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    What Makes Gen. Kale Kayihura The Worst IGP

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    By Otim Nape
    On Sunday politician Henry Lubowa the Secretary General of SDP party, posted on his facebook page a message that showed that policing standards have declined in Uganda Police under Gen Kayihura as IGP. He attached the handwritten chit the Afande Kayihura sent out recalling a number of DPCs including the one of Rukungiri who commanded on the day Besigye and his supporters were shot at resulting into the death of Edison Nasasira. Many posted comments supporting Lubowa’s conclusion that Kayihura was indeed a very bad IGP. 

    We agree many things have gone wrong under him as IGP but we also want to submit that there is context in which all these things have happened. It’s our submission that under Gen M7 there has been general decay and erosion of institutions. What we see today being done by police would still happen even if the IGP was Katumba Wamala, the Kabaka of Buganda or any other person as long as the appointing authority giving those instructions is still M7. You either do as he wants or risk losing your job or end up in the military court martial with whatever charge. We have forgotten that in 2005 a lot of brutality was unleashed in broad day light on a group of Buganda clan leaders (abataka abakulu b’obusolya) as they matched to Parliament to present their Federo petition to Speaker Edward Kiwanuka Sekandi.  The IGP then was Katumba Wamala, their own grandchild (omuzukulu wabwe) and the police assault on these very respected Buganda leaders was politically very sensitive. But the timing perfectly served what the CiC M7 wanted-he was at war with Buganda establishment after Kabaka refused his regional tier deal. What ought to be understood is that Kayihura is IGP at a time when M7 faces much more political pressure than ever before and to remain in power, police must keep brutalizing citizens to prevent them from staging the Arab Spring-like uprising.

    To effectively do that M7 needs a cadre of unmatched loyalist and on that one nobody beats Kayihura, a man who fears M7 like a Tsunami. To many generals, Kayihura’s problem is having too much fear for the president as opposed to respect. He takes orders without question. For that you can blame him but not for the general state of affairs regarding police. Having IGPs who are almost figure heads ever waiting for orders from Entebbe will remain the case as long as M7 is president regardless of who is IGP. Kayihura’s other problem, which is deliberate and strategic for his continued survival beyond just appeasing M7, is striving to excessively please other political leaders in strategic positions. He is doing this sometimes at the expense of funding basic police work e.g. logistical facilitation, fueling the patrol trucks. Take the example of the police helicopter fleet. For purposes of being on good terms with strategically placed leaders like Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, Matia Kasaijja, Ronald Kibule and a few others, Kayihura freely surrenders the police helicopter to them to be able to fly to different parts of the country in minimum time. This is prudent given these leaders’ busy schedule and the traffic jams on our roads. The problem with this is these leaders are made to use police resources yet this is never provided for in the Force’s budget. For instance there is no proof to show the day Kadaga or Kasaijja uses the police helicopter, the fuel comes from Parliament or Finance Ministry.

    The pilots too are diverted from being available to do police work to doing things that have nothing to do with policing. Beatrice Anywar, whom Kayihura used for long to spy and exterminate many opposition FDC violent plans, has also often enjoyed the police helicopter. M7 is aware of all this and Kayihura must have sought his consent before surrendering it to Anywar. To some, such diversions make Kayihura a very bad IGP but he is being pragmatic because, being a political IGP, he needs those partnerships to reduce on the would-be enemies and pressure around him. Kadaga heads Parliament which approves Kayihura’s contract and appropriates his budget. Kasaijja controls the money directly and you don’t want him to delay your classified expenditures as ordered by the President. He has also been accused of doing politics instead of doing police work like eliminating crime. For that reason he has endured criticism from leaders like Ofwono Opondo who says police shouldn’t get involved in political contestations between NRM-M7 and opposition.  NRM Secretary General Lumumba hates Kayihura for exactly the same reasons. She feels he sometimes involves himself in political work which is for NRM Secretariat.

