds LLB from Makerere and the mandatory LDC Post-Graduate Diploma in law.
Information on the IG website shows that Anna Muhairwe also possesses the all-important Masters degree in Public Administration & Management from the prestigious Uganda Management Institute (UMI), which enhances her team building and people management capabilities. Currently, she is pursuing her Masters’ degree in law at the University of London. She is also an expert on military justice, having practiced the same in UPDF for 16 years and having done several professional courses on that same subject.
An alumnus of Haggai Institute of Leadership in the US, online sources also show Muhairwe to be closely affiliated with esteemed professional bodies such as Uganda Law Society, East African Law Society and Uganda Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA). In March 2022, Muhairwe was recognized and ranked to be among Africa’s most influential women in the legal profession, by Consortium Mail 100. As Uganda’s representative, Muhairwe has also been serving as the Vice President for African Ombudsman & Mediators Association. This unites and brings together institutions with IGG-similar mandate across Africa.
In the Weekend Vision, where Col Edith Nakalema and Gen Henry Isoke were portrayed as potential Beti Kamya successors, the editors described Anna Muhairwe as a well-suited person for the job of IGG because of her “aggressive anti-corruption approach” and impeccable academic credentials.
The Vision report made reference to her iron-fisted approach as one that would be appropriate to leverage now at the time the President is determined to escalate the fight against political and military corruption to another level.
As was indicated in the Weekend Vision report, multiple sources maintain that Beti Kamya is headed to a diplomatic posting as an ambassador somewhere in one of the Western capitals as opposed to being reappointed at the Inspectorate.
MORE OPTIONS:
But other sources are talking about the political timing namely that Gen Museveni might allow a vacuum to remain at the Inspectorate of Government until after the January 2026 general elections, where he is facing Robert Kyagulanyi being embraced by hostile Buganda and Busoga regions. That the President might prefer to keep the position vacant so that many of his senior cadres can be made to keep scheming for the job while exhibiting undivided loyalty to him now that anyone can become IGG regardless of whether they are lawyers or not.
Some analysts say that giving the position to somebody from Busoga, which previously produced fairly good IGGs namely Mulyagonja and Mwondha, is something Gen Museveni could be open to. Such sources say that with Rebecca Kadaga getting alienated during CEC elections, it would be appropriate to give the IGG job back to Busoga to achieve some appeasement of some sort-and reap the subsequent political dividend.
People like former Minister Asuman Kiyingi (whose selling points include seniority, excellent appreciation of political economy considerations, political loyalty to the President and NRM and experience having previously served as Chairman for Leadership Code Tribunal) is among those being considered if it has to be a Musoga. He is a former Minister like Beti Kamya and he is a lawyer, just like Mulyagonja and Mwondha.
He is assertive, fearless, always prepared to do what Museveni wants and hails from Kamuli district, just like Kadaga. He is also a Muslim whose posting would diminish the anger of Muslims who keep complaining of marginalization and exclusion from top government positions. He has been excelling at Judicial Service Commission interviews only to controversially be left out when the President is deploying upper bench judges.
SOME BACKGROUND:
The IG office was pioneered by Mzee Augustine Ruzindana in the late 1980s who gave it clout because he had been a leading ideologue in the Movement. Those days the Inspectorate was under State House/President’s Office because the 1995 Constitution, which gave it autonomy, hadn’t yet come into force.
Then came Jotham Tumwesigye who was politically anchored having come from the Movement Secretariat. He gave the office plenty of clout, he was a lawyer and was made a judge after serving out his tenure. Faith Mwondha was all the things earlier referenced in this article and had direct access to the President, which is why she became powerful and afforded to ignore the legislature while telling off MPs and cracking the whip on whoever breached legal provisions.
She took no prisoners and made the office powerful to the extent that she would even disregard Parliament summons. In the end, she was forced out after she refused to appear before the appointments committee of Parliament to make a de-escalation deal with legislators, after the President reappointed her. In the end, she eased out and rejoined the bench as a judge.
Her deputy Raphael Baku carried on and served single-handedly without a deputy for 6 months during which he attempted moving mountains by commencing the prosecution of then VP Gilbert Bukenya, Sam Kutesa, John Nasasira etc over the 2007 Chogm deals and scandals.
In the end, he burnt his fingers when Mafia actors ganged up and destroyed him. Unlike Mulyagonja and Mwondha who rejoined the bench and continued to live good life, Baku these days is a struggling man moving from one office to another trying to be a lawyer in private practice. The Chogm cases he was prosecuting collapsed when the defendants petitioned Constitutional Court challenging the fact that, without a substantive IGG in place, the Inspectorate wasn’t appropriately constituted.
