{UAH} Pojim/WBK: Tamale: Museveni can’t give power to Mbabazi, Besigye

http://www.observer.ug/news-headlines/40086-tamale-museveni-can-t-give-power-to-mbabazi-besigye

Museveni can't give power to Mbabazi, Besigye

Written by Siraje Lubwama

Last Updated: 25 September 2015

Presidential advisor Tamale Mirundi

After losing his job as the president's press secretary three months ago, the notoriously-outspoken Tamale Mirundi was appointed a presidential advisor on media. In an interview on September 14, he told Siraje Lubwama about his new role.
After 13 years as the president's press secretary, President Museveni recently appointed you a presidential advisor on media. How are you fitting in?

The president gave me a new job and, recently, my appointment letter. I am doing my duties but outside State House. I don't need an office because I am a field man. Even if President Museveni had not given me a new job, this wouldn't have disappointed me. I have served him for 13 years and I supported him before he gave me a job.
It was reported that the president accused you of insulting him, your workmates and other people; do you think your accusers achieved what they wanted?

I don't think so because the whole thing was masterminded by [former prime minister] Amama Mbabazi but the accusers did not know the assigned motive. Since that incident, I have been overwhelmed by the support from NRM supporters.

That is why the accusers' motive, to even block my radio and TV programmes, did not succeed and this has given me more courage to continue working for Museveni and NRM.
Are you angry that you were sacked and moved to another office?

I was not sacked as my detractors wanted but, instead, I was promoted. I did not join President Museveni to get a job. I joined him because of his good programmes.

Even if I lose my job, I would continue supporting him. If you marry a woman and she fails to produce, do you sack her? I am Museveni's dog; it doesn't matter to which house he sends me.
Where do you operate from?

When a crocodile throws you to the mainland instead of deep in the river, will you continue fishing from the same area? Those who accused me doctored a two-hour tape and tried to show that I had abused the president. When I appeared before him, he told me in Luganda that, Obukolya bukulidde nga bwe bulya omusota (the squirrels have eaten you like a snake).

This was a big warning to me that I didn't require an office to fight for Museveni because the same group will pursue me there.  I hate this group and I cannot work with it in the same office anymore. The day I appeared before the president with the same group, I lost my temper and wanted to fight with one of the detractors because I knew it was not me who had been abusing the president but him.

This is why I can't be in NRM after Museveni. Much as I have an appointment letter, the issue is not the job because Museveni paid my tuition at Makerere University; that is why I have a degree.

Some of those people fighting me have no degree; so, they cannot force me to abandon Museveni who I supported before one of them was born. Some of these people think I don't have feelings. They think when I am given money I [will] just laugh and keep quiet about their wrongdoings.
     
You should be proud that you were not sacked but promoted instead.

If the president had promoted me on merit, there wouldn't be a problem but I was switched to another office after wild accusations were leveled against me. I will continue supporting Museveni whether I am given a job or not because I like him as an individual.
You and senior presidential advisor on media John Nagenda, who is the boss?

We can be as many advisors as Museveni wishes. Which type of machine measures Tamale and Nagenda's wisdom and advice? I am Museveni's dog which has been moved from one cage to another but that [former] cage [was] poisonous. I will not go there again.

I am lucky to be alive now because I survived poison three times and my mother was almost killed. I will not accept to be humiliated by some of these kids.
You don't even appreciate that now you are getting a bigger salary in your new role?

I am a senior citizen of this government. I worked for State House voluntarily and nothing has changed. I still have a vehicle which government maintains. I have the same security detail and same salary.

I don't