By Mulengera Reporters
The harsh treatment recently of Justice Catherine Bamugemereire by Deputy Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana, who “verbally brutalized” her in front of media cameras, has re-ignited debate on equally harsh treatment other corporate women have over the years endured elsewhere at the hands of male chauvinists who perceive them as less deserving despite their career successes. This has sometimes occurred by way of male supervisors always feeling insecure and subsequently working towards keeping them down. Some have suffered real sex harassment which has sometimes been the basis to determine who gets promoted. Some have been fought simply because those seeking to promote corruption and mediocrity have found them hard to compromise. Consequently many have paid the price for standing up to these work place chauvinistic tendencies. Victims have been so many (much more than can be exhausted here) but for purposes of our weekly feature today, we reflect on some of the outstanding contemporary victims of such chauvinistic tendencies who have refused to go down without a fight.
ALISON KANTARAMA
She is the Deputy Director for Mulago hospital who accuses her boss Dr. Byarugaba Baterana of chauvinistic tendencies, a matter she has often been reporting to the President. She says BB has been fighting her for too long and that he despises her management capabilities simply because she is a woman. Her supporters say that BB has sometimes tried working with some MPs to bring her humiliation. One time the two quarreled before the President on the day Museveni unexpectedly turned up at night to inspect the delivery of services in Mulago hospital. The indefatigable Kantarama used that visit to deflate BB who resorted to revenging on her as soon as the big man left. BB is accused of doing all sorts of things to deflate Kantarama including sidelining her from some of the sensitive engagements involving top management. Kantarama recently wrote a book exposing her tribulations at the hands of BB and other chauvinists in the health sector.
DR VICTORIA WALUSANSA
She deputizes Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) Director Dr. Jackson Orem who stands accused of mistreating his deputy Walusansa and accusing her of working with his enemies in the health sector. Despite working for the same institute, the two seldom talk because Walusansa considers Orem to be a bully who is never courteous towards her simply because she is a woman. The two are always running to the MoH headquarters to accuse each other of unfair treatment and consensus remains that as long as Orem remains the bully he has been towards her, sanity will never exist at UCI especially during top management meetings.
GRACE AKULLO
As Director CIID, she started off well and her career blossomed. She had the backing of many including President Museveni as she courageously investigated grand corruption in OPM, Public Service, Kyambogo University and elsewhere. Many felt she would make history becoming Uganda’s pioneer female IGP. However, her career took a negative turn when male colleagues became insecure and started accusing her of all sorts of things. On being perceived as a potential Kayihura successor, intriguers went to work. Tamale Mirundi was unleashed to say she was a Mbabazi mole out to frustrate the president and 1st lady by going after their allies like Pius Bigirimana. Akullo stood her ground and got Museveni’s audience many times to defend herself against endless allegations. Male colleagues always interfered with her work ever coming in to defend people she was investigating pleading “please leave so and so because he is my relative.” In actual sense some of these had been bribed to plead for such people. Often Akullo refused to be lenient which alienated her from many work colleagues in Police. Some contemptuously nicknamed her “Cecilia Ogwal” because she comes from Lango. Others resorted to reporting her to Kayihura deceptively telling him “she wants your job.” She stood up to bullies and got allies like Irene Mulyagonja and other Balokole ladies who felt she was a victim of male chauvinism at work. In the last years of IGP Kayihura, Akullo wasn’t having a good time at work because haters succeeded in antagonizing her with Kayihura by bringing fake reports. Most of the high profile work she used to do was transferred to Mark Odong’s SIU Kireka, leaving Akullo powerless and almost a shadow of her former self. This was after Gen KK bought into the fake intelligence reports and became paranoid towards her.
IRENE MULYAGONJA
Powerful as she seems, this Lady Justice too had issues being disrespected and bullied by male chauvinists at the AG chambers at the time Peter Nyombi was still Attorney General and Mulyagonja declined having him represent the Inspectorate in sensitive court cases in because it was her view that his Attorneys were easily compromisable.
