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By Mulengera Reporters
Generals Kahinda Otafiire and Moses Ali have a lot in common including being pioneer members in Gen YK Museveni’s very first cabinet, which he had as of January 1986. It had 30 Cabinet Ministers and 10 deputy Ministers too.
The 30 full Cabinet Ministers had 12 from Buganda, seven from eastern and 6 from Western. The rest were from Greater North.
The 12 from Buganda included Samson Kisekka (Prime Minister & later VP), PK Semogerere (Internal Affairs), Evaristo Nyanzi (Trade), Andrew Kayira (Energy), Bidandi Ssali (Labour), Sam Njuba (Justice/Constitutional Affairs), Abu Mayanja (Information), Mayanja Nkangi (Education), David Lwanga (Environment), Sebaana Kizito (Regional Cooperation), Daniel Kigozi (father to singer Navio/Works) and Ibrahim Mukiibi (Foreign Affairs).
Back to Otafiire: He and Moses Ali were Museveni Ministers as early as January 1986 and are still part up to this day. The other longest serving Musevenist is Crispus Kiyonga who was Minister up to 2016 when he lost his seat in Kasese and got fired. He currently serves as Makerere Chancellor and also got back to Parliament in the January 2026 elections.
Over the years, Otafiire served as Minister in several dockets except in 1988 when he came under public pressure, forcing him to resign, after he drew a revolver at Sam Kutesa’s late wife (Jennifer) during an evening drink up at Kampala’s Fair Way hotel.
He wrote his resignation from Cabinet and the appointing authority accepted it. Museveni, whose wife Janet was a sister to Jennifer Kutesa, described the Otafiire altercation as an act of gross indiscipline which the Movement couldn’t tolerate regardless of who the perpetrator was.
Those days taking personal responsibility was fashionable inside the Movement and people were still capable of being ashamed unlike today when we live in a post-shame Uganda. Otafiire’s other cabinet-related low moment came in April 1996 when Gen Museveni dropped him from cabinet.
Otafiire protested by saying this was betrayal to an old comrade and threatened to cause some trouble for the CiC, as a soldier. Museveni sarcastically responded to this during a Movement meeting in Jinja and days later he appointed him his Military Advisor on the DRC pacification.
After the 2001 elections out of which he emerged reputation-wise very bruised by the unprecedented challenge Kizza Besigye mounted, Gen Museveni brought Otafiire back to Cabinet. He has remained a permanent fixture since that time without break.
Gen Moses Ali also had a break in 1990 when he was arrested and dramatically charged with treason against Gen Museveni’s very government in which he served. He was only discharged of those charges in 1992 and walked to freedom. In 2006, he lost his MP seat in Adjumani to a Besigye-fronted candidate and subsequently lost his Ministerial position only to bounce back after the 2011 elections, after years in the cold.
The trio of Kiyonga, Otafiire and Moses Ali clearly share in common the fact that they are hasslers who refused to politically die even after losing their MP seats and fought had to bounce back in Kasese for Kiyonga’s case, in Ruhinda/Mitooma for Otafiire’s case and in Moyo for Moses Ali’s case. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
