By Mulengera Reporters
President Museveni has acted with his characteristic magnanimity and opted to give second chance to his Finance Minister Matia Kasaijja (who many initially feared would be fired along with URA’s Doris Akol). (See related story; https://mulengeranews.com/the-m7-wednesday-meeting-that-sealed-doris-akol-fate/). Reliable Presidency sources have revealed to Mulengera News that, insisting his man “just has a weakness of being soft with people,” Gen Museveni recently interacted with some people and implied he wouldn’t be touching his long-time comrade Kasaijja anytime soon.
This is how an extremely dependable source rationalized Kasaija’s fate: “The President realizes that he is a political leader supervising a sector that comprises of very strong and sophisticated technocrats who can sometimes overwhelm him with their shrewdness and intellect, otherwise Mzee likes him for not being corrupt. He knows him as a well accomplished senior cadre who is not easily fascinated by material things. He likes him for being extremely loyal to him as his leader and believes he can make some genuine mistakes as a human as opposed to being motivated by desire for self-gain.”
The source contrasted Kasaijja’s loyalty and readiness to implement presidential directives with his thick-skinned predecessor Maria Kiwanuka who was so assertive that the President would sometimes be uncomfortable having to supervise such a strong character as his Minister in such a sensitive docket. “Unlike Maria Kiwanuka, Kasaijja just implements Mzee’s directives without ever having the guts to ask why?” says a source adding this is one credential Gen Museveni likes Kasaijja for.
Its further revealed that Museveni had initially been advised to herd out Akol and Kasaijja on the same day after getting reports that the leadership at Nakawa was lukewarm towards pushing through the Digital Stamps-related reforms in tax administration. That sometime back, Gen Museveni was approached by some foreigners who suggested revolutionary ways to improve collection of rent-related taxes from Ugandan property owners.
“He was patient for three years and in the end, after reluctantly letting them in, his men were thrown out by the leadership at URA with the acquiescence of officials at the Finance Ministry. It’s something over which haters, eyeing the Finance Ministry docket, tried to create a wedge between Mzee and his loyal man Kasaijja and at some point Mzee was so furious we all thought Kasaija was finished. But now with Akol out, Mzee’s revenue mobilization-related anger is gradually easing,” says an influential State House aide.
Museveni has also been made to realize that some of the omissions that made him angry with the URA leadership related to things Nakawa would have discussed and agreed upon with the powerful PSST Keith Muhakanizi and rarely with Matia Kasaijja who must only naturally take responsibility being the political leader for the sector.
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