    But if you are Kayihura, being a disciplined loyal officer, and your CiC calls you saying go do the following political errands for me. What would you do? Call Lumumba or Ofwono Opondo and seek their permission before executing the CiC’s express orders? These are questions we don’t have to answer here but any reasonable IGP will have to act pragmatically when faced with such a dilemma. M7 has publicly stated several times he likes Kayihura because he is a good loyal NRM cadre. Period. So to the appointing authority a good IGP is one who does political assignments or otherwise without questions and the CiC has his numbers in Parliament which determines Kayihura’s budget and appointment as we all know. The IGP often spends on doing what he calls dialogue by fueling private vehicles for many opposition MPs who are good at making noise on Togikwatako and the like. Being the pragmatist he is; this is another way Kayihura buys the silence of some of these opposition MPs on certain things. The thing is he has been around long enough, made many mistakes and learnt from them. He for instance rightly knows it’s safer and more face-saving to spend money pampering opposition MPs and fueling their cars than waiting to confront them with their crowds on the street with teargas and live bullets resulting in mass deaths in which case Uganda becomes discredited and the IGP ends up at The Hague. As Otunnu onetime said, Uganda’s current problem is political and not merely policing or lack of professionalism in the Police. Whereas the opposition leaders run to court trying to solve what is clearly a political problem, M7 resorts to Kayihura each time he feels politically threatened. And this is the point Olara Otunnu precisely made when he said “I can’t challenge you politically and instead of answering me politically, you send police to teargas me.” Police had summoned Otunnu to Kibuli to explain why he made comments on a Lango radio station disputing Museveni’s nationality. To him, M7 should have politically responded rather than sending police to shut him up. This exactly is what we see in places like MUK where lecturers or students strike and police is sent to shut them up. This is the reason strikes never end at MUK. For M7 it appears it’s cheaper and better to unleash Afande Teargas rather than wasting time in long meetings with striking lecturers who will end up demanding billions which you don’t even readily have. So the disappointments citizens see and associate to Kayihura’s mismanagement of the Uganda Police Force is simply a symptom of a much bigger Ugandan problem. Editor’s note-Morning Briefing will be a daily section analyzing and contextualizing the topic issues in news and in the country at large.

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    NATIONAL

    Gloves Off As Prime Minister Nabbanja Declares War On Minister Lumumba Over UN Trip…

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    Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja (R) and minister Kasule Lumumba (L)

    Furious Prime Minister who also doubles as the Kakumiro district woman Member of Parliament Robinah Nabbanja Musafiiri has declared a war on Justine Kasule Lumumba the minister of General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister over the recent trip to United States of America to attend the United Nations Assembly.

    Nabbanja revealed that she was surprised to see Lumumba attending the Assembly meeting because she was not given permission from her as the leader of government business who is responsible for giving ministers and government officials permission to travel abroad.

    She explained that she kept quiet while in US. However, when they immediately landed at Entebbe, she issued a directive not to refund any money to Lumumba and the people she travelled with because they traveled on their own.

    “She will not bring here her fighting practices she has exhibited where she came from. We don’t even have that slot of the minister for General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister. I directed that she should not receive a refund for the money she used in that trip,” a furious Nabanja told CBS radio.

    She added that she was told that Lumumba was part of the delegation that went with Jessica Alupo the vice president whom Nabbanja said does not have authority to ask because she is her boss.

    She however explained that president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni gave her the green light to travel to the UN Assembly.

    Nabbanja noted that for her to travel to the US to attend the UN Assembly, she first received a special invitation from the UN and report to the president who allowed her to travel.

    She said that while in the US, she meet a number of investors on the sideline of the UN Assembly who picked interest to invest their money in Uganda.

    She added that she also met some of the top leaders of the World Bank who promised her that very soon, they are going to lift the ban they slapped on Uganda because of the Anti-Homosexuality Act passed by the parliament and signed by President Museveni.

    Nabbanja denied allegations that she travelled with a huge delegation including his physical trainer.

    She divulged that she traveled with only five people and among them was his bodyguard, protocol officers and others.

    She threatened to take legal action against the Monitor Publication adding that some papers are used to fight her by publishing malicious stories which put her in bad light before right thinking members of socity.

