Former Vice President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya has advised Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja ‘to go slow’ while carrying out her duties, lest she annoys the ‘mafias’ in government.
The former Vice President said that the mafia in government are too many and one risks annoying them, at times even by doing the right thing.
Bukenya made these remarks while appearing on NBS Morning Breeze, Thursday.
“ I pray for Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja. I advise her to go slow because these people (mafia) are not ready to be disturbed,” Bukenya said.
“The mafia group is big, it participates in corruption and will remove any tree however deep the roots are. The mafia group wants to take over the country. It will try to destabilise anybody who is sincere to this country.”
Bukenya said that when he was still in government, he tried to raise the issue of the mafia in the state but he was ignored.
“I was ignored, but aren't you hearing people talking about them now?” he asked.
In July 2021, Prime Minister Nabbanja told journalists that she had started receiving death threats from unidentified people who were asking her to ‘back off their deals.’
The threats came only days after Nabbanja had rejected an assortment of relief items that were donated to flood victims in Kasese District, saying they are sub-standard.
https://nilepost.co.ug/2021/07/24/nabbanja-directs-igg-to-investigate-source-of-poor-standard-items-supplied-to-kasese-flood-victims/
Now Bukenya urged Nabbanja to be careful while handling government business, because the ‘mafias are real’ and will not stop at anything to push their deals through.
https://nilepost.co.ug/2021/07/24/i-have-started-receiving-death-threats-nabbanja/
Bukenya said that government while trying to groom leaders might have blundered somewhere and groomed some ‘arrogance’ which is why the mafia now exist.
Bukenya may have been the first public official to reveal the existence of "mafia" in government but he is far from the last. A litany of officials and private individuals have since hinted at figures who influence the running of government without public mandate.
