A few months ago, President Museveni travelled to Karamoja and camped at the Moroto State Lodge from where he sought to deepen his understanding of the renewed gun violence resulting from cattle rustling-related activities in the sub region.
While at the State Lodge during that fateful visit, members of the State House’s household keeping department or unit inadvertently angered the Fountain of Honor. Mulengera News has impeccably established that the very annoying incident related to the quality of plates that were used to serve a meal to the very cautious veteran leader from Rwakitura.
As the young girls served him, Gen Museveni (observant as always) furiously responded on realising that one of the plates being made available to him hard a visible crack. And as can be expected, this is not something Gen Museveni kindly reacted to.
In a rage, he chased the serving girls away before proceeding to ring handlers at the main State House headquarters in Kampala. “What’s this? Which sort of people are these behind such recklessness and mischief?” Gen Museveni reportedly inquired while burning in a rage. “We don’t know. It’s not us sir because our job is to bring everything to you as is given to us,” the trembling serving girls responded in a bid to placate themselves against potential sanctioning.
As key State House’s household unit handlers and other superiors (who had stayed in Kampala) prepared to rush to Moroto, Gen Museveni demanded that a one Penylop (who has since been relieved of her duties as Head of household) immediately explains herself. The hapless Penylop, initially a very good friend to one of the H.E’s children, was grilled and required to explain herself as to how this could ever happen around the Country’s Fountain of Honor.
The State House heavyweights, who had to rush from Kampala to appear before the very angry man from Rwakitura that day, included the likes of Gen Proscovia Nalweyiso before whom Penylop was required to explain why new plates and other utensils hadn’t been bought to replenish the Moroto State Lodge since the Chogm event of 2007.
The President wondered how this could happen when money to replenish such requirements is supposed to be annually appropriated. There were also questions as to why the President’s plates couldn’t be safely transported from Kampala or State House headquarters that day.
Gen Museveni also demanded to know why the likes of Penylop never miss traveling with him when it’s time to lucratively travel abroad yet they are always reluctant when the place to be visited is as remote as Karamoja sub region. His view was that such a thing of broken plates emerging at his dinner table wouldn’t arise if the household unit head had acted as prudently as is always the case when it’s traveling abroad or any other opulent parts of Uganda.
Having been convinced by more State House employees that there was no ill will or malice intended via the broken plates embarrassment, the President reluctantly cooled down and agreed to forgive his household unit staffers. And as a result, they were merely ousted from their jobs as opposed to being prosecuted as somewhere suggesting.
“See how these people want to kill Gen Museveni,” the man from Rwakitura reportedly declared to the officials from Kampala who had just arrived to take part in the crisis securuty meeting that followed the broken plates incident.
“Okay I have forgiven them but I have immediately dismissed them and they should ever appear before me. Never appear before me again,” Gen Museveni declared as Penylop and a one Adah matched out sweating plasma and totally deflated.
He subsequently said he wants serious and not casual people on his entourage especially regarding sensitive aspects such as the household unit which handles his food, drink, bedding and clothing aspects on a daily basis. The elevation of Penylop, Adah and others to the apex of such a sensitive unit was preceded by a better-managed reign of Dora Semambo who excelled and did such a fantastic job as head of the H.E’s wardrobe and other household aspects.
Because it amounted to a major breach in the big man’s security detail, the Moroto Morolinga State Lodge (aka Kararema) incident impacted on other State House insiders beyond just Adah and Penylop.
Barigye of the SFC (who had been a close bodyguard for the H.E for such a long time) was equally impacted. He was immediately relegated and transferred to one of army barracks near Busunju where he continues to chill from on Katebe.
Days later, even Col Night Kwikiriza, who had over the years distinguished herself as a very powerful actor in the big man’s security detail for such a long time, was relegated. Initially she was deployed at the Kisozi Ranch (as opposed to being wherever the Principal goes) before subsequently sinking into oblivion of some sort. Knowledgeable insiders say that the Moroto State Lodge plates’ debacle was an eye opener to members of the H.E’s household unit who these days take their job much more seriously than before. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [whatsapp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at [email protected]).