AMAMA MBABAZI FOR PRIME MINISTER?

If we had a Parliament that is after credible personalities then Amama Mbabazi would just be disqualified. There is no smoke without fire. His name has been so much soiled that for the credibility of the country at least the MPs vetting the appointed Ministers would just drop him. But the corrective responsibility of those in NRM caucus may not give this chance. So, the common man has nothing to expect in the 5 years which have started.
MUSEVENI NAMES SSEKANDI VP, MBABAZI PRIME MINISTER

NEW UGANDA: President Museveni has appointed Bukoto South MP Edward Ssekandi as Vice President, seen here shaking hands on the steps of Uganda parliament. Photo by Stephen Wandera
Posted Tuesday, May 24 2011 at 11:41
President Museveni has announced to the NRM caucus sitting at State House in Entebbe that he has appointed former House Speaker, Edward Ssekandi as his next Vice President.
Ssekandi, will replace the Prof Gilbert Bukenya who was informed on Monday that he would be dropped.
President Museveni is also expected to name a new Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Attorney General at the ongoing Tuesday meeting. Mr Museveni has also named Security minister Amama Mbabazi as the new Prime Minister. Mr Mbabazi also doubles as NRM Secretary General.

PAC REPORT IS NONSENSE SAYS AMAMA MBABAZI
SOURCE:http://allafrica.com/stories/201006030897.html
Security Minister Amama Mbabazi has launched a fresh offensive to clear his name of corruption allegations arising out of procurement deals for the 2007 Commonwealth summit (CHOGM) in Kampala.
With a report accusing him and several of his Cabinet colleagues of financial impropriety coming up for debate in Parliament this month, The Observer has learnt that Mbabazi is preparing to tell President Museveni that the accusations are politically motivated.
On Tuesday, Mbabazi confirmed that he is indeed preparing his defence, which he will present to Parliament when given the opportunity. "Yes, I am preparing the document but it is not ready," he said in a phone interview. He declined to reveal details of his defence.
But according to bits of the leaked dossier, Mbabazi denies the accusation of influence-peddling and meddling in procurement procedures. He also argues that he tried hard to explain in simple terms what his role was in CHOGM but PAC chose to write their own things in the report.
In citing politics, the minister would be playing the same card that worked for him during the Temangalo saga where he was accused of influencing NSSF to purchase his large chunk of land outside Kampala.
We have been told by impeccable sources that the minister's dossier dismisses the report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament as having been influenced by political biases.
The PAC report, tabled before Parliament last month amidst acrimony in the House, accuses Mbabazi of influence-peddling in the procurement of security devices worth $5 million.
Sources close to the minister have told us that Mbabazi intends to use his own report to show President Museveni that in accusing him of corruption, the opposition-led PAC was playing a political game to weaken the ruling NRM party where he is secretary general.
"What is influence-peddling? What does the law say about influence-peddling? They (PAC members) need to go back to school. The poor public thinks it is a terrible crime. They don't know what it means, you the media need to help," Mbabazi told The Observer.
According to sources, Mbabazi said in his report that "no sensible person can take that PAC report seriously." Indeed the man himself told The Observer that: "There is nothing in that report that makes sense."
PAC recommended that Mbabazi be held responsible for his "hidden interest" in the $5 million TETRA communication system deal where, on his command, the money was spent outside the budget approved by Parliament for CHOGM.
"The Minister of Security introduced the idea of $5,000,000 to the President, the first time ever, the figure surfaced in the CHOGM sub-committee meeting of September 12, 2006, documented under minute 05/06," PAC said in its report.
"Whereas the minister explained to the committee that by this time he was only communicating a result of a procurement process, and that this was at the tail-end of it, it was not true. This was confirmed by Mr. Ochieng, Director of Internal Security, who stated that by the time of the above meeting, there had been no formal procurement process at that time," PAC added.
But Mbabazi distanced himself from allegations that he overlooked procurement regulations. "The PPDA Act doesn't affect me. I am not in charge of procurement," he told The Observer.
According to sources that have seen the minister's dossier, Mbabazi argues that when he introduced the deal to the President, he was only performing his duties as a policy maker and never got involved in the process of procuring the communication system.
The minister thus tells PAC to blame the officers who handled the procurement process. PAC also pins Mbabazi over initiating the deal. But Mbabazi says in his defence that he was informed by the accounting officer that the equipment would cost $5 million and that is what he communicated to the President. He adds that he made this point clear when he appeared before the PAC.

PAC, however, states that: "The Committee is concerned that the technical team had returned an evaluation of $3.2 million from Balton and the Minister of Security who is not technical raised the value to $5 million. It was also noted that the procurement of the Tetra system for the security did not comply with the PPDA regulations."

The Observer has been told that Mbabazi, who described himself as "Inspector General of CHOGM" when he appeared before the probe committee, is closely working with some members of the committee to bolster his case.
Our sources mention Saleh Kamba (Kibuku County) among others. In April, as PAC met in Jinja to write its final report, Kamba, together with MPs Alex Byaruhanga (Isingiro South), Frank Tumwebaze (Kibale County) and Beatrice Lagada (Oyam District), clashed with Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga) over the latter's attempt to blame Mbabazi for the inflated Balton deal.
There were also attempts, allegedly orchestrated by the NRM Chief Whip, Daudi Migereko, to block the report from being tabled on the floor of Parliament, or at least delay it, a move that raised tempers amongst opposition MPs.
TEMANGALO
During the Temangalo investigation, NRM MPs were again sharply divided over Mbabazi's guilt or innocence, leading President Museveni to conclude that the inquiry had been politicised. This time, the President told PAC members at State House last month that he would act on their report "as long as there are facts, evidence and no bias."

PAC chairman, Nathan Nandala Mafabi, told The Observer this week that although Mbabazi explained to the committee that he had only participated in the deal at the tail-end, the committee established that this was not true.
"The Evaluation Committee had evaluated five firms on 28th of August 2006 and come up with the cost of TETRA system at $3.2 million but on 29th August 2006, Hon. Amama Mbabazi instead wrote to the President giving the cost of the equipment as ranging from $3million to $7million. He also recommended Balton because of favourable terms," Mafabi said.
"The minister is responsible for all this. If he jumps this one like he did with Temangalo, for us we will have done our work," Mafabi added.
TEMANGALO SAGA BACK IN PARLIAMENT
Source: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/685950
Thursday, 25th June, 2009
By Milton Olupot
THE Temangalo land issue that threatened the political life of security minister Amama Mbabazi is resurfacing in Parliament as the committee on rules, privileges and discipline begins to probe allegations that Mbabazi interfered with the probe committee and that some of its members leaked the report to him.
The committee chairman, Peter Nyombi (NRM), yesterday instructed the deputy clerk of Parliament to give the members the details of the complaints, which had been referred to the committee by the Speaker.
The complaints were raised by different MPs during last year’s probe into allegations that Mbabazi abused his office when he, together with his business partner, Amos Nzeyi, sold land to NSSF at sh11b, the biggest chunk of which belonged to Nzeyi.
MPs said Mbabazi held meetings to influence MPs on the probe committee. Members of the committee, who wrote a minority report exonerating him, were also accused of leaking the report. They are expected to appear before the committee to defend themselves.
The majority report, chaired by Johnson Malinga (Independent), found Mbabazi and then finance minister Ezra Suruma guilty of breaching the leadership code, conflict of interest and influence peddling.
The minority report, however, did not find fault with the land deal, saying there was value for money, and argued that Parliament had no powers to enforce the leadership code.
Both reports were tabled before Parliament. But before the debate could start, minister Adolf Mwesige concurred that the power to enforce the leadership code was with the IGG. Consequently, the Speaker asked the attorney general for an opinion. “It is clear that the standing committee acted in good faith in conducting an inquiry under the Leadership Code and in making findings and conclusions under the code. However, it did not have any such mandate,” Makubuya advised.
Mbabazi, also the secretary general of the NRM party, has dismissed accusations of interference, saying it is a witch-hunt by some MPs who want to destroy the NRM.
Besides complaints in relation to the Temangalo saga, the discipline committee will also investigate allegations against Tororo County MP, Geoffrey Ekanya (FDC), that he abused his office as chairperson of the local government accounts committee when investigating the lease of Nakasero Market by city tycoon Basajabalala.
But Ekanya claims that his accuser, Erias Lukwago (DP), leaked his report to the market vendors before it was tabled in Parliament.
In addition, the committee will investigate a complaint of defamation by the deputy Speaker against MP Saleh Kamba (NRM). The latter allegedly accused Kadaga in the party caucus of campaigning for opposition candidate Abdu Katuntu against Kirunda Kivejinja in the Bugweri by-Election.

