By Mulengera Reporters
This Monday afternoon, the Deputy IGG Ann Muhairwe led a delegation of senior officials from the Inspectorate of Government (IG) to Nabisunsa Girls School where they had an engagement with members of top management, members of staff and their clients, the students.
Muhairwe was here to preside over the launching of the top school’s Integrity Ambassadors Club. At the commencement of her address (that was dedicated to arousing the youngsters’ interest in taking active part in the fight against corruption, impunity and social injustices), Muhairwe (speaking immediately after the headmistress Hajjat Janat Namujuzi Kakumba and club patron Umar Kakande) casualty asked students to name leaders who they consider to be the most hated in Uganda and give reasons.
Standing before hundreds of students, who filled the Nabisunsa main hall to capacity, Muhairwe was shocked at the number of hands that went up. The young girls (many of them aged between 15 and 17) were more than ready to do as asked.
They fearlessly got to the microphone, one by one and fearlessly named leaders they considered to be the most undesirable in contemporary Uganda. As the rest ululated and cheered in approval, the Nabisunsa girls eloquently gave reasons to justify their claims.
Ironically none of them mentioned the name of Gen Museveni, the octogenarian leader from Rwakitura, who has been Uganda’s President for roughly 40 years now, without break. First to be mentioned was Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja whose undesirability the girls asserted related to the circumstances under which thousands of iron sheets, meant for the vulnerable karachunas in Karamoja, ended up shared by powerful political leaders, none of whom has ever been sanctioned up to this day.
As Muhairwe interjected questioning why these very leaders have since been overwhelmingly voted back to Parliament by their parents, the Nabisunsa girl who nominated Nabanja said she wasn’t retracting anything because she comes from Karamoja and knows the deprivation that resulted from that one act. Next to be mentioned was the top leadership at Parliament who the female student leading the charge faulted for not doing enough to explain away the alleged corruption tendencies at the legislative arm of government.
Next to be named was Jennifer Bamuturaki who the nominator said, as the audience erupted in ululations, qualifies to be on the list of Uganda’s most hated leaders because of grand corruption deals Andrew Mwenda has been publicizing to have happened at Uganda Airline at the time she was serving as CEO. Bamuturaki was also faulted for successfully duping the President who got enchanted and made her CEO, a role which entitled her to earning not less than Shs80m per month.
A lot of the young people’s anger was also directed at the Judiciary whose officials were castigated by students for being inefficient, biased against the ordinary people in favour of the rich and powerful and also for being shamelessly corrupt. This prompted Ms Muhairwe to push back while warning against blanket condemnation. She illustrated to the students how there are lots of good people in the Judiciary and other government institutions whose goodness ought to be acknowledged and encouraged.
Next to be named was Betty Nambooze whose nominator was a student from Mukono Municipality for which the NUP firebrand has been MP since 2010. The student, whose utterances raised notable protestations from the audience that seemed to be dominated by students who are anti-NRM government, asserted that Nambooze had served for too long yet there isn’t anything tangible she has ever done for community members in Mukono. She enumerated roads which are in bad state in the area and concluded this qualifies Nambooze to feature on the list.
Finance Minister Matia Kasaija was also mentioned by a student who eloquently castigated him for presiding over an economy which she claimed is deliberately designed to work for very few while actively alienating and excluding majority citizens. She wondered what the newly reelected Buyanja County MP (who is actually older than Museveni) is still doing in a public office.
The IGP Abbas Byakagaba, who heads Uganda Police Force was also referenced and students justified his inclusion on grounds that the security outfit he leads has been unapologetic about disappearing and brutalizing Ugandans who are critical of the incumbent NRM government. Another girl nominated Northern Uganda Minister Dr. Kenneth Olusegun Omona who she faulted for being disrespectful of fellow leaders especially those who don’t agree with his view that NRM is still the best thing for Uganda.
The most hated of all seemed to be the Electoral Commission Chairman Justice Simon Byabakama because the girl who nominated him got the highest applause and there was a standing ovation as the entire hall seemed to be unanimous that the just-ended January 2026 elections, which he presided was simply the worst in the country’s history.
It was eloquently asserted by that same student (Muhairwe never required them to mention their names so as to speak freely without fear of any retribution) that the quality of elections that Byabakama delivered/conducted last January is the reason why the audience had earlier on protested when the Deputy IGG questioned why their parents reelected the very leaders who were being castigated for corruption and the mabati saga.
There was also a student from upcountry who nominated a certain female RDC, declaring her the most unpopular female civil servant in Uganda, but she unfortunately couldn’t remember her name. Nearly tearful, the student faulted the RDC for interfering in the just-ended elections in the native district where she (student) hails from. Ann Muhairwe concluded that most of the resentment students have towards the loathable leaders they named derive from corruption, impunity and interfering in elections so as to subvert the will of the people as expressed in the ballot box.
At some point, the Deputy IGG demanded to know why there was a lot of negativity and anger among the country’s young people. She implored them to become hopeful making it clear that all isn’t lost as yet. She leveraged the reasons given to justify the cause of hatred towards the named leaders to call on the hundreds of students in her audience to deliberately sign up and become members of the Integrity Ambassadors Club.
Saying being a person of integrity is more important than even getting good grades in UNEB exams, Ms Muhairwe suggested that membership to the Integrity Club becomes compulsory for all Nabisunsa students as opposed to being an option, something the headmistress promised to look into. During the same afternoon session, students (mostly Integrity Club executive members) presented poems castigating corruption while highlighting the deprivation it causes.
Integrity was defined by the Nabisunsa community as always ‘being deliberate about doing the right thing even when no one is watching.’ Muhairwe said this is the way to go and commended the club patron Umar Kakande for vowing to use future club activities to get each and every Nabisunsa student to realign their values and becoming committed to always doing the right thing even when no one is watching.
Because there was simply no adequate time for everyone to speak on the microphone, Ms Muhairwe’s assistants gave out small pieces of papers on which students were asked to give feedback about their surrounding at the school while anonymously reporting wrongdoing by fellow students, staff and administration. Many terrible things were reported, including accusing fellow students of bullying and unbecoming conduct such as lesbianism and engagement in examination malpractices.
Riding on this, Ms Muhairwe illustrated to students how Uganda suffers integrity deficiencies at every level, not merely among national leaders. “You have been here naming and castigating the leaders you hate and consider to be very bad but you can see from this heap of chits you have written to me, that the bad people are everywhere and at every level even amongst you as fellow students.”
She emphasized that, to avoid growing up and ending up resented by citizens, upon becoming leaders, the way they hate current leaders of the country, each of the Nabisunsa girls must sign up to the Integrity Club membership so that they get the relevant mentorship and platform to translate their resentment into some useful and actionable energy and begin to effectively contribute towards the fight against corruption, as opposed to merely being angry at the wrong people.
Saying she had realized there is a lot the Nabisunsa girls aren’t aware of regarding the appropriate way to fight corruption and generally about their civil rights, duties and responsibilities as citizens of Uganda, Ms Muhairwe requested the headmistress to work with her office to urgently organize a longer session (either on a Saturday or Sunday) so that she comes back to sensitize the students, while listening to feedback from them, for longer than was possible during the Monday engagement or session which began at 3pm and had to end before 5pm.
Beyond introducing her deputies and staff, the headmistress thanked the Inspectorate of Government for prioritizing them to be among the pioneer schools to host the Integrity Ambassadors Clubs, which is the best way for the young people to be reached and be impactfully recruited to participate in Uganda’s collective push back against corruption to which officially the country loses not less than Shs1trn annually. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
