Africa-Press – Uganda. But man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority, most ignorant of what he’s most assured,” wrote William Shakespeare. “His glassy essence, like an angry ape, plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as makes the angels weep.” (Measure for Measure).
I could be forgiven for thinking Shakespeare was describing the majority of Museveni’s officials today—men and women in high and low positions who look down on ordinary Ugandans, especially those of us living abroad, with thinly veiled contempt. Unless you parade a self-styled title—Doctor, Professor, Counsel, Pastor, Engineer—they treat you as unworthy of their time.
The contempt, I must admit, is mutual.
Why? Because out of all the Ugandan officials I have contacted—from RDCs in Apac, to diplomats in London, to cabinet ministers in Kampala—only three have ever treated me with dignity: Gen Jim Katugugu Muhwezi, Rt Hon Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, and diplomat Guma Komwiswa.
Gen Muhwezi did something extraordinary. Instead of passing me around layers of bureaucracy, he looked for my number and personally called me.
Kadaga, too, has demonstrated rare courtesy. When I recently contacted her regarding pension arrears owed to me as a former employee of the old East African Community, she promptly replied and instructed one of her officials to follow up. That level of responsiveness is almost unheard of among Museveni’s officials.
Contrast this with the deafening silence I received from the Minister for Diaspora Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—a portfolio supposedly dedicated to people like me.
Yet, it was Kadaga—the very definition of a pro-people leader—who was publicly humiliated at the recent NRM meeting at State House. Ironically, if Ugandans at home and abroad were asked to choose between Rebecca Kadaga and Anitah Among for the position of Second National Vice Chairperson of the NRM, the majority would vote Kadaga without hesitation. She is a natural leader, comfortable in her own skin, and one who has consistently demonstrated integrity both at home and abroad.
Gen Kahinda Otafiire was right when he observed that “the NRM of 1986 and the NRM now are not the same thing. If the two were to meet, they would not recognise each other. You find profiteers and all sorts of characters—including criminals—wearing the NRM T-shirt, conducting business in the name of NRM but with selfish interests.” (September 24, 2021).
That was precisely why I supported Dr Kizza Besigye when he formed the Reform Agenda in 2000. His mission was to reform the NRM, which by then had already become unrecognisable from its original principles of “fundamental change.”
I must also make an exception to the usual British convention of not naming civil servants. Guma Komwiswa, a diplomat at the Uganda High Commission in London, deserves recognition. A few years ago, I sat next to him at Chatham House during a lecture by Ghana’s then-president Nana Akufo-Addo.
Since then, he has consistently stood out as a professional and responsive diplomat. While many of his colleagues prefer silence or evasiveness, Komwiswa has remained helpful and engaged.
Museveni is fortunate to still have a handful of public servants cut from the old cloth—Muhwezi, Kadaga, Komwiswa. They prefer dignified silence over cheap publicity, and while they may disagree with me singling them out, they are considerate enough to accept that I am entitled to my opinion.
The rest? Too self-important for their own good—and for the good of Uganda.
Source: Nilepost News
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