CHOGM SCANDAL: NRM MPs WANT MINISTERS SACKED
National Resistance Movement MPs are calling for the sacking of cabinet ministers implicated in financial scandal related to Uganda's hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2007.
The MPs say that with the 2011 general elections in sight, the ministers are a liability to the party.
A report on the conduct of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) implicates Vice President Gilbert Bukenya and his cabinet colleagues Sam Kuteesa, Amama Mbabazi, Hope Mwesigye, John Byabagambi, John Nasasira and Jachan Omach. Their management of the meeting is alleged to have cost Uganda billions of shillings.
CHOGM 2007 was initially budgeted to cost 270 billion shillings. However over time this was raised to 500 billion shillings. The CHOGM report accuses the ministers and several senior government officials of inflating prices, awarding conference tenders to their family and friends and profiting from the mismanagement of the meeting.
Last week President Yoweri Museveni met NRM MPs at State House Entebbe to try to resolve the matter. It ended in an impasse. A second NRM parliamentary caucus meeting was convened on Wednesday and still the MPs refused to save the ministers.
On Thursday, a daylong cabinet meeting was held in an attempt to save the ministers. By late evening no resolution had been made and cabinet insiders say there was a frantic effort to find a common way forward.
A third NRM parliamentary caucus meeting will be held on Friday to discuss the cabinet proposals.
Despite the open tension between the ministers and the caucus, few NRM MPs are willing to speak on the record about the matter.
Only Theodore Ssekikubo, the Lwemiyaga MP, has offered comment. He says the NRM stands for zero tolerance for corruption and he vows not to change his position in calling for their immediate resignation.
Read more: http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=29475#ixzz3AtkHjjT4

HOW AMAMA MBABAZI, SURUMA SURVIVED THE NSSF SAGA
Saturday, 8th November, 2008
By Cyprian Musoke and Moses Mugalu
He finally managed to sigh in relief after Parliament cleared him of wrongdoing in the NSSF land saga that had dominated the public spectrum for nearly three months.
The relieved security minister, Amama Mbabazi, on Friday told Sunday Vision that he was happy the whole thing was over, adding that he harbours no bitterness against anybody.
“I am a leader and I expect to be subjected to political scrutiny. I am happy I was not found wanting in anyway. There are people who obviously wanted to use this as an opportunity to pull me down, most of them in my party, but I forgive them and we move on,” he said.
Finance Minister Dr. Ezra Suruma said: “I don’t hold grudges in my life, but I hope members realise we need discipline in the party.”
The two ministers found themselves at the centre of a controversy sparked off by NSSF’s purchase of land in Temangalo at sh24m per acre. Accusations of influence-peddling, conflict of interest and inflating the price were levelled against them, prompting a parliamentary probe.The issues threatened to tear the party apart.
It took the NRM caucus meeting last Monday at State House Entebbe to weigh the findings and recommendations of the probe committee to clear the ministers.
The meeting was convened to hammer out a party position ahead of Tuesday’s debate on the NSSF report. This followed a two-month probe after the Fund bought land from city businessman Amos Nzeyi and Arma Limited, a company linked to Mbabazi.
Two reports were produced. The main one signed by 14 of the 20 members on the committee accused Mbabazi and Suruma of influence-peddling and conflict of interest. Both ministers have shares in the National Bank of Commerce (NBC). Mbabazi and Nzeyi, another shareholder, sold their land to increase their shareholding in the bank.
NSSF is supervised by the minister of finance.
During the Monday meeting, President Yoweri Museveni explained to the caucus members that it is not the Government that decided to rescue NBC, but rather shareholders sold their properties and bought shares that were on sale.
This followed members, among them Kinkinzi East MP Chris Baryomunsi inquiring from the President whether he benefited from the sale of the land in Temangalo. The President reportedly emphasised that the Temangalo issue was simply a sale of land as the sellers needed money for other purposes.
Parliament on Thursday cleared security minister Mbabazi, Suruma and the NSSF management of any wrongdoing in the purchase of 463 acres of land.
After an acrimonious debate laced with wrestling of legal and political muscles and a walkout by the opposition MPs, the House, presided over by the Speaker Edward Ssekandi, approved a motion to absolve the ministers and NSSF.
Sources who attended the Entebbe caucus meeting said the President opined that the sale should not be equated to the cases of Greenland Bank, the Bakoko Bakoru issue or that of Jim Muhwezi.
“He cautioned that they should avoid mixing up issues. The President repeatedly emphasised that there was no reason for him to fire Mbabazi and Suruma,” the sources said.
Earlier, the two ministers had asked to apologise to their colleagues in the NRM for the acrimony that had accompanied the Temangalo saga over the last two months. The saga had divided the legislators into two camps, one claimed the two ministers were guilty, while another defended them, saying they were innocent.
According to sources, the President clarified that the apology was “more to contribute to re-building harmony in the NRM than admission of wrongdoing.”
In his apology, Suruma reportedly said sorry for unintended lapses in the entire land sale transaction. Mbabazi apologised for not having paid sufficient attention to the details of the transaction.
“Mbabazi went on to explain that he should have paid more attention to the details and also to the squatters. He clarified that all encumbrances on the land had been solved,” sources said.
Before that, sources said, there were disagreements on whether or not Mbabazi should apologise, with some legislators saying this would be admission of guilt on his part.        
“But as the meeting was reaching a consensus, one member said that the Minister of Security should refund Temangalo money and also resign,” sources said.    “This contribution threw the entire meeting into panic and tempers started rising, but the proposal did not find sustenance.”
According to sources, some MPs felt that the Temangalo saga was about politics and that a few were using it to get at Mbabazi for several reasons.
MP Anifa Kawooya, in her contribution during the meeting, pointed out that lies were being perpetuated in the corridors of Parliament targeting Mbabazi, who is also the NRM secretary general.
“There are many rumours here: some people accuse Mbabazi of having killed the late Brig. Noble Mayombo. Others are promoting the myth that the President wants him to be sacked, these rumours must stop and people should be honest,” the source quotes Kawooya as having said.           
Buyaga MP Barnabas Tinkasimire reportedly told the President that the anti-Mbabazi group would also go for him (Museveni) after the secretary general.
“Mr. President, this move seems to be against Mbabazi, but subsequently, it is going to be against you,” sources quoted Tinkasimire cautioning Museveni.
In the Monday meeting that was characterised by “a lot of heat and finger-pointing”, the President is reported to have singled out Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire and Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi,  MPs Chris Baryomunsi and Frank Tumwebaze (Kibale) as some of those trying to make political capital from the NSSF land saga, a source said.
The President reportedly told the meeting that they were in a liberation movement where problems needed to be resolved scientifically, not emotionally, with honesty and not prejudice. He urged the members to handle the issue of Temangalo administratively, according to an MP who preferred to remain anonymous.
Museveni is said to have pointed out that Muhwezi and Prof. Apolo Nsibambi sold their land in the same place at a higher price.
“Mbabazi was a seller and this is not procurement, but an investment. It is not like supply (of goods) that needs tendering. Mbabazi has nothing to answer. Then about this Bakiga Bank, the National Bank of Commerce, this is a bank for the local people and there are shareholders even at sub-county level,” Museveni reportedly said.
He reportedly quoted a “friend” who told him that Otafiire had intimated that “when you injure a buffalo, you must finish it off because if you don’t, it will kill you”, a viled reference to his grudges against Mbabazi.
Tumwebaze, the President noted, was angry because he heard that Mbabazi had planned to sponsor the chairman of the Broadcasting Council, Godfrey Mutabaazi, to stand against him in the next election.
“I am the one in charge and I will not allow anybody to destroy the Movement, and I have the capacity,” he reportedly stressed.
According to sources, Mbabazi gave the MPs an assurance that he would not harm anyone.
Sources added that “the President also assured the MPs that he was in charge and would prevail on Mbabazi not to harm anyone”.
According to sources, the  President emphasised that some people had been saying the NSSF deal was a personal matter which should not have involved the party, but he pointed out the petitioners brought it to the NRM parliamentary caucus and at that point it became a party matter and the party had no choice, but to deal with it.
In August, seven MPs petitioned the party Chief Whip, Kabakumba Matsiko, to summon Mbabazi to explain his role in the NSSF land deal when it became public. The MPs were Tinkasimire,  Sanjay Tana (Tororo Municipality), Henry Banyenzaki (Rubanda West), Winfred Nuwagaba (Ndorwa East), Okot Ogong ( Dokolo), Denis Obua (Youth Northern) and Amooti Otada (Kibanda).  
In the Monday meeting, which was also used to heal the divisions in the party, Museveni strongly advised the caucus to learn how to deal with mistakes in a national liberation movement or political party, asking them to differentiate between a ‘leaf that has fallen into a cup of tea and a fly falling into the same tea.’
Sources said he urged members of the caucus to speak with one voice on the floor of Parliament during the debate on the majority and minority reports.
During the stormy day-long meeting at State House Entebbe, the NRM parliamentary caucus overwhelmingly passed a number of resolutions absolving Mbabazi and Suruma of wrongdoing in the NSSF-Temangalo land sale.
The Caucus noted that there had been value for money in the land sale and that there had been no conflict of interest or influence-peddling on the part of the two ministers. The meeting also noted that the Solicitor General, in a letter to the committee last month, clarified that procurement of land was not provided for in the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) Act.
The meeting, which went on until late night, “brought out the bad, the good and the ugly, as members fully and freely expressed themselves. The atmosphere was charged, with members heckling and some ready to fight for the survival of their political party,” sources said.