    “They wrote that I stole Shs9bn which was allocated to teach youths how to drink coffee, yet the money was misused before I was even appointed a prime minister. Enough is enough, I’m going to act against them and you will hear the results,” a furious Nabbanja threatened.

    She explained that her predecessors used to travel abroad with huge delegations but they were never publicised as it was done to her.

    It is on this note that she alleged that her enemies are using the media to put her down but vowed to go down fighting.

    Hamson Obua the government Chief Whip in parliament revealed that during the NRM parliamentary caucus meeting at State House Entebbe, Nabbanja and Alupo were given the opportunity by the president to clear the air over the huge delegation they both traveled with to UN Assembly. They both denied the allegations.

    theGrapevine has established that there has been a silent war between Nabbanja and Lumumba with the Prime Minister accusing Lumumba of disrespecting her and backbiting her.

    Before being appointed a minister, Lumumba, who was the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party Secretary General had a bad working relationship with Dr. Tanga Odoi the party Electoral Commission chairperson.

    theGrapevine made efforts to get a comment from Lumumba over her boss’ allegations against her but her known phone numbers were not going through.

     

    By Sengooba Alirabaki

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    CRIME

    Brig. Gen. Ddamulira Advised To Clear Air On Allegation Of Shielding Criminal Gangs To Avoid Ending Up Like Gen. Kayihura…

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    Criminal Intelligence boss Brig. Gen. Christopher Ddamulira

    Uganda’s representative to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) James Kakooza has advised the nonsense police’s Director for Criminal Intelligence Brig. Gen. Christopher Ddamulira Sserujogi to come up openly and clear the air on allegation made against him of shielding criminal gangs in Kampala city and Metropolitan areas because he fears a nasty ending like former Inspector General of Police Gen. Edward Kale Kayihura.

    Kakooza revealed that when Gen. Kayihura was at the helm of police leadership, allegations were made against him that he used criminal gangs to solve political questions.

    Kakooza narrated that he severally pleaded with Kayihura that if the allegations are true, he should stop because it was soiling his name.

    He added that Gen. Kayihura’s enemies based on his cooperation with criminal gangs to fabricate criminal allegations against him including pinning him over his involvement in the high level murders in the country.

    He stated that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni based on the said allegation to fire Kayihura from police leadership and ordered for his arrest and prosecution in the court martial.

    “If president Museveni didn’t handle Gen Kayihura’s issues with maturity and experience, he would have ended up being sentenced to death or life imprisonment because the allegations placed on him were very treasonous. So my young brother Brig. Gen. Ddamulira should come out and clear the air on those allegations put against him,” Kakooza stated.

    He added that Brig. Gen. Ddamulira’s statement will not only cleared him but it will also clear the good name of the UPDF institution.

    Kakooza’s advice comes days after Kira Municipality legislator and also the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda accused Brig. Gen. Ddamulira of shielding criminals that beat up FDC delegates and stole their belongings both at Busabala and Katonga where they had gone to attend the Extra-Ordinary Delegates Conference summoned by party national chairperson Wasswa Birigwa.

    The Observer newspaper journalist Baker Batte also accused the criminal gang of stealing his brand new laptop.

    However, while speaking to theGrapevine, Batte confirmed that his latotop was recovered by Katwe police even though they have not yet handed it over to him.

    The ghetto leadership in Kampala city, Mukono, Wakiso districts also issued a statement asking Ssemujju to apologize to Brig. Gen. Ddamulira for tarnishing his name that he is shielding criminal gangs in the city.

    Shafik Kalyango, the coordinator ghetto structures, John Lukuse and Geoffrey Nsamba who were arrested by police for terrorising FDC delegates.

    They confessed that they are members of the ghetto structures which is supervised by State House, Brig. Gen. Ddamulira and officials from the ministry in charge of Kampala Metropolitan whose objective is to turn them into good citizens.

    Kalyango added that they are mobilizing the ghetto youths who have not yet joined their structures to avoid being used by the politicians to fight their battles against their political enemies and among them are those who beat FDC delegates and journalists.