REBECCA KADAGA
Her pre-2011 experience is a classic example of what it means to be a victim of work place-related male chauvinism. Riding on her popularity as a female legislator of enormous experience, Kadaga considered herself ripe for the position of Speaker as early as 2006. And she indeed had the support and the clout to defeat then incumbent Edward Sekandi. However, fearing reprisals from Catholics and Ganda constituent, Museveni called her to Rwakitura late in the night and pleaded saying “mwanyinaze [my sister] ssa wansi emundu [put your guns off] kubanga abakatoliki Bagenda kunzitta [because the Catholics are going to kill me].” Museveni told her the Catholics are very important because they brought him to power and they considered Speakership to be theirs as they wait upon him to anoint one of their own presidential successor. Kadaga, who to this day considers Museveni her mentor, grumblingly listened and shielded her ambitions. She settled for Deputy Speaker and aware of her initial ambitions, Sekandi on retaining his seat determined to cut her to size. And indeed those (2006-2011) were some of Kadaga’s worst years in Parliament. Sekandi mistreated her and provocatively pampered women like MPs like Nabillah Nagayi just to belittle and hurt Kadaga. He further deflated her by sidelining her from processes leading to the making of some of the major decisions in the House. He rarely permitted her to chair sessions and MPs perceived friendly to her suffered witch-hunt by Sekandi supporters like Nabillah Nagayi, Hood Katuramu, Rose Seninde and others. The escalation never came to the public fore because Sekandi was an experienced intriguer who knew how to fight his wars without allowing victims of his chauvinism to leak things to the public. To this day lots of uneaseness remains between those two-Sekandi and Kadaga. Because she suffered it first hand, Kadaga is always willing to use her position to vehemently defend corporate women who report to her being victims of work place male chauvinism.
SARAH KAGINGO
The PRAU President and Softpower news CEO at some point epitomized the suffering many corporate ladies silently suffer in Uganda. Male chauvinists always felt insecure around her as they co-worked for the President and unknown to people, Kagingo worked for many years as President Museveni’s Communications Assistant in charge of social media (facebook and twitter) without pay. Why? Male chauvinists used their positions and female proxies to ensure she didn’t have a good time. She is one of the few Museveni workers who operated with salary arrears yet State House has a lot of money because male chauvinists manipulatively got fellow ladies like Edith Nakalema to fight her while working in State House. The other unpaid person is ex-PPS Mary Amajo who got nothing more than a job house in Muyenga. Strange but true-Amajo never earned any pay because powerful ladies, working for male chauvinists, refused to put her on payroll. Kagingo managed that hard period by putting up appearances to seem okay but actually she wasn’t. Imagine a mother with children to pay school fees for chasing her salary arrears for years! She found herself in that predicament after some of her female superiors hated her hard work and refused to put her name on the payroll. She was accused of working too hard to win the President’s and 1st Lady’s favors. Despite efforts by Gen Saleh, her tormentors were unrelenting. Museveni several times intervened insisting they put her on payroll but the powerful clique of hateful men and women refused to bulge. They mostly hated her for being sympathetic to long suffering PPS Mary Amajo whose job some of the mafia actors wanted. Kagingo endured torture by a female State House colleague who daily beat her like snake in the service of male chauvinists who unsuccessfully had demanded sex from her. The female colleague would brutalize her even before the President and in the end broke her spinal cord because of too many physical beatings. “I’m here to protect Mweshimewa [the boss] against seductive women like you,” her tormentor always reminded her. Financially-deprived Kagingo reported to police but UPF authorities never acted fearing her powerful female tormentor. The Kayihura-era Police bosses feared to lose their jobs. Even after finally letting go of the State House job, Kagingo suffered armed men raiding her Muyenga home almost every night, a thing that greatly traumatized her kids. Tamale Mirundi was unleashed to attack her on radios and she was falsely accused of working with a one Joseph Owino to hack into the President’s twitter account. One time the Kibuli Sheikhs who are like her foster fathers wanted to call a press conference and attack the State House mafia but Prince Nakibinge restrained them saying that would create her more trouble. She didn’t give up on life. She moved on to found her own company called Soft Power Ltd which continues to have a strong web presence on top of publishing regular insightful news. She also does some voluntary social media work for the GoU especially the Ministry of Tourism.