GOVT GURUS HAVE STOLLEN SHS 1.4 TRILLION SINCE 1997
SOURCE: http://www.independent.co.ug/reports/special-report/3777-govt-gurus-have-stolen-shs-14-trillion-since-1997
Tuesday, 28 December 2010 10:16 by mubatsi asinja habati

Corruption continues to keep Uganda in the news. Two weeks ago, the Anticorruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU) published a list of big corruption scandals in the country since 1997 which have never been concluded or where the accused have never been held to account. The list drawn from media reports puts the total money swindled from public coffers at a staggering Shs1.4 trillion which is a quarter of Uganda's annual budget.

[Raphael Baku]
In the ongoing presidential campaigns across the country, each candidate is vowing to eliminate corruption. The ACCU Executive Director, Cissy Kagaba, urges Ugandans to vote out corrupt leaders and those who purport to fight corruption but do little or nothing about it.
Quantifying the services that Ugandans would have enjoyed if the money had not been stolen, Kagaba said that at Shs 15000 of a dose of Coartem for malaria, the stolen Shs 1.4 trillion would buy 94,189,650 doses of the drug. This would drastically reduce the drug shortages in public hospitals and reduce malaria related deaths that stand at 320 every day in Uganda.
If this money was used to pay primary school teachers it would pay 6,422,021 teachers at Shs 220,000 salary per month. Given that there are 124,630 teachers employed by the government, the Shs1.4 trillion would have paid salaries of all government teachers for four years.
An evaluation report by the Joint Assessment Framework which brings together the government of Uganda and some budget support partners valued the cost of building a classroom under the Universal Primary Education at Shs14 million. Therefore the stolen money since 1997 would have constructed 100,917 classrooms saving children from studying under trees and grass-thatched classrooms.
The same amount of money would have constructed 94,189 boreholes at Shs15 million per borehole thereby saving 44% of rural Ugandans, who have no access to clean and safe water, from water borne diseases.
The ACCU shows that the money stolen by corrupt officials since 1997 is higher by Shs100m than that of Ministry of Works and Transport, the ministry with the biggest budgetary allocation in the national budget.
The 2005 Global Fund mismanagement scandal is top with the biggest money lost. It's followed by the November 2007 CHOGM scandal. The ACCU says Shs660 billion was mismanaged in the Global Fund project which was meant to fight Malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB while Shs247 billion was stolen from the Shs500 billion budgeted for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
The ACCU also cites the 1998 purchase of four junk M1-24 military helicopters by the Ministry of Defence where the country lost Shs11 billion.
In 1998 businessman Emma Kato and Gen. Salim Saleh, President Museveni's brother, were at the centre of the deal. Saleh facilitated the execution of the deal and received $800,000 off the transaction. A commission of inquiry into the purchase of the helicopters held that Saleh's US$800,000 amounted to a bribe. Museveni later said that Saleh had confessed to him that he had been offered a bribe in the purchase of the helicopters but that the president had advised him to use the money for the military operations against the LRA rebels in the north. The choppers had been bought to end the LRA insurgency. But upon discovering that the helicopters were not airworthy, the air force refused to fly them.
The commission's Chairperson Justice Julia Sebutinde recommended that Saleh, Kato and their associates in the scandal be prosecuted. But the Director of Public Prosecutions declined to charge Saleh. He charged Kato and brought Saleh as a state witness in the trial. Saleh’s testified in favour of Kato and the latter was acquitted.