In 2012, President Museveni appointed Irene Mulyagonja who distinguished herself as a fearless and high value crusader against corruption. She feared no one and did her job up to the last day. A stickler to the law, Mulyagonja despised mediocrity and raised the profile of the IGG office. Like Mwondha, the decisiveness and fearlessness with which Irene Mulyagonja went about her job made her Basoga co-ethnics to feel powerful and come to characterize the IG office as theirs.
Gen Museveni greatly respected Mulyagonja, whose husband lawyer JB Kakooza was a leading ideologue in DP, to the extent that after accepting the appointment he allowed her to determine or choose two other people who would deputize her. The two names her teams had come up with were all frustrated mainly by some seniors inside ULS and that is how she ended up with George Nathan Bamugemereire and Mariam Wangadya, a diehard Museveni cadre.
For 8 years, they worked together and a grateful Museveni renewed their individual contracts for another 4 years three months before expiry. This sharply contrasts with Beti Kamya’s team members who wrote in expressing reappointment interest early (three months to expiry) only to be disregarded by the appointing authority. They waited up to the last day (22nd September) and there was no response or feedback from State House. That’s how they cleared their desks and eased out last Tuesday-leaving behind the nice cars and other generous perks the IG PS Rose Kafeero had been pressurized to ensure were availed to each one of them.
In July 2020, Mulyagonja’s tenure ran out and she quit to join Court of Appeal as a judge. Bamugemereire acted up to March 2021 when he too quietly moved out at a time many of his Basoga co-ethnics felt he merited being elevated to become the full IGG and do another 8 years in that capacity.
During those months he served as acting head of the institution, Bamugemereire, who formerly worked with Shell in the Western capitals, reorganized things and got a better relationship between the Inspectorate on one hand and Col Edith Nakalema-led SHACU and development partners on the other. GiZ, which is a German development assistance agency, came on board and poured unprecedented sums of money into the IG. He deepened the relationship with the Inter-religious Council of Uganda, which enchanted Fr. Simon Lokodo who was his line Minister.
Bamugemereire empowered Communications Head Ali Munira along with Faruk Kayonga and had many positive publicity-generating activities which the President and development partners took note of and registered their gratitude. His insistence to create more public awareness motivated GiZ to prioritize funding IG activities like never before.
This was during COVID time and movement restrictions were still prevalent. Bamugemereire demystified top management operations by introducing agenda-less weekly meetings (general staff meeting like) to which staff would be invited and encouraged to give their raw ideas and proposals.
That is how positive media-generating activities became frequent and thereby creating additional public interest in the Ombudsman office and activities. Every week the Inspectorate was launching something. Such awareness creation activities because so frequent that Lokodo, development partner representatives and IRCU officials indicated to Ali Munira they were unable to keep up with that level of activity.
The weekly agenda-less meetings made everyone to feel appreciated, included and resulted into improved staff morale at the Inspectorate. Plea-bargaining was also prioritized a lot, having realized court cases took forever to be concluded, and lots of money was subsequently recovered from public officials who had corruptly diverted public funds.
After Bamugemereire quit in March 2021, at the end of his 2nd term, Mariam Wangadya carried on for another 6 months and she largely maintained the system that her predecessor had left in place until when the President, who values her because of his outspoken cadre, posted her to go and head UHRC.
In September 2021 as Wangadya cleared her desk, Beti Kamya and her two deputies were ushered in. Being a former Minister and well-known crusader of good governance around the country, Beti Kamya’s posting raised the profile of the IG office.
It was also a significant appointment in that for the first time, under the 1995 Constitution, the appointing authority departed from the hitherto-established practice and rule of the IGG being someone with a legal background. The perception among staff at the Inspectorate was that the President must have desired to infuse political acumen and leadership into the fight against corruption as opposed to merely relying on lawyers and other technical persons.
For many, Kamya’s posting signalled the extent to which the President was determined to demystify legal experience and technical requirements when it comes to amplifying the fight against corruption. And remarkably, Kamya’s tenure is coming to an end at a time when both the President and CDF are increasingly frustrated with growing impunity and elite corruption tendencies among the political and military leaders of the country.
Gen MK has relentlessly been cracking the whip in the military where space for the corrupt and rogue-minded officers continues to be deliberately shrunk and diminished every passing day. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
