By John V Sserwaniko
Some 6 months ago as he delivered his State of the Nation Address (SoNA), President Museveni bashed IGG Irene Mulyagonja and fell short of saying Kawukumi (bean weevil) had infiltrated the ombudsman office. Subsequently, there was prolonged public debate to which Mulyagonja contributed by giving an interview to Daily Monitor. In the interview she defended her space and said the President knows much more about corruption than he was comfortable disclosing in public. To some this amounted to drawing battle lines. Museveni, it was expected, was going to fight back and this could take many forms including knifing the IGG. Gratefully all this never happened. There was no escalation. Why? First Lady Janet Museveni, who is very fond of Mulyagonja seeing her as one of the strong born again ladies in government, weighed in. She spoke to both Museveni and Mulyagonja urging restraint. Reliable sources have told this news website that on reading the Monitor story, Janet rang Mulyagonja suggesting they meet urgently. She then implored her to de-escalate things by not granting subsequent interview requests. She argued there could be operational disagreements whose resolution could only be complicated if the media exchanges didn’t stop. “There are three people in this town that Mulyagonja, principled as she is, listens to. These are the President, the First Lady and Speaker Kadaga. So when Janet urged restraint, she had to comply,” says a source knowledgeable about the matter. “Indeed all subsequent interview requests, including friendly journalists who had offered to write positive pieces about Mulyagonja, were declined. The IGG even reached out to some of her in Civil Society supporters urging them to calm down and cease hostilities directed at the President as they defended her against what the H/E said at SoNA.” Sources say as a good will gesture, the IG investigators who were on the verge of closing in on James Tweheyo (one of the people Museveni said would man his anti-corruption unit) were restrained to go slow. “They were soon going after him over accountability issues he left in UNATU where he worked before and this would show the public the guys the President had praised were after all not angels,” says a source. This cautious approach by the IG operatives prompted the Tweheyos (who had started being belligerent) to also become cautious regarding the alleged ineptness of the IG office. Largely due to Janet efforts, the President started striking a reconciliatory tone including publicly clarifying that his new anti-corruption Tsar Lt. Col Edith Nakalema (whose hotline he had read out to the public) wasn’t coming to replace or weaken the IG office but to rather play a complimentary role. In fact days later, Nakalema (a blue eyed girl of Janet) rang Mulyagonja and opened up saying “we must work together in this.” She showed loyalty and readiness to be subservient to the IG as opposed to seeking to overshadow or undermine her office. “That is how she [Nakalema] revealed to her that she had realized the job wasn’t simple. She told her about the thousands of phone calls her teams got within just hours after the President read out her hotline at a press conference. And on Janet’s prompting, the two Nakalema and Mulyagonja have continued working very closely without one being adversarial to the other,” says a knowledgeable source. In the meantime, Janet ensured the two (Museveni and Mulyagonja) spoke more often reflecting on the broader fight against corruption. She insisted the misgivings they might each have against each other notwithstanding, the two ought to operate and act as allies in the corruption fight as opposed to mistrust. It’s this frequent interaction and reconciliation that prompted Museveni to agree to become more supportive and visible in the anti-corruption activities including prominent participation in the just concluded anti-corruption week which on Monday saw him drive to Kololo Airstrip where he addressed thousands of Ugandans that were mobilized and kept waiting by the IG machinery.
That Monday, Museveni’s day started with participation in a cabinet meeting in Entebbe which he left after just 30 minutes. He then flew to Nakaseke from where he came straight to Kololo. He showed unprecedented courteousness towards Mulyagonja the chief organizer and event convener by keeping time like never before. He arrived 40 minutes past 3pm for an event where organizers expected him at 4pm. He was jovial and contrary to what many expected, he didn’t bash the IG. Speaking earlier Mulyagonja (who just like Museveni often does spoke in both English & Luganda) praised and thanked the President for supporting her office’s efforts against graft. Museveni too saluted the IG and other related agencies. He then proceeded to carefully unveil Nakalema whom he emphatically clarified had been unleashed to compliment as opposed to undermine or render the IGG irrelevant. Indeed after the Kololo ceremony, Museveni’s motorcade drove to President’s Office at Parliamentary Buildings where Mulyagonja and other agency heads joined him. The facility is located on levels 4 and 5 of the President’s office building. Nakalema took him around the facility including the very impressive call center through which the public is already reporting graft. After interacting with and dismissing reporters, Museveni stayed behind along with Mulyagonja and other agency heads. Museveni led them to Nakalema’s board room for a closed session to which no scribe was permitted. Reliable sources tell this news website that what transpired in that meeting showed Museveni’s readiness to give not just Mulyagonja but all the other agency heads 2nd chance to make an attempt at diminishing corruption in Uganda. “He was extremely courteous and respectful to all the agency heads present. He repeatedly told them corruption is a war that is his to win and he was relying on them to close all the loose ends. Nakalema too spoke and reassured them all of loyalty saying she was here to complement their work and not to fight or undermine any of them,” says a State House insider close to the matter. At the closed meeting were officials like Auditor General John Muwanga, Mulyagonja herself, DPP Mike Chibita, Simon Lokodo and representation from PPDA. As he left, Museveni indicated to officials around that he was looking forward to seeing them working very closely with Edith Nakalema adding that he doesn’t expect any intrigue against her. For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755.