The ACCU observes that former minister of health Jim Muhwezi and his former junior health ministers Mike Mukula and Alex Kamugisha and State House aide Alice Kaboyo were briefly sent to jail over the mismanagement of the Global Fund money, but were released on bail. Their case has never been concluded in court since 2005. Other ministers Amama Mbabazi and Fred Omach were implicated in the Shs247 billion CHOGM scandal but were later exonerated by parliament on dubious grounds.
Parliaments action killed the morale to debate the Public Accounts Committees report on abuse of CHOGM funds.
The staggering amount has been stolen despite several institutions appointed to fight corruption such as the Minister of Ethics and Integrity Nsaba Buturo, Inspector General of Government Raphael Baku, Anti-Corruption Court, Police and parliament among others.
This month the Dutch Ambassador to Uganda Jeroen Verheul announced that his country would cut its aid to Uganda by Shs10 billion due to the governments failure to punish officials implicated by the CHOGM report.
Last month the British also withheld Shs 27 billion in direct aid over the same reasons. Donors contribute 33% of Uganda's Shs7.3 trillion budget this financial year.
Transparency International has consistently ranked Uganda among the most corrupt countries in the world, a few places to top the table. The 2010 Global Corruption Barometer findings indicate that corruption in Uganda has increased over the last three years with one in four people having paid a bribe. According to this year’s report people think that political parties are the most corrupt institutions followed by the police.
ACCU warns that in the next three or more years, taxpayers will have no option but to finance Uganda's debt of Shs89 billion for the additional funding to CHOGM.
Hosting CHOGM had initially been estimated to cost Shs270 billion but due to corruption, the amount shot to Shs500 billion.

Building on the theme ‘Do not let Electoral Corruption Kill Democracy and Development’ Kagaba urges voters: “Vote leaders who are neither corrupt nor condone and sympathise with the corrupt.

LUKWAGO'S WORK WILL BE EASY IF HE IS NOT CORRUPTED

Lukwago will find work easy if he keeps his hands clean. When he gets the support of the people who want to see a better city and he is committed to that, things should work out. Lukwago has to balance between what is right and that so and so voted him. Where there is need for order, let it be.
Kituuka

LUKWAGO SWEARS

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Lord Mayor Elias Lukwago (R) takes oath as his wife looks on.
Photo by Stephen Wandera
By Monitor Reporter

Posted Friday, May 20 2011 at 17:57

On a colourful Friday morning the newly elected Kampala City Lord Mayor Mr Erias Lukwago and city councillors took oath, marking a transition from Kampala City Council (KCC) to Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
The executive director of KCCA, Ms Jennifer Musisi Ssemakula, a presidential appointee, conducted the ceremony punctuated by jubilations and cheering by supporters of the various councillors and the Lord Mayor.
FDC Leader, Dr Kizza Besigye attended Mr Lukyago's swearing in ceremony.

ARCH BISHOP (DR). JOSEPH KIWANUKA AS TOLD BY DR. KKOLOKOLO

These articles were initially written for the audience of St. Mary's College Kisubi (SMACK) Old Boys where the Doctor is an Old Boy.

DR JOSEPH. KIWANUKA : A MAN OF VERY EMINENT QUALITIES

By Dr G. H. Kkolokolo (Paris-France)

In his very brilliant writings, Rev Fr Yves Tourigny, former Archivist of Kampala Archdiocese, once talked about Archbishop Dr Kiwanuka’s death and said that it pained the nation so much that it almost appeared that the whole country went into mourning and that but his funeral was more of a triumph, the triumph of a humble and a courageous life which had won the admiration of all those who knew him!





In general this observation smartly introduces us to that Dr Kiwanuka who, because of his very many countless excellent qualities, rose in profile from a mere boy from his native Nnakirebe village to become one of the greatest churchmen Christianity has ever produced and one of the most notable figures Africa has ever known!
This ascetic and intellectual Archbishop, who was indeed an inspiration to all SMACKists, was a man of very many rare qualities and that’s why he was popular both at home and abroad and was unanimously respected all over Africa. Let’s now look at those extraordinary qualities that made him a legend all over the world.

Dr Kiwanuka was a man of determination, resolution, decision, and had a strong will and a real backbone ! He was a no-nonsense person who at the same time was such an intrepid individual who never hesitated to call a spade a spade ! And he never feared to speak his mind to anybody. That’s why he was always a conqueror, winning battle after battle ! And he was reported to be uncompromising on a principle. That’s why many would even say that he was a tough bishop! Yes, he had always been a tough mind since childhood.

At Mitala Maria where he did his Primary School and was always the best student in class, it is said that one day some people, maybe acting as a rebellious group, did succeed in secretly seducing altar boys from serving the daily morning Mass, but in spite of all threats and insults uttered at him, young Joseph Kiwanuka remained strongly loyal to the priests and refused to be enticed by what he considered to be a very cheap nonsense! And he won the admiration of his superiors ! At his aunt’s where he used to stay, it is said that one day some of his cousins, inspired by a local custom from the neighbours, adopted the habit of marking with ash a special sign on the face of the first person to fall asleep at bed-time. Young Kiwanuka reported this matter to his aunt and in addition went to a nearby bush, cut some reeds and built a fence around his bed so that nobody could disturb his vey much needed sleep!

He applied this indomitable strong will that enabled him to do marvels to his keen sense of labour and hardwork. Dr Kiwanuka was known for his deep attachment to duty and work. Even at the sunset of his life the serious-minded prelate still continued to labour hardest despite his poor health ! Through all this he had to get to envision a number of great things. For example when he was still bishop of Masaka, he lost his most esteemed secretary and he had to do everything alone without a secretary! This was one of the things which Providence put before him to be the motive of implementing firmly and resolutely the idea of sending many seminarians, religious and priests abroad for further studies. And the results are there to testify!

And on the other hand he succeeded to instill that sense of duty in his clergy and in his diocesans. All over Masaka region there was a saying :“ Kiwanuka yali tannajja twabanga mu kunuusa bugolo na kunywa mwenge okutuusa lweyatukwatamu netuyiga okukola! ”(Prior to Kiwanuka’s era our routine was chiefly axed on pinching snuff and on drinking sordidly until he boldly awakened us to the realities of duty, labour and hard work!)
And even as a simple priest, Dr Kiwanuka would found projects whereby people could participate in self-help schemes as applied to the means available in their midst. In one well-known parish he actively participated in teaching people how to improve on and enrich their homestead with items made out of clay, reeds and papyrus. And the faithful appreciated on seeing lots of tangible results! Thus he was already an inventive mind long before becoming bishop!
Dr Kiwanuka owed many things to his intellectual aptitudes which never let him down on any occasion and in any circumstance. He was always very top successful as a pupil, student, seminarian and priest. The Musizi edition of April 1966 which was in itself a complete obituary to Dr Kiwanuka pointed to his superb intelligence at seminary, right from Bukalasa Minor Seminary; the Munno edition of 15.05.1965, published on the eve of celebrations to mark Dr Kiwanuka’s Episcopal Silver Jubilee, noted that by that time in the history of Katigondo Major Seminary just only three students had succeeded to reach the marks Dr Kiwanuka left in that Seminary! And a subsequent Munno edition (March/April 1966) carried an article by Rev Fr Timoteo Ssemwogerere, his fellow student at Rome’s celebrated Angelicum University where Dr Kiwanuka had passed with flying colours his doctorate in divinity.