PATRICIA OJANGOLE
She is the MD Uganda Development Bank (UDB) and she has also suffered plenty of male chauvinism like she is an orphan. At the peak of her woes, Ojangole was detained in Luzira several times on sham graft allegations. The IGG was prompted to investigate her endless times until court weighed in saying this was becoming too much. Her corporate woes would have escalated even more if it was not for the prudent approaches engaged by the UDB BOD Chairman Prof Samuel Sejjaka who came to the conclusion she was innocent and allowed her back to office. Even when she got back to office, her male tormentors didn’t give up that easily and are indeed still out to get her.
IRENE MUWANGUZI
She suffered lots of male chauvinism but the light-skinned babe from Bugisu always took it in with grace. Claim to fame: she is the MD Entebbe-based Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation (UPPC). Despite being highly educated and high-performing, Muwanguzi for long suffered direct male chauvinism after the UPPC Mafia resented her incorruptible approach. There was a deal that involved printing arrears the EC hadn’t paid for work done by UPPC. The deal-makers wanted to sue the EC so that some good billions are released in the name of legal fees so that kickbacks can be shared. Muwanguzi, who was eventually stabbed by male chauvinists in UPPC BoD, refused all this insisting on dialoguing with the EC team resulting into the money being paid. This is something for which the chauvinists hated her. UPPC workers were incited to riot against her because the reforms she ushered in prevented the misappropriation of the tax payers’ money. She was for long out of the job until the President and Minister Ester Mbayo intervened and got her back to her office which she continues occupying with even more power and clout. A one Nuwagira and Eddie Ococ are among those who witch-hunted her on grounds she was disrespectful of the BOD and her other superiors. Each time they went for meetings, the duo always opposed Muwanguzi’s determination to crack the whip on the mafia that was chewing UPPC money.
GERALDINE SSALI
The bubbly girl from Kalungu doesn’t need much introduction because of the much publicized resilience with which she took on male chauvinists at NSSF, her former workplace. For close to 10 years, she was the DMD for NSSF and left after her 2nd term. She was among those who vowed to go down fighting and successfully stood up to male chauvinists at the work place. For time immemorial, the NSSF DMD was a BOD member but chauvinists stopped this to keep Geraldine Ssali away from BOD meetings. On being humiliatingly chased from a BOD meeting by renowned male chauvinist Patrick Kaberenge, Ssali wrote to the Finance Minister protesting the irregularity. This resulted into her suspension by chauvinists who felt she was too much for them. Refusing to be bullied, Ssali filed a judicial review application in court where she successfully challenged her superiors. Her case was in fact among the most discussed court cases in 2016. Ssali got back her job and also got some good money awarded to her by court in damages to repair the reputational loss she suffered as a result of the bullying actions by her superiors. The most important thing was the precedential value her case set permanently clipping the impunity with which some BOD superiors act in corporate organizations. To this day her supporters in the pensions sector feel she was witch-hunted partly because her high qualifications and results-oriented approach made some Finance Ministry officials professionally insecure and uncomfortable. Yet Ssali’s most cardinal problem related to the NSSF Pension Towers. And this is how it happened: as Ag MD, she insisted on reducing the project cost from Shs227bn to Shs193bn, something that unsettled some people who determined she couldn’t walk away unpunished. She also took a controversial position on the pensions sector Liberalisation Bill yet this was something in which some of her supervisors were deeply interested.
CHRISTINE ONDOA
She was until recently the Director General for Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) where she greatly suffered at the hands of her very belligerent and chauvinistic BOD Chairman Prof Vinand Nantulya who daily fought her until the IGG Irene Mulyagonja came in calling the elderly man to order. Prompted by the President, Mulyagonja wrote a report that greatly shamed Nantulya and absolved Ondoa. Very prayerful Ondoa also suffered almost similar fate at the MoH where she had severe disagreements with her PS Asuman Lukwago. While still at UAC, the President at some point had to investigate reports of physical violence male chauvinists directed at Ondoa who recently suffered “verbal violence” by her former MoH subordinate Prof Anthony Mbonye who character-assassinated her in his book. In the book, Mbonye clearly came off as a prolific male chauvinist as much of his text focused on propagating hatred for women at the MoH. His victims in the book include Ministers Dr. Jane Aceng and Sarah Opendi (accused her of undermining Dr. Elioda) as well as PS Dr. Diana Atwine, another powerful figure in the health sector. In the book, Mbonye heartlessly fallaciously described these ladies using words we can’t repeat here. Mbonye also had no kind words for IGG Irene Mulyagonja, another big name lady in the corporate circles. Whereas subsequently leaked correspondences have indicated Mbonye left the MoH at his own volition, having duly written to Public Service PS Catherine Musingwire, the medicine Professor belligerently submits in his book that it’s these powerful ladies that hounded him out.
