They have always been close friends and allies in executing their mentor President YK Museveni’s assignments given that they famously shared profound hatred for the once very powerful Museveni right hand man Amama Mbabazi.
But the latest reaching Mulengera news shows that desire for the IGP Gen Kale Kayihura to keep his much coveted job and for the currently undeployed Jim Muhwezi to get one, has caused sharp splits between these two bush war comrades. They have been close buddies since the late 1970s when they met and became classmates at Law Development Center (LDC).
Reliable sources say that, backed by some members of the first family, Gen Muhwezi considers himself as one who stands a chance to replace Kayihura someday as IGP. As such whatever can potentially diminish Kayihura’s clout as the incumbent IGP, works in Jim’s favor. It’s against this background that when a few weeks ago, Kayihura’s right hand man Abdul Kitata got into problems and got jailed, many of Jim Muhwezi’s supporters actively participated in the jubilant boda cyclists’ procession that thanked Museveni and Gen Tumukunde for finally cracking the whip on Kitata whose Boda-Boda 2010 has notoriously been brutalizing other cyclists.
“Not only that but even some of the guys who led the raid and burning of numerous Kitata offices in Kampala closely worked with operatives friendly to Jim Muhwezi,” said a source adding that “some of those Boda demonstrators were actually mobilized by a female FDC official who was facilitated by guys working to please Jim.” We are told all this information reached Gen Kayihura who all along thought that the enemty between Tumukunde and Muhwezi would prevent the latter from ever becoming complicit in schemes aimed at bringing him down as police chief.
As influential pals intensify lobbying for Museveni to remember his faithful servant and re-deploy him, Jim Muhwezi has lately been busying himself power broking potential deals from his small office recently opened at Casino Pyramid along Yusuf Lule Road. It’s from here that he has been keenly monitoring events regarding Kitata and how this could impact on Gen Kale Kayihura in the long term. Watch this space for more updates on this hitherto unknown cold war between Generals Jim Muhwezi and Kayihura.