The article said that Dr Kiwanuka’s regular academic performance literary astonished all fellow students, leaving them in utter amazement! One can see how great a scholar this prelate was given that at that time all studies were in Latin! Anyway it is said that right from the minor seminary Dr Kiwanuka had always been very excellent in Latin. And in addition he was a very highly reputed linguist and polyglot speaking many European languages including, in addition to Latin, English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, and Greek. One day when on his visit to SMACK in 1964 he told us that he had to learn German during the six months he spent in that country, and his German was reportedly very good. Equally so was his French which the French Canadian Brothers and the French public at large would always find very original and flawless. Through these many languages, Dr Kiwanuka succeeded to establish a network assembling a real multitude of contacts all over the world and, on the other hand, he would access to many serious scholarly publications which would regularly edify his already vastly large vision.
Dr Kiwanuka was a very strictly observant person. Nothing could escape his attention and nothing would pass unattended to and he always laboured to be well informed on any issue. A person familiar with his entourage one day said that one of Dr Kiwanuka’s habitual questions whenever something passed unnoticed by any of his subordinates was : “Kino kyabayiseeko nga mulaba wa? ” (What were you doing when this issue escaped your attention? This extra prudence on part of Dr Kiwanuka was further alimented by his razor-sharp memory which never let him down until his death. At seminary, according to a well-informed source, he would commit entire pages of the Holy Scriptures to his prodigious memory. At Lourdes a White Father missionary from Burundi told me that he was one day moved to full amazement when in an all African religious conference in the Congo in 1957 he saw Dr Kiwanuka moving towards him to greet him saying : “ You are Rev Fr X, I know you very well because you were two years behind me at the White Fathers’ Generalate at Maison-Carrée, Algeria in 1932!

And another White Father from Mbarara told us in Paris that he was surprised one day to hear Dr Kiwanuka calling him with his exact two names when he had only been briefly introduced to him at a ceremony several years back! Even my late father would regularly tell us the very same thing about Dr Kiwanuka whom he knew right straight away in 1933 when he had just returned to Uganda after his studies in Rome and after becoming a White Father. This quality, together with his reputed spirituality, would later serve to make him a living prophet!
He could foretell the future in politics, in developmental projects and in Church matters. Whatever he did would later confirm him correct and to the point! Some of us remember an episode when he abolished the system of having all school fees in minor seminaries paid by the Archdiocese. Many said that the move would end by discouraging parents from sending children to seminary ! Now, dozens of years later, we see seminaries filled to full capacity by young aspirants sent in and catered for by their parents / relatives!

Yes, Dr Kiwanuka had a very profound spirituality as portrayed regularly by his piety, simple humble ways, asceticism and a prayerful mind. One important source said that he would confess every week ! At Lourdes, where he was one day requested by the Pope to co-consecrate the vast underground Basilica in 1958, he was once seen spending a whole full day praying in that Basilica without going out for meals ! Another source said that on some occasions he would miss hearing a knock at his door because he was mystically absorbed in ecstasies of prayer and spiritual recollection! And he was such a time-table minded person that on occasions he would leave table in the middle of a meal for work after looking at his watch! And punctuality was very essential in his mind. Scheduled to arrive in a parish at 11 a.m.,for example, his car would already be seen secretly parked somewhere in a nearby locality by 10 a.m.and the bishop busy inside reading his breviary and other publications while waiting to drive off at an opportune moment, and by five to ten minutes to time, he’s already at the parish, and in time!
Added to all this, was his legendary charisma! He was a magnet who could pull vast crowds everywhere. In many African countries, wherever he went, he was seen as a special being anybody would be anxious to see ! In Europe or even in America, Canada,etc.. wherever he was people always wanted him to stay in their midst and, after his sojourn, they would be sorry that he had to go! Home in Uganda, his presence anywhere at any occasion would be in the headlines. While at SMACK we had on several occasions the opportunity to line up at Savio and cheer him whenever he returned to the country from a long trip and we would see countless numbers of vehicles following him up to Lubaga! All this charisma was springing from his very holy personality as an impeccable leader fully committed to God. He was an exemplary churchman who was universally praiseworthy. I remember an instant at Paris University when a postgraduate lady from Burundi told us that she would often hear missionaries admonishing Christians to imitate the example of Dr Kiwanuka of Uganda!! And at Lourdes, the German administrative manageress of the St Bernadette Cinema Hall who had heard a lot about Dr Kiwanuka, described him as an exemplary person full of piety!
One of the celebrated phrases pronounced by Dr Kiwanuka during one of his visits to SMACK was,
“Have a great respect of God and never be selfish in your life! ”
Dr Kiwanuka gave an entire life to the love of God and of all people. He would take to sacrifices in order to have something achieved satisfactorily. I remember my father telling us that one day at a remote place where he had been appointed Medical Assistant and Rev Père Kiwanuka was one of the priests at the nearby mission, there happened a serious incident on the mission sports-ground when during a football game after lunch one boy missed the ball and he accidentally kicked his colleague right in the abdomen! When the Fathers were informed of the incident, Père Kiwanuka came out with his motor-cycle to take the victim to the dispensary. He narrated everything to my father who tried to apply an emergency treatment to the boy, but all in vain as the situation was worsening practically every half hour.The best solution envisaged was to take him to hospital, thirty miles away! A car was necessary as the boy had to be accompanied by the medical assistant and one of his parents. The mission had no car, and the solution was to wave any vehicle passing around. Père Kiwanuka deemed it wise to stay with the group until they succeeded to get transport. At 10 p.m., after having waited patiently for six hours under a torrent of mosquitoes and chilling cold, a lorry full of cotton bales was sighted and Père Kiwanuka stopped it and kindly requested the Asian owner seated near the driver in a fully packed cabin to take his people to hospital. The Asian, fully convinced of the gravity of the situation and fearing to let down a priest, agreed to squeeze Père Kiwanuka’s people somewhere on top of the lorry.And off they went, arriving at hospital towards 1 a.m., and the almost unconscious boy was immediately taken to the surgery for operation, and everything went on very successfully, and the following day my father returned and recounted everything to Père Kiwanuka thanking him for having taken all that pain to have a life saved! A week later the boy was discharged from hospital and resumed his studies and the whole parish praised Père Kiwanuka for the special care, attention and sacrifices so fraternally extended to even a somewhat marginal individual as that mere schoolboy from virtually nowhere! And from then on Père Kiwanuka went very deep into the hearts of the faithful!

Dr Kiwanuka had his humility and this enabled him to be respectful, obedient and helpful. In spite of his great intelligence, he would always fully accommodate others’ views with respect. He would pose as a docile instrument to his superiors and even colleagues in order to ease things for them. One day he told my father that at that parish he had requested all fellow priests to leave solely to him the mission of moving out at night to administer to the sick whenever the faithful searched a priest at those odd hours! This courageous initiative always reassured both the parish and the faithful, and was very highly appreciated by his superiors!
Already famous as a very omni-perfect individual at school and in seminary, then at university in Rome, and then at the White Fathers’ Generalate at Maison-Carrée in Algiers, and then finally in parishes where he proved to be a fully committed serious-minded priest, Rome, in order to honour Africa with its first ever episcopal appointment in Modern Times, had to look to this impeccably spotless profile as embodied in the person of Dr Joseph Nnakabaale Kiwanuka, a man whom destiny would turn into the foundation stone of that wonderful transition that has enabled the Universal Church in Africa to proudly embrace and identify with a typically vibrant African culture, a man whose great visionary outlook enabled our humble local church to produce some of the continent’s most universally celebrated churchmen renowned for their full perfect integrity and intellectual aptitudes, and a man whose very many unusually excellent qualities have but put Africa on a special map coloured and contoured with glory, honour, respect and everlasting dignity!

