By Mulengera Reporters
President Museveni has publicly expressed his readiness to appoint, designate and deploy hundreds of Christian lawyers to serve as frontline warriors in the First Lady Janet Museveni-led war against corruption, provided that they demonstrate to him that they are as fearless, incorruptible, patriotic, clear-headed and determined like Deputy IGG Annie Muihairwe.
She is the immediate former President of Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity where she was succeeded by Prof Anthony Kakooza during an electoral process/AGM that was held at Hotel Africana a few months ago. While addressing guests at his wife Janet’s 77th birthday thanksgiving event that was held at Nakasongola-based Migera UWESO Secondary School on Sunday, Museveni was cornered into unambiguously addressing the issue of corruption after Janet, Dr. James Magara and the clerics present vigorously pronounced themselves on the same elephant in the room.
Gen Museveni revealed to the carefully selected guests that its true he appointed Muhairwe Deputy IGG after she was recommended to him by Janet whose Uganda Youth Forum (in existence since 1992) had been used to mentor, nurture and raise value-based Ugandan youths. Muhairwe is a beneficiary of this same mentoring under UYF.
Museveni said he hadn’t been disappointed with the person Janet recommended for the position of Deputy IGG because Annie Muhairwe had made him proud over the clarity, courage, patriotism, incorruptibility and fearlessness with which she had gone about investigations assigned to her. Making reference to the Kiteezi report that moved him to sanction top officials at KCCA who were subsequently prosecuted, Gen Museveni said he finds Muhairwe’s reports and investigations compelling because they are written with extreme clarity making it easy for him to understand and acquaint himself with the facts therein.
He contrasted this with other corruption investigators who end up shielding wrongdoers by making ambiguous and vague findings and recommendations regarding personal culpability of the implicated officials. He said Muhairwe’s reports demonstrate a woman on mission who writes them with a clear aim to make it possible for him to take political action to sanction wrongdoers who subsequently get prosecuted for their wrongdoing.
Museveni said that, by producing an effective anti-corruption Tsar like Muhairwe, Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity had demonstrated to him they are capable of producing effective investigators who can tremendously aid his war against corruption. He said he was ready to deploy many lawyers from the same association once it’s demonstrated him that there are still many other Annie Muhairwes among their ranks. He said he will be looking forward to having many more others vetted and recommended to him so that they get empowered, capacitated and deployed to serve as front line warriors in the war against corruption which Janet Kataha will be championing.
Museveni asserted that once a hundred Annie Muhairwes are identified and appropriately deployed, the war against corruption will be won much more easily and faster than many people think. He said that as the country’s CEO he has no problem cracking the whip against any corrupt public official once clear facts are assembled and put before him with unambiguous recommendations on which steps to be legally taken.
He caused laughter when he narrated a story of Annie Muhairwe fearlessly standing firm to the corrupt people, she was investigating who resorted to intimidating and threatening to liquidate her. That she fearlessly told them she was ready to lose her life, like her savior Jesus Christ did, if that was the price she had to pay in defense of the truth.
The President implored the Christian lawyers to be decisive and fearless once deployed in the capacity of front-line warriors to amplify the Janet fight against corruption, lest they let down Annie Muhairwe and the First Lady herself through whom they are going to be recommended to him.
He said they should be fearless, incorruptible and ready to write for him clear reports as opposed to creating deliberate ambiguity to enable the corrupt actors to get away with it once put on trial. He also warned against cowardice saying there will be nothing to fear since the entire UPDF machinery and well-intentioned cadres within the NRM will be at hand to shield and protect whoever gets threatened or targeted for being a warrior in Janet’s army.
The birthday event at which Gen Museveni was speaking had been organized by a group of blue-eyed Janet girls and boys who were led by the likes of Annie Muhairwe, Anthony Kakooza, Dr. James Magara, Jolly Kaguhangire, Irene Kawuma and a few others. They operated under the auspices of Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity, UWESO and Uganda Youth Forum. Behind the scenes, State House employees like Jane Barekye and Hope Nyakairu played some facilitational role. Janet thanked them in her speech.
Gen Museveni clearly agreed with Janet and other earlier speakers that, indeed, something unusual needs to be done to confront and roll back corruption which all speakers seemed to agree risked decimating Uganda besides erasing all key reputational gains the country has made under the last 40 years of National Resistance Movement governance. It was proclaimed that Uganda was now under attack of another epidemic called AIDS (Acquired Integrity Deficient Syndrome) which Janet stressed has to be deliberately targeted and defeated the way HIV-Aids was confronted in the 1990s.
Janet, who played a tremendous role against HIV-Aids in the 1990s, expressed readiness to lead this renewed fight and focus on corruption which she said had become synonymous with public officials stealing government money and using it to invest in big mansions and other business investments in their home districts upcountry. She described these as shameful actors whose actions will inadvertently attract divine curse upon their households, children and grandchildren.
