Opinion: How Museveni’s right-hand lieutenants are letting him down

For those that are not aware, this is precisely what happened, at least according to the information we have: 

1) A one Mr. Paul Kyalimpa contested against Hon. Matia Kasaija in NRM primaries or Buyanja  Country MP flag-bearer. Hon. Matia Kasaija is the Minister of Finance.

2) Mr. Kyalipma rejected the results of primaries, which he believed were rigged for and/or by Hon. Kasaija.

3) Mr. Kyalimpa decided to proceed with the contest and got nominated as an independent candidate for 2021 general elections for the same seat Hon. Kasaija was eyeing. All this is happening and Mr Kasaija is aware that his opponent has not given up contesting against him.

4) With the heat turning up, Hon Kasaija meets His Excellency the President in Gulu and uses that opportunity to seek his permission to have Kyalimpa appointed as Deputy Director General, Uganda Investment Authority. Keep in mind that Uganda Investment Authority is a body under Kasaija’s direct control as Minister of Finance.

5) On 24th November 2020, the President writes to Kasaija giving a green light for Kasaija to proceed with Kyalimpa’s appointment if he meets the requirements for the position.

6) On 7th December 2020, the returning officer of Kibaale writes to formally inform the electoral commission of Mr Kyalimpa’s withdrawals as a candidate and declaration of Hon. Kasaija as an unopposed MP-elect for the next parliament.

7) Moments later, Hon. Matia Kasaija runs to his social media pages and tells Ugandans how he is unopposed because the people of “Kibaale” made their voice clear (he forgets that Ugandans know how to read in-between the lines).

It is important to remember that as all this is happening, and for the years Uganda Investment Authority has existed, the Uganda Investment Authority Act, does not have a post of “Deputy Director General,” to which Mr. Kyalimpa has been appointed. 

However, Mr. Kasaija has been able to find need for the position, create its benefits and renumeration and ably convince the president in all his wisdom and that of his advisors, that finally that position is necessary and Kyalimpa is a suitable one for the position.

THE COMPLEX EVENT ANALYSIS 

When one sane mind makes a complex event analysis of events, the conclusion seems to be described in four major words; corruption, manipulation, taking the president for granted and most importantly under estimating the intelligence of Ugandans. 

There is no way a person is going to convince Ugandans that Matia Kasaija found need to create a new office during a time his opponent was contesting against him and that above all people in Uganda, Kyalimpa was the best fit for this position.

QUESTIONS RUNNING THROUGH MY MIND RIGHT NOW AND MAYBE OTHER UGANDANS OUT THERE

1) It is well known that Kyalimpa has pulled out of the race after being appointed Deputy for Uganda Investment Authority and Matia Kasaija has emerged unopposed, but what am still asking myself is, what happened to the opponents from other parties? Are they researchers now in Ministry of finance?

2) What genuine reason did Matia Kasaija give to the President, and that is accountable to Ugandans, for having found need to convince the president to authorize that appointment? Was the president tricked into believing that if Uganda Investment Authority has no Deputy (for all years it has existed) it will collapse by 2021? Was the president even aware of who Kyalimpa exactly meant to Kasaija?

3) Also, does Kyalimpa competently meet the requirements for the position as cautioned by the president in his letter to the minister? Is he the most competent of all educated Ugandans in the country? Or is he the default appointee simply because he posed an imminent threat to Kasaija’s political interests?

4) Is President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni really the one running this country? Is he aware to the fullest extent of the things happening in this country especially among people he trusts with authority?

PR CRISIS FOR PRESIDENT MUSEVENI

With the President authorizing that appointment, Ugandans are now made to believe that the president is the harbor of corruption. Even if the president was just misled by Kasaija’s presentation that could have  been based on “actual” need for the deputy director of UIA, Ugandans will forever believe that the president rather took that action just to protect Kasaija’s political interests. Does Kasaija realize the PR crisis his actions have caused and are continuing to cause the President?

If Kasaija cares about the PR crisis his actions have caused the president, he should come out and explain this coincidence. Otherwise, if he does not, this clearly shows how many more people in government are selfishly elevating their interests at the expense of President Museveni’s PR. By the time the president wakes up to the reality, many more Ugandans will have gotten fed up of NRM.

To preserve NRM’s political reputation, top officials need to be more sensitive about repercussions of their actions before thinking of their own interests.

 

Prosper Belguin is a market intelligence and strategy expert. He is the CEO and founder of Young & Free International Limited, a youth supporting, market intelligence and lobbying firm.

Twitter handle: @belguinprosper

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