DR. JOSEPH KIWANUKA ON HIS DEATH - BED DURING THE REQUIEM MASS AT LUBAGA CATHEDRAL
By Dr. George Kkolokolo

He is the respected patron of SMACK’s Kiwanuka House, named after him on his episcopal elevation in 1939. He was a distinguished biblical scholar,theologian,educationist,economist,sociologist
political scientist, and a notable prophet.He exercised his pastoral charges of bishop at a totally different time, that was the colonial era when he was virtually the sole African holding a post pegged to such great responsibility.His strong will coupled with his great intellectual wits and aptitudes, which had enabled him get with topmost honours SUMMA CUM LAUDE a doctorate in Divinity, enabled him to be a first class bishop always on the forefront in projecting development and edification of minds and souls.He confronted any challenge without the slightest difficulty ! His visits to SMACK enabled students to discover an intellectual of a very sharp mind and a polyglot speaking French with the Canadian Brothers, Dutch with the then chaplain, English with the general SMACK public and, on another occasion, German with an acting chaplain.SMACK so madly loved him that whenever he returned to the country from a long trip overseas all students would line up on the road at Savio to cheer him and enjoy the sight of those hundreds of cars which used to accompany him from Entebbe to Lubaga; one day, a classmate, U.S.educated late Eng. Paul Lukindu, counted 258 vehicles!
He was as popular in Uganda as he was all over the world ! And the day he died mourning was universal both in the country and all over the world where the press and all radios including the BBC and the Voice of America announced his death and gave important testimonies on him.SMACK was naturally shocked by the news of the great prelate’s death which was announced in the Chapel by the H/M Rev Bro Paul Bourget immediately before the start of the early morning prayers. And all students,dumbfounded, stayed there for the Mass. Late in the afternoon the H/M hired two buses to take the HSC students to Lubaga to pray and view the body.Makerere University, led by Prof Yusuf Lule, and Kings’ College Buddo, led by their H/M, also came in delegation to Lubaga.We were surprised by the almost saintly cult the faithful were giving to the corpse, tapping on it their rosaries, medals, pencils,etc..Two days later all secondary schools in the region assembled at Lubaga for the Requiem Mass and SMACK’s choir did the singing. And again two days later, Friday 25 February 1966, was the funeral itself and the then Kabaka’s Government had,in respect and recognition of the prelate’s tremendous world wide prestige and high achievements, proclaimed the day a public holiday set for official mourning and the Central Government allowed offices and schools around Kampala to free their personnel/students for the funeral.Entire villages and localities converged to Lubaga.The college failed to hire any transport because all buses and lorries in the region had already been booked for the burial! People were even coming from Masaka to look for buses and lorries in Kampala! The H/M requested the students to make it to Lubaga through public transport. And we made it! My group arrived at the Cathedral at noon (the Requiem Mass was at 3 p.m.), by then about half of the vast parking lot provided for buses and lorries was already full and yet hundreds of buses and lorries from all over Uganda were still to arrive! Cars were rolling in at a fantastic rate from every corner of the entire region ! By the time we entered the Cathedral (two hours before the ceremony) practically the entire half of Lubaga Hill was already filling with vehicles and by the end of the four-hour long Mass the whole hill had been covered with vehicles numbering in thousands and over-boarding to reach places like Kabuusu,Nnabunnya, Musigula,others even branching towards Wakaliga and Kabakanjagala Road!
And the numbers of mourners from all walks of life and religious denominations ! One serious source estimated the big crowds that covered the hilltop and hillsides of Lubaga to number in the region of 100,000! We, who were inside the fully packed vast Cathedral, were almost suffocating. But our very great worry was indeed our security as the frenzied hyper-hysterical squeezing and pushing crowds outside were angrily booting the doors of the sealed Cathedral and the noise was almost like that of a bomb exploding on the edifice ! At one time the door of the main central entry was broken and people panicked until the police managed the situation! Heavy door-booting went on throughout the Mass except for the 30 minutes of the very touching eulogy delivered by Bishop A. K. Ddungu both in English and Luganda, and yet in it he had told the congregation that the body will not be buried until after five years.Those outside also heard the message thanks to the powerful loudspeakers which could even be heard by those standing sixty metres away behind the Cathedral! At the end of the Mass people were also in an unusually uncontrollable commotion to see the body now moved and placed near the Uganda Martyrs’ Altar.
And the authorities, having opened two side doors to help speed the evacuation of those inside, also opened the central door to let the tens of thousands squeezed outside enter and view the body.
This went on until 1 a.m. for cars were still coming from far and wide! Then they closed the Cathedral for the following day,Saturday, which also saw streams of buses, lorries and cars bringing mourners. Idem on Sunday when thousands of other mourners arrived in endless streams of vehicles!
That was the moving heroic farewell given to one of Africa’s most respected legendary celebrities and saintly patron of SMACK’s Kiwanuka House. Radio Uganda and UTV present on scene relayed with emotion what was taking place at Lubaga. Mengo’s mouth organ, Ssekanyolya Newspaper, gave a big heading : “ABANTU KATA BAABIKE E LUBAGA! ”(Scuffle at Lubaga nears mourners to suffocation.
It’s this commotion which later obliged church authorities to transfer Archbishop Nsubuga’s consecration to Nnakivubo Stadium.Mourners who came from Europe returned home deeply dumbstruck strongly moved by the Lubaga doors which some observers place in a quasi-parallel comparison to those the French booted in 1899 during the funeral of Blessed Antoine Chevrier,a very great priest who is now on his way to canonization!

Dr Kiwanuka’s body continued to remain exposed, first, for two years, in an ordinary coffin covered with a glass on top,then, it was laid in the actual reliquary coffin, specially bought in Italy,in early 1969 on a special Sunday occasion. The BBC got the news and gave a testimony on the deceased prelate describing him as one of those Africans who had brought glory and prestige to the Black Continent ! All in all Dr Kiwanuka was viewed by millions for twenty-seven good years until the transparent reliquary was sealed to public sight in 1993 to hide, perhaps temporarily, the remains of that great ethereal churchman who was very instrumental in edifying Christianity and Africa to very top modern norms and super standards that are an honour to the image of our continent.


DOCTOR JOSEPH KIWANUKA: AFRICA'S ETERNAL LEGEND By Dr G.H. Kkolokolo
No wonder why sometimes Kiwanuka House boasts of a “saint” and a great African churchman of real international renown.I think they are right! Anyway the Kakoozas, the Mugwanyas,the Lourdels and the Mount St Thereses are equally madly proud of their very prestigious patrons to whom they extend an almost special cult! Anyway, in any case, each one of these special individuals was extremely very useful to SMACK in general and has always been part of its history.
In the last issue we noted the mad frenzy scenes that accompanied Dr Kiwanuka’s heroic funeral where casualties that could have cost dozens of lives were avoided (miraculously!). Why all this madness? Because that was the only most ostensible way for the scores of thousands that turned up for the funeral to show their gratitude and appreciation to this world-renowned cleric whose high class achievements were almost unparalleled at that time and whom many took for their real father!

What did Kiwanuka achieve ? The answer is simple : glory and renown for the church,for Africa and for Uganda.Glory and renown because of a solid multiple accomplishment of very many brilliant and classical realizations.

