ARIAKA

In the run up to 2005 elections, Prof. Gilbert Bakaluba Bukenya, the vice president of the
Republic of Uganda took on an ambitious personal project.  He embarked on a poverty alleviation project whose main theme was upland rice growing in rural Uganda.  The good professor was in the news 24/7 for months on end.  The effects of this media exposure were not lost to the powerful people in the country as very soon, the old man was haunted, is it hunted?

Without much ado, the vice president upped the momentum, called Conrad Nkutu then the Managing Director at the then The Monitor Newspaper and gave him the media scoop of his time; an exclusive and fodder to feed the country for eons.  In the interview, the professor bemoaned the haunting by certain senior colleagues who are hiding under the leadership code to probe into his wealth by taking pictures of his chicken, papaya etcetera, yet, they have hidden mansions in Kololo.  He then introduced another allegory to our national lexicon (others have included past leaders, chicken dung, six feet, grinding stone, pumbavu) etc.  He said he was as hard as a Mahogany tree and will not flinch nor cower and; wrapped he up by claiming the existence of a mafioso (sic) in cabinet that is bent to finish him politically.  Do read the rhyme and rhythm?

A special session of cabinet meeting sat to resolve this matter to allay the fear in the country that the vice president is unfit and unable to discharge his duties, especially because the president was away at the time.

When we saw a beaming vice president, then minister of defence – Amama Mbabazi and the foreign affairs minister in a photo op a few days later?  A glance on the front page picture would suggest that perhaps, perhaps the spectacle before us included some members of the mafiosi as claimed by the vice president; and that the pictures wer…/ well, so we understood that there was no schism in cabinet; and that the vice president told a lie.

Anyway the damage was done to MAHOGANY; he coiled his tail and lay low, absent from the public.  This repose was a welcome respite for the third term strategists or agitators as the opposition was wont to call them. The point had been made that the only activity of paramount importance was looming. It  is the amendment of the constitution in which the tone of article 105 of the 1995 constitution would tuned for the president to assume another term in office.  A third term.  Some people cried that this was a sad term../..chuckle/…hmmm.

Certainly the minister of Defense and the heir apparent was to play a central role in this soap opera.  In the forthcoming party primaries, Mr. Amama Mbabazi would clinch the powerful position of secretary general of the ruling NRMO party.  Although that election ended in acrimony, with some hopefuls like Kahinda Otafiire crying foul; it was not lost on observers that the man from Kinkizi, with a reputation of winning unopposed was the favoured candidate for the post.

Amama Mbabazi did not fight in the bushes of Luwero triangle during the insurrection that ended with the fall of Kampala in January 1986, he made his mark in the diplomatic circles; giving the NRA rebellion an acceptable face and winning sympathies for the cause abroad.  He has served in Key positions of the party and government including among others: long stints as Director General of External security, long stints at the helm of foreign affairs ministry and that of Defense, and now minister of security.

He has the credentials so enviable that it is as fore gone as painlessly understood who makes the mark to succeed president Yoweri Kaguta when his term (sic) is up.  Until very recently, his public record was squeaky clean.  Now, as the general elections loom in the horizon, we are beginning to notice some action on the economic and political podium.  The whirlwind of Temangalo.

The National Social Security Fund is in the eyes of a vicious storm.  The parliamentary oversights committee is questioning the manner in which the public retirement benefit company acquired an investment to the tune of 11 billion Uganda Shillings (6 million USD).  As the details of the deal emerged, we learnt that the NRM party Secretary General is thickly involved through a surrogate company ARMA ltd.  He was quoted in the press to have something to the effect that there is a rationalization in a bank, the  National Bank of Commerce, where he wishes to consolidate his share holding.  Therefore a large tranche of money is most needed for him to achieve this objective.

When the public scrutiny of his involvement, possibly influence peddling took the better of him, the honorable minister sought to explain himself to the party caucus in parliament.  When he did this early in the week in a 28-page statement, he asked members to remember his part in the revolution.  He was rather, ah arrogant, saying the reason he needed the money is not for the committee to know.  And that the revolutionary is not corrupt, is it corruptible?  Instead of engendering, rather embedding his colleagues to his cause, I think he did the opposite.  For a number of caucus members rose against him, asking him to step aside so his conduct can be investigated with the killer punch of censure a grim prospect.

Looking at the behaviour of several individuals and certain activities trailing this saga, I propose the following hypotheses:

a)      The fires of 2011 general elections are beginning to stoke.

(i)                  That the party secretary general is already jostling to play an important part.

(ii)                That the president may not seek another term

b)      The damage on the Mr. Clean is done through this deal

(i)                  He is no longer  suitable for public office

(ii)                He needs to recover his reputation

To answer the first hypothesis, scroll up and read the preceding 17 paragraphs again. That done?  Now, to add onto that, consider this. The army commander, General Nyakairima, while addressing an association of university guild presidents was quoted in the media to have said that the army will respect the choice of the people in the forthcoming general elections.  Then yesterday, he was quoted to have said that the army would not support wrong elements, should they assume the high office. All this said within hours of each other while the NSSF broth is raging.