    Ssemujju admitted to having seen Kalyango’s letter on social media even though it he not yet been officially served.

    He appreciated the efforts made by Brig. Gen. Ddamulira to organise youths in the city.

    He added that officially, Brig. Gen. Ddamulira denied having knowledge of the criminals hired by the Najjanankumbi FDC camp of party president Patrick Amuriat Oboi and Nathan Nandala Mafabi the Secretary General.

    Ssemujju however noted that there are elements in security circles who are working with criminal gangs in the city.

    He pleaded with Brig. Gen. Ddamulira to use his office to tame them because they will wreak havoc in the country.

     

    By Sengooba Alirabaki

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    NEWS

    Shadow Minister Warns Speaker Among To Prepare For The Worst As Zaake Asks For Special Audit On Parliamentary Commission…

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    The shadow Internal Affairs ministers who also doubles as the Mukono North legislator Abudallah Kiwanuka has warned his boss the speaker of parliament Annet Anita Among to prepare the worst after the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka on behalf of the parliament lost the Constitutional petition against maverick Mityana Municipality Member of Parliament (MP) Francis Butebi Zaake.

    In a majority judgment of 4-1, the Constitutional Court allowed Zaake’s petition and declared the actions of Speaker Among to dismiss him from the parliamentary commission illegal.

    Court ordered the Attorney General to pay half of the costs of the petition.

    In her leading judgement, Justice Irene Mulyagonja supported by the judgment of other justices who include; Justice Eva Luswata, Justice Muzamir Kibedi and Justice Oscar Kihika declared that the then deputy speaker Among acted as a judge in her own case when she continued chairing the parliament in a matter which she had personal interest which resulted into contravening with Article 2(2),(2), 8A, 28, 42, 44(c) of the constitution.

    They added that parliament violated rule 111(5) of the Rules of Procedure of the parliament during the debate of the motion to remove Zaake from the office of the Commissioner.

    The amendment of the recommendations in the report of the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline to include a recommendation that Zaake be removed from the office of the commissioner had no legal basis and was illegal.

    However, Justice Catherine Bamugemereire disagreed with other members of the panel and dismissed the application but her judgment was defeated by the majority judgment.

    The entire legal battled started in 2022 when speaker Among made statements while presiding over plenary concerning legislator Zaake’s gold medal win in the East African parliamentary games even though he claimed he was still nursing torture wounds as a result of State operatives torture which did not went well the youthful legislator.

    Zaake took his anger to social media and blasted Among which resulted into his dismissal from the parliamentary commission.

    However, Kiwanuka insists that Zaake’s win in the Constitutional Court is a vote of no confidence from President Museveni explaining that if he wanted Among to win, she would have won.

    He insisted that Museveni wanted to show that she doesn’t have the powers she thinks she is exhibiting and she should be very careful because very soon, she could be impeached from her office.

    Kiwanuka explained that Museveni has been sending serious warning signals to Among that she is nothing.

    That’s why he refused to respond to her when parliament impeached junior Lands, Housing and Urban Development minister Persis Namuganza.

    Namuganza is still sitting on the front benches at parliament where ministers sat even after her impeachment.

    Kiwanuka’s warning comes hours after Zaake boasted that he is going back to the parliamentary Commission in high gear and he will start with asking for a special audit on the funds which were okayed by the parliamentary commission to be used by parliament.

    He insisted that one of the reasons why he was illegally dismissed from the parliamentary Commission was because he questioned the manner in which the money was released and sabotaged some of the deals in the commission.

    Zaake asked fellow legislators like; Dr. Twaha Kagabo, Jim Lukwago to believe in themselves and stop taking looking at Among as goddess because she can also be defeated.

    However, Kira Municipality legislator Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda warned Zaake that even if he has won the court case, he might fail to perform as a Commissioner as a result of being frustrated by fellow commissioners.

    He pleaded with the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba to talk to the speaker so that she mends her relationship with Zaake to create a good working relationship.

    The Attorney General has already filed a notice of appeal to the Supreme Court against Justice Mulyagonja’s leading judgment.

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