Think of his ever memorable advice and counsel to Rome where he was a consultant on very many issues regarding the church in Africa,especially. It is even said that one Roman institute for the training of African clergy was his brain-child just as in Uganda the Uganda Martyrs University is! Think of the very much notable calibre of extra-illustrated intelligent churchmen who passed in his hands and were literary edified by him: Cardinal Laurean Rugambwa, Cardinal E .K. Nsubuga, Cardinal E. Wamala, Bishop A. K. Ddungu, Bishop P. Kalanda and the very many priests,Brothers and Sisters, and leading church musicians like Late Kyagambiddwa. Think of the education sector with those hundreds of schools he built everywhere and promoted them to enviable high standards. His celebrated phrase to parents was: “Waakiri mwambale obuziina babasekerere naye ng’abaana bammwe bonna bali mu masomero! ” (Do even boldly demote to shame and misery for the sake of procuring education for all your children!) He encouraged promoting leadership through education and in this he was instrumental in building eminent persons like The Great Benedicto Kiwanuka, Economist Joseph Mubiru,first Governor of the Bank of Uganda and SMACK OB, and so many others.
Through his many pastoral letters he would encourage education and development axed on ethical morals and character.And he could reach all areas of his diocese to encourage people to participate in development through work and labour and to shun bad acts such as excessive drinking ,etc..
He encouraged the spirit of co-operatives as a means of uplifting overall development standards. And he also gave motion to sponsorship in education through family, clan or village co-operatives.
He set up very many projects to found a solidly wealthy Masaka region and in all this he had the efficient co-operation of his clergy and the faithful, and the luck of having coffee, Masaka’s key cash crop, well quoted on world market.
He was very strict on family issues and was determined to promote to the highest degree female education, that’s why he founded, among others, Christ the King’s College at Bulinda to give more impetus to girls’ education in Masaka.
As a specialist in politics, Dr Kiwanuka strongly insisted on marrying politics with Christian morals and humane values. And he was a determined political thinker and leader.

During the Kabaka’s exile by the British ( 1953 – 1955) the whole of Buganda had to look to Kiwanuka for guidance and for the struggle to ensure the Kabaka’s return to his kingdom. The then protectorate governor, Sir Andrew Cohen, was a very brilliant person and solidly uncompromising on the question of ever seeing Muteesa II return from exile. And the only man who could confront him on the issue was Dr Kiwanuka whose vision was reportedly smarter and more philosophical than that of the governor. It was even said that on the famous Hancock Commision, chosen to deliberate on Buganda’s post-1955 future, Dr Kiwanuka was the only person who couldn’t shy down before the governor’s tough attitude and bursts of temper, and that Dr Kiwanuka could boldly answer back without any fear! And when the British Colonial Secretary came to Uganda to oversee the proceedings of the Hancock Commission, the intrepid churchman had the guts to see him in an aside and hand him a strongly worded document which he had personally prepared asking for the immediate return of the Kabaka. And the British Minister had no alternative safe condescending to Dr Kiwanuka’s request ! And Muteesa regained his throne and returned to his kingdom because of Dr Kiwanuka! On his triumphant return from exile the Kabaka went in person to Kitovu (Masaka) to thank the formidable prelate !
At Lubaga, Dr Kiwanuka was Archbishop for only five years (1961 – 1966). These five years were full of extraordinary commitments : the Ecumenical Council in Rome (1962 -1965), the gruelingly tough preparations of items leading to the canonization of the Martyrs, for it was because of Dr Kiwanuka that the 22 Martyrs were canonized together as one group otherwise prior suggestions had proposed to first canonize Charles Lwanga,and Dr Kiwanuka was opposed to this view; then there was the question of the country’s independence and how it affected the Church in matters of transition from missionary to native clerical administration, then the question of preparing an eventual successor, and the creation of an effective master-plan for the Archdiocese. In all this Dr Kiwanuka was strongly involved as Archbishop and by the time of his death, everything had already been put on the right track and Kiwanuka died as a triumphant Archbishop!

Dr Kiwanuka’s unique position as Catholicism’s only black bishop on the whole continent for 13 years until they appointed Rugambwa of Tanzania and Bigirumwami of Rwanda, enabled him to portray his wonderful talents far and wide. He thus became a leading Black African figure of real international renown.

This was an added value to the prestige obtained right away on his appointment as bishop, news that made headlines everywhere and was diffused to the whole world by the BBC and Radio France.From then on everyone wanted to know and see Kiwanuka! After his consecration in Rome he traveled widely all over Europe. In France he was received with jubilation wherever he went. At Paris’s Sacré-Coeur Basilica he was literary mobbed by the thousands who had gathered to see him and it is said that the impact of the crowds was such that his feet couldn’t touch on the ground !

And he continued to be a celebrity and a living legend popularized in every corner of the world ! And when in 1958 Pope Pius XII delegated him to Lourdes to be one of the co-consecrators of the vast underground basilica, it is said that his presence on any spot in Lourdes would be noticed thanks to the heavy applause's from the pilgrims and tourists present and to the hundreds of beaming camera flashes that accompanied him everywhere!
Dr Kiwanuka’s triumphant popularity in life accompanied him in death. Many will never forget the famous Lubaga Cathedral doors that the hyper-hysterical mourners booted throughout the four-hour long Requiem Mass that assembled a record number of vehicles and 100,000 mourners from every region of Uganda and Eastern Africa! Vans were bringing White Fathers from Bukoba, Mwanza, etc..
An Italian missionary impressed many with his mourners from Karamoja ! And the then influential English daily, Uganda Argus, talked about the two cyclists who made it from Fort Portal! And Europe retained that door-booting which is now part of Church History! One priest in Germany showed me an article on Uganda with Dr Kiwanuka’s portrait on it, and the writing said that the great scenes of emotion that accompanied his funeral expressed a special fervour the population had for the Archbishop whose body would remain exposed in a special reliquary. And a French article by Rev Fr A. Savary, then head of France’s important Documentation Catholique news media and who traveled to Uganda to attend Dr Kiwanuka’s funeral, spoke of the commotion at the cathedral doors with the police intervening, almost in vain, to cane those responsible for the booting, and that all this solid emotion was just but an expression of that great veneration people used to extend towards Archbishop Kiwanuka. According to Fr Savary that door-booting commotion would portend in many ways the eventual triumphant success of Pope Paul VI’s historic visit to Uganda three years later (1969).
This victorious cleric is now lying peacefully in his grave in Lubaga Cathedral with people continuing to live his wonderful memory thanks to many things including the annual memorial lecture that has uncovered a lot about him.And perhaps one day, who knows, the Church may raise him to the glory of the altars, a thing many Christians even in Europe are yearning for. And we shall say to the Lord Almighty, “ Thank you, Almighty Father, for having given us St. Joseph Kiwanuka! ”
And SMACK’s Kiwanuka House will get a real boost and boast to add to its claim of being the House of Saints!

SHOULD MENGO RECOMMEND TO MUSEVENI'S 2011 CABINET?

