By Simon Turibamwe
Professor Anthony Mbonye’s trouble with former colleagues at the Ministry of Health seem not to be ending soon as earlier thought of after his own authored book lands him into courts of law. Earlier, we reported on this news website on how Professor Mbonye became professionally frustrated leading into his acrimonious exit from the Ministry of Health for which he had worked for 33 years. The latest is that some of the colleagues Mbonye mentioned in his book accusing them of power struggle at the Ministry of Health, have since gone to court demanding him to apologize and pay damage costs as a result of his defamatory statements authored in his book. One of them is Dr Diana Atwiine, the PS MoH who is accusing Mbonye of being malicious, defamatory, callous, careless and wanton which has damaged her name both in Uganda and on international scene. Through her lawyers of K&K Advocates, Dr. Atwiine seeks an apology, general damages, exemplary damages, and a permanent injunction from Mbonye. Diana adds that Mbonye in pages of his book he authored in 2018 titled Uganda’s Health Sector through turbulent politics since 1958-2018, contains various chapters that defames her. She states that: “Professor Mbonye in his book alleges a litany of infighting and power struggles that led to his resignation from the Health Ministry. These statements portrayed me as a corrupt, influence peddler, conspirator, unethical person and unqualified person to hold the office of the Permanent Secretary in Health Ministry.” Atwiine further contends that Mbonye’s allegations against her were widely circulated among the public in Uganda and internationally through the sale of his book and its online review. Atwiine also says that Mbonye’s allegations that she was using her relations with the first family influenced her characters at the Health Ministry to be on top hierarchy damages her the most before public.
Mbonye who worked at Ministry of Health from 1986-2018 and a powerful personality married to State House Comptroller Lucy Nakyobe, recently produced a controversial book in which he directed a lot of anger and frustration towards PS Diana Atwiine and ministers Sarah Opendi, Jane Ruth Aceng and their predecessor Dr. Christine Ondoa. In his book, Mbonye indicates that he was forced to leave the ministry as a way of protesting the incompetence and intrigue to which the four ladies subjected him. However, it was later discovered that Mbonye’s departure from the ministry was caused by his voluntary desire to quit in return for an international job which he considered irresistible because of better pay and better conditions of work. For comments, call or text us on 0752510225.
