By Otim Nape
Led by Deborah Katuramu the Permanent Secretary Office of the President, a good number of senior civil servants, some of them at the level of PS, are in a somber mood following the endorsement of Victor Julius Nkeramihigo by public service to be appointed for the position of Under Secretary. As PS Presidency, Katuramu is mandated to be the one to originate the process for anyone to be promoted to the position of Under Secretary because typically those are administrative cadres whose everything is handled by presidency. But on this occasion, Katuramu became cagey vowing to everybody that Nkeramihigo, who years ago left to work with EAC Secretariat in Arusha (took leave without pay), would only rejoin public service over her dead body. This prompted one politically very big man in the OPM to casually joke to her “we can arrange for that madam Katuramu”-meaning they can arrange for her dead body over which Nkeramihigo can get to rejoin the service. Here we are now; Deborah Katuramu isn’t a dead body as yet but Nkeramihigo’s name has already been sent to the President for formal appointment. It will be recalled there are four vacant positions for the job of Under Secretary in four ministries namely Science & Technology, Energy and Public Service where the PS is Catherine Musingwire.
She had previously been accused of being the one stampeding Nkeramihigo onto the recruitment process so that he becomes her Under Secretary having failed to work with Lynette Bagonza and a one Mugunga who quit saying Catherine was too tough to work under. But in a recent interview with this news website, Musingwire denied being complicit in what many consider the irregular recruitment of Nkeramihigo who is understood to have powerful political backers in the OPM. “I don’t even know him to be frank with you. How can I be pushing for someone I don’t even know? That is rubbish,” Musingwire furiously said adding that it’s possible other civil servants are fearful of Nkeramihigo because of his brilliance, hard work, high ethical standards, incorruptibility and high academic qualifications. Sources close to his recruitment say the much-loathed man from Kisoro has an MBA and MPA, a combination none of his peers possess. “He will within a short time be elevated to PS and I think this what makes many of his peers insecure and fearful of his return to the service. But it’s also true the man is naturally a whistle blower always seeking to find fault in his superiors and then politically report them to the President, the IGG or even intelligence services,” said a source close to the recruitment process. The same source claimed that while serving at OPM as Principal Administrative Secretary (PAS), Nkeramihigo frustrated a multi-billion deal which left fellow technocrats with an egg on the face. “He is actually the unsung hero of the whistle blowing that got Kazinda caught pants down at the OPM but someone else took the prize after hijacking the thing from Nkeramihigo who was still having difficulties meeting the President or First Lady to report the Kazinda thuggery,” said a source friendly to Nkeramihigo claiming there are varied reasons why many accounting officers don’t like him.
In recruiting Nkeramihigo, the Public Service officials are faulted to have ignored Katuramu’s objections and instead called in David Obong the PS Science & Technology Ministry to constitute the panel that assessed Nkeramihigo’s suitability for the post of Under Secretary as opposed to subjecting him to competitive interviews. In what angered Katuramu, who has since been looking for the President to accuse political leaders at the OPM of undermining her authority, Obong was brought in her place to serve as the technical person during the Board A panel session that determined Nkeramihigo’s suitability with Catherine Birakwate Musingwire being the other PS on the panel. Deborah Katuramu, who passionately objects to Nkeramihigo’s return to the service (she considers him too indisciplined), is understood to be pondering resigning her juicy post calling the OPM political leaders’ interference unacceptable.
“You will die of pressure my dear sister; you should learn to let certain things pass because you found this public service there and you will leave it there,” a big name politician from the OPM is reported to have indifferently told off Katuramu a few days ago. There are fears that the manner in which Nkeramihigo is being returned to the service, sidelining the Presidency, could set a bad precedence that could inspire other administrative civil servants to overlook Katuramu and her office. Now with public service’s Board A passing him as very suitable for the post of Under Secretary, Nkeramihigo now only has one hurdle and that is State House whose head H/E Museveni will pass the names onto ISO for some formal security vetting whereafter his instrument of appointment will be signed and his appointment effected. There are fears this is going to cause turmoil because one source said “more than 80% of all the senior civil servants are personally interested in the matter because none of them wants to work with Nkeramihigo and they consider his promotional appointment back to the service very inappropriate.”
State House sources reliably informed this website that the names of the four Under Secretaries and that of Nkeramihigo (making them five) have already reached the President’s desk and their instruments of appointment will be out very soon. One of the successful Under Secretaries, whose identities we are reluctant to disclose at this point in time lest the big man changes his mind, is a very brilliant Muganda lady from Masaka. Many more seasoned civil servants had applied but they didn’t qualify and they are now furious seeing Nkeramihigo, who initially didn’t qualify having applied past the deadline, now on the verge of getting the job. Watch this space for more updates on this matter! For comments, call/text/whatsapp us on 0703164755!