Buganda should concentrate on own business
I find it interesting to learn that the Mengo establishment can second some people to be part of the Museveni Government. It is surprising. By this time Mengo establishment should have understood who President Museveni is. If he wants people seconded by Mengo; the establishment at Mengo would only tell him to choose those that he thinks will be able to serve well with him.
It is now 25 years with NRM under Museveni in power, much of Buganda things are still in the hands of NRM because that is how President Museveni wants it done. He refused to give way to the Federal arrangement cherished by many, instead he is in for funny alternatives. Buganda Government has a right to get rents from properties rented by Government, though there is no official tax paid to Mengo, Museveni's Government is reluctant to pay the rents when due so that it is now so many arrears! The Law to see the Buganda King controlled so that he has to seek clearance by Government before he leaves the country is all we have seen during Museveni's almighty rule. When Government refused to allow Kabaka Mutebi to visit his people in Kayunga, did the Baganda have any role to help things? When Museveni's Government decided to show authority by closing CBS, what did the Baganda in Government do?
It is cheap always to respond to calls which don't help us. If President Museveni cannot change his attitude towards Buganda and the Kabaka where does the Mengo establishment get the courage to second names for cabinet posts? What will those Bagabda do?
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

POWER BROKERS - TEN BRAINS VETTING M7'S NEXT CABINET
Source: http://redpepper.co.ug/welcome/?p=1482

KIGONGO
Over the past weeks, Museveni has been and continues to spend some time at his two country homes; Rwakitura and Kisozi to come up with a list of persons who will constitute his next cabinet (ministers).
With the first phase done, our inside sources reveal that Museveni has started consulting top opinion leaders and his confidants over the same matter. These power brokers are recommending names of individuals whom they think are competent enough to fit in his fourth term cabinet.
In consulting them, our impeccable sources say that Museveni wants to come up with a balanced cabinet which fulfills all the factors he considers pertinent in constituting a cabinet. Prominent of these are: religious, historical, merit and regional factors.
In this article we reveal the special persons Museveni has met and those he is yet to meet and ask to recommend key politicians for the next cabinet.

CARDINAL WAMALA
It has been and remains a tradition for President Museveni to consult Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala, whenever he is coming up with a cabinet reshuffle. Although he long retired from active service as the leader of Kampala Catholic Archdiocese, Museveni continues to consult him on key national issues. In a run up to 2006 presidential elections, Museveni asked Cardinal Wamala, to come up with five names of Catholic NRM politicians, he wished to appoint for the Vice President’s job. Cardinal Wamala recommended Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, Prof. Gabriel Opio, Eng. Hillary Onek and Sarapio Rukundo. Museveni finally picked on Bukenya. However, he appointed all the others to other cabinet positions. This time round, Museveni is reported to be in touch with the Cardinal almost on the same issue. Insiders in the Catholic Church reveal that their favourite candidates for top slots in the next cabinet include: Edward Kiwanuka Sekandi, Hillary Onek, Fred Omach and Betty Bigombe.

AMAMA MBABAZI
Patrick Amama Mbabazi is the current Security Minister who doubles as the NRM party Secretary General. Under his docket of Security Minister most vetting of potential cabinet nominees is done here. The President, depending on his discretion, uses the following agencies under the Security Ministry to do the vetting. These include: ISO (Internal Security Organisation), JATT (Joint Anti Terrorism Task Force), CMI (Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence and Security) and the office of the Coordinator of Security and Intelligence Agencies. All these are under him (Mbabazi).

SAM KUTESA
The powerful Foreign Affairs Minister is these days a frequent visitor to Museveni’s country home of Kisozi. In addition, Kutesa these days receives a lot of phone calls from State House especially on issues to do with the composition of the next government. Insiders in government say that Museveni trusts Kutesa when it comes to recommending ministers to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Attorney General and sometimes the Vice President.

ARCHBISHOP BAKYENGA
The Catholic Archbishop of Mbarara is highly a respected prelate by President Museveni. Insiders at State House reveal that it is characteristic of Museveni to invite Bakyenga only to have a chat on our country’s political and religious dynamics. It because of this that Bakyenga will this time be consulted on who should eat big in the next cabinet especially in regard to NRM catholic politicians from his area of jurisdiction, Mbarara Archdiocese.

AMELIA KYAMBADDE
As the former Principal Private Secretary, Amelia Kyambadde was highly involved in the vetting of several appointments prominent of them is that of cabinet ministers. The trend is still on given that Amelia has remained a loyal and trusted confidant of the President. She is reported to be in charge of identifying committed NRM cadres who can help in bolstering the party’s support in Buganda once appointed to cabinet.

LT. COL. MUHOOZI
The First son’s influence is on the rise both in the military and politics. Muhoozi is carrying on a lot of military and political assignments for his father. Prominent of them include vetting military and political appointments. He therefore has immense authority on who can make it to the next cabinet.

ARCHBISHOP OROMBI
Since the infamous Kayunga riots of 2009, Museveni has a lot of trust and respect for Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Luke Orombi. It is reported that it was because of the lengthy opinion Orombi authored in a local daily that objectively reprimanded both Mengo and the Central government. This came at a backdrop when some prominent religious leaders had opted to blame government over the whole message. Since then Orombi receives special attention at State House. It is now characteristic of Museveni to meet Orombi without keeping him waiting at State House lounge. The same treatment is translated in the naming of the next cabinet with Orombi’s input.

JANET MUSEVENI
Janet is the wife of President Museveni. She has been at the forefront in advocating for Women and Child rights and emancipation. Because of this role, the President consults her on women who can serve diligently in cabinet. That’s why she took up a less juicy Ministry of Karamoja Affairs a few years after Tom Butime turned down the cabinet offer.

HAJI MOSES KIGONGO
He has been close to Museveni since the bush war days. On matters of cabinet appointments, his counsel is taken especially on vetting potential Muslims and Baganda candidates.

GEN. SALIM SALEH
Gen. Saleh is the other silent person, who has utmost influence on military and political appointments. The President normally lets him in when it comes to identifying serving or retired UPDF officers who should make it to the Cabinet. But it should be noted that Saleh is more influential in military appointments.

By Our Reporter

CAN THE MANAGERS OF KAMPALA CHANGE THE CITY?

Kampala is a real shame to Uganda. It is hard to imagine that vehicles along Ben Kiwanuka can be at one spot for more than 30 minutes, may be it gets to an hour moreso after 5pm. The wise thing for the managers of the city is to manage the city without external interference say from UTODA. We know very well that UTODA are running a tender and have their bosses as Kampala City council. We have to put politics apart and have the city run professionally. If any de-congestion can be done, let it be. It has been proposed to have many of the taxis stop out of the city so that we get the city commuters and those for up country routes. It is time to implement this. Surely it should not be a punishment for one to go to Kampala for business.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka
LUKWAGO'S SWEARING IN, VENUE TO COST 77 MILLION SHILLINGS
SOURCE: RED PEPPER - http://redpepper.co.ug/welcome/?p=8080

Lukwago

Kampala Capital City Authority is spending 77 million shillings on the venue for the swearing-in ceremony of Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago.

The ceremony will be held on the 20th of May in the mayor’s gardens at city hall.

Jennifer Ssemakula Musisi, the Executive Director Kampala Capital City Authority, says part of the money is being spent on cleaning the compounds, gardens, clearing bushy trees, leveling the pathways, painting the lord mayor’s offices and other smaller repairs in the deputy mayor’s offices.

She says the option of renting another venue for the swearing-in ceremony was abandoned and the money instead shifted to work on beatifying the city hall premises.

Musisi is optimistic that central government will fund the city authority although she says under the transitional arrangement, she can still operate on the former allocations of Kampala City Council.

She says KCC had budgeted for the same amount of money under the maintenance department but was not used.
Two weeks ago donkey work started at the city authority.

There was creation of more office space at the office of the director and hurried painting of the of the mayor’s office block.

Councilor Bernard Luyiga representing Makerere University, says under the new law councilors are no longer being consulted on the city expenditure.

Luyiga says although councilors are elected by the people, their roles of questioning about the city expenditure have been taken away under the new authority.

Kampala Capital City Act 2010 came into effect on the 1st of March, legally ending the former Kampala City Council.

Jennifer Musisi says she has been entrusted with transforming an organization with significant challenges characterized by poor service delivery, inefficient systems and a demoralized workforce.URN