JANE ACENG
She is now Minister of Health but as Director General of Health Services (2011-2016), she lived a hell of sorts at the Wandegeya-based MoH. She was several times attacked even physically by her male superiors who hated her non-compromising approach. Her Christian roots also created the impression she was spying on others for the 1st lady Janet Museveni who is widely seen as patronizing Balokole corporate ladies in Uganda. Aceng only had short-lived peace when Rugunda was Minister of Health but he too gave up after failing to tame her tormentors at the MoH. She was also hated for working well with sector agency heads that her MoH superiors considered big headed. When Elioda Tumwesigye became Minister, Aceng suffered even physical and emotional violence because he was too busy to reprimand her adversaries. When she became Minister, she still suffered as those concerned denied her the official vehicle until PM Rugunda intervened after receiving numerous letters. You should have been at Watoto Church Kisaasi the day she testified what she went through before becoming Minister. The entire congregation wept as they listened to what she went through. But the recent book release by Prof Anthony Mbonye clearly indicated that a larger number of people than previously thought resented Aceng largely because of her professional accomplishments. In medical career, Aceng reached the very top distinguishing herself as Senior Consultant which is the highest attainable level in medical practice. It was during her time along with Ondoa and others that the radical decision transferring the UNEPI functions from the MoH to NMS where excellent results have been registered was taken. Currently the rest of the world comes to benchmark on the Ugandan experience.
NAKIWALA KIYINGI
She was Mengo tourism Minister until when Peter Mayiga became Katikkiro and fired her. In her last days before being fired, Nakiwala suffered like a Jew in Nazi Germany. All her projects were dismantled and Mayiga chauvinistically demanded written accountability of all the things she was doing. Mayiga resented her for the fact that she was popular and had been loyal to his predecessor JB Walusimbi. She left and stood for MP Seat but lost. She later joined Gender Ministry as Youth Minister where for long she continued to be witch-hunted by a clique of technocrats who didn’t like the accountability questions she keeps raising. In the Museveni cabinet, she is generally seen as a stranger with no historical attachment to the NRM struggle.
RUTH SEBATINDIRA
She is a leading female lawyer in Uganda and runs Ligomarc which is one of the most successful law firms in Uganda. As Uganda Law Society President, Sebatindira was fought by male ULS members in a manner that made it appear they were uncomfortable being led by a woman. Whenever she released a statement condemning or praising government actions, members would be up in arms calling for her impeachment. Some even accused her of being compromised by the Executive.
STELLA NYANZI
She famously suffered the bullying approaches of the corporate world when she went to war with the much revered Mamdani, her boss at MISR in Makerere. Male colleagues at MISR initially backed Mamdani and Nyanzi was shunned like a leper. She left MISR but refused to go down without a fight and thereby inspiring many similar victims at the work place to always defend their space.
KASULE LUMUMBA
The NRM Secretary General has also had her share of male hostilities at the work place. It’s on record she isn’t on good terms with her deputy Richard Todwong and in the same way she has suffered public attacks and ridicule by NRM EC boss Odoi Tanga who seems to blame all the NRM party problems on her.
JOLLY KAGUHANGIRE:
She was viciously hounded out of Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) where she was ED by a governing BoD that was dominated by male chauvinists some of whom like Prof Piwanga disliked her from day one.
MARGARET ETUUSA
She was Assistant Academic Registrar at Makerere where her male superiors ganged up and embarrassingly evicted her from office in a conspiracy involving some CIID officers. Gratefully, Etuusa didn’t take it lying down as she has since challenged them in courts of law using her lawyer Rashid Semambo. There is also Hellen Kaweesi Nanteza who continues to painfully serve under Parliament’s Communications Director Christopher Obore as Deputy Director. The two’s relationship isn’t good at all. Suspicion and mistrust is simply too much and the ultimate price of that war continues to be paid by Hellen Kaweesi.To comment on this story, call/text 0703164755.
