Africa-Press – Uganda. People who rear snakes should never mistake them for puppies or kittens; for when you feed a serpent really nice, you end up as its food someday.
It’s just a matter of time. My feelings when I heard that a Permanent Secretary (PS) had been arrested, charged, remanded in prison and then hounded so bad, climaxing in getting dumped like they had never ever mattered, even after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had failed to make a case against them.
Earlier, there were allegations of impropriety at high levels in government. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) came calling. The police also swooped in. Arrests were made, investigations commenced (tip: in civilised countries this is done in reverse order).
That PS quickly interdicted the implicated officers, citing some very clear laws. Nothing to argue there: a public officer facing an investigation automatically gets interdicted for six months. Two years later, one of the officers called me.
Police and IGG had cleared him of wrongdoing. Under our very clear laws, in such a scenario, a public officer must be restored to their office at the end of six months. It was now two years!
We wrote to the PS, reminding them of our very clear laws on the matter as well as their statutory duty to restore the officer. The PS, we heard, didn’t want the officer back. They ignored our letter. I am sure it ended up in the trash can. We followed up our warning with service of court process – to the Attorney General (AG) – to appear before Justice Lydia Mugambe at High Court Civil Division.
Not every case must go to trial; some are so obvious, the judges feel trial would be waste of court’s time – I am certain I read Justice Mugambe’s face very well when she finished perusing the file and looked up.
In fact, the AG didn’t even bother filing a defence: the case simply couldn’t be defended – what we call an “open and shut” case. The AG invited us to his chambers, together with the PS’ team, to settle the matter quietly, resulting in a consent judgment and decree. The officer would be restored to his desk in 14 days, paid his salary arrears and also compensated.
Justice Mugambe endorsed the decree and it was duly served. The PS…defied the order. It wasn’t until we filed contempt of court proceedings seven months later that the court order was finally obeyed. By that time, the PS, unfortunately, was out of office, facing their own charges.
Out jogging, when the PS was still in jail, I’d bumped into a long-time buddy who is highly placed in the intelligence circles.
He laughed hard when we talked about the PS and explained that the mafia had sorted the PS out; the allegations had been false all along. I am sure there are some Christians in the civil service, but generally, intrigue, in-fighting and witchcraft are the main religions. Plus a “live and let die” philosophy, a “you-eat-or-you-are-eaten” approach.
Our civil servants are happily feeding a big snake: things like merit, due process, rule of law and good neighbourliness are unknown and anyone aspiring to work there, better fasten their seat belt.
Those deemed unsympathetic to or unenthusiastic about the ruling party are weeded out. Deserving officers miss promotion on political or other considerations. Those seen as standing in the way of the ones entitled to eat are also weeded out.
In civilised countries, a proper leader will seek to build a democracy; make sure people are free, able and enabled to participate in the governance of their country. Once that is headed the right way, the leader will want to build a meritocracy – a system where the best brains are recruited for every position and where consistent good performance results in promotion. Just check how many of the present crop of civil servants got or still keep their positions on sheer merit and you’ll appreciate the problem.
I did feel very sorry for the PS; betrayed all the way to exit. But then again, the PS had actively fed a snake which had eventually grown and… swallowed them. It was always just a matter of time.
Mr Tegulle is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda [email protected]
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