But wait a minute, is it not a favorite pastime of the NRM bigwigs to pass the opposition off as a party of worthless liars, saboteurs, anarchists?  So, what is the army commander telling us?  Rationalise a little bit.  Sigh and think.  Now.  Read. We will accept your election of someone from a certain party.  And, the good secretary general makes the billing, does he not?  He is not a wrong element, but part and parcel of the revolution that spawned UPDF and bore, bred and nurtured General Nyakairima and his chiefs.

In hypothesis number two, we see a flurry of activities to cleanse Mr. Clean.  First a comment in the press when this saga begun to take centre stage in our media.  The Secreatry General said, he needed the money to buy out some shareholders in the National Bank of Commerce.  So he owned up to the deal and we surely should see that it is a willing buyer, willing seller scenario.  But, some players in the NSSF land deal are said to be shareholders in the bank.  Rumours suggest, that Finance minister and Mr. Amos Nzeyi are directors in this; which spins a most interesting yarn.  That a clique of powerful power-broker shareholders, in a private bank are about to transfer a huge amount of workers savings into their enterprise.  Anyway, we need another day to deal with this new scenario.

Do we not see any influence peddling? As clearly as a sunny morning the media reports paints that picture.  Second in the line of defence is a sideshow from the Managing director of Akright Projects, a real estate company that claimed to have offered to buy the land at Temangalo at 28 million UGX per acre.  You see, ARMA Ltd did not overcharge NSSF as it declined a better offer from Mr. Alex Kamugisha. 

But you have to question Mr. Kamugisha on this; crying more than the bereaved or a case of crying over spilled milk?  Once a deal is lost, surely you do not call a press conference to bemoan your loss? The premise of this sideshow ought to be elsewhere, probably cleaning an image that is atrophying or is it atrophied???? Very putrid and disgusting!  Remember, any news on this scandal is carried on all national media; print, electronic, radio, television, word of mouth every time at prime news time.  The reverberation spreads far and wide and impropriety or more importantly, the lack of impropriety is known as far as much to the net effect of cleaning the mould.

Last weekend, in the Sunday Vision, it was the turn of Minister of finance to cleanse the bad odour.  He spoke exclusively to the reporter of Sunday Vision, explaining his approval of the proposal to buy the Temangalo land.  The blame for any wrong doing lies elsewhere and not the Finance ministry. Oh! There was nothing wrong really. As the procedures were followed, the job was done.  But you have to ask, for the Fund to shift to the ministry of finance for oversight, surely, surely, the minister must not only approve proposals from management, but question and veto where necessary, in public interest.  As it is, the Finance minister failed the public; klutzy is what they were.  He should have vetoed this deal.

Reading the Q&A, certainly there was no wrong doing.  The minister did his job.  But a shoddy job at it.  But a good job at clearing the bad air about the deal.  All this posturing helps the Secretary General and it should. Should it not? 

About two weeks ago, when it became obvious that this story will make a long and winding presence in the media, we read a brief to the auditor general, first from The Red Paper and The New Vision.  It was written by the management of NSSF explaining the circumstances that led to the purchase of the land at Wakiso.  We learnt why exceptions were made in this deal so that there was no competitive bidding; the opinion of real estate valuers, paid by Fund was lost, even when the three of them returned less than UGX 20 million per acre for this land; why the advise of the legal counsel was ignored, or rather that the legal counsel is actually retained to advise the client (the Fund).  That is a handful, and a mouthful already.

So will the good Minister of security resign as he promised to the parliamentary caucus, if his impropriety is proved?  If the suggestion from General Saleh is a tall order, he should look no further than across the front bench….., up to Major General Kahinda Otafiire who once almost killed somebody. 

Back in the late 80s’, about 1988, Otafiire was riled by the wife of a senior colleague.  Ota fire (you’ll die).  He whipped out his .000 calibre spitfire and (……) did not squeeze the trigger.   That was a precedent.  For that grave offence, the minister resigned from cabinet.  Of course he made it back into cabinet in the next cabinet reshuffle. But that is quite an example.  No nonsense people match their words with deeds. 

The secretary general is a no nonsense man.  We all know that. He should just resign.  He should not wait to be pushed. For the rewards of valour is huge. And a revolutionary he is. He will reap big time.  He will shore his standing in the Ugandan psyche that will stand him in good stead as the race for the top job hots up.  He will reclaim his very important face and be suitable for the highest office.

We must ponder the bad luck that wafts from honey.  NSSF holds our honey.  All sorts of predators are keen on their share of the booty. Our funds. Where does this leave the savers?  Me and you and our future?  I think we must find some answers.  There have been too many questions. We need a stronger board, with workers and employers representatives on board the board.  We must shift the supervision of the Fund to parliament.  Or we must break this monopoly? Oopen up the industry to competition and let the true forces of demand and supply determine a successfully company.

We must remove the temptation of government or powerful interest groups from dipping their hands in the honey pot.  We must delineate the precious workers’ money from the fiddling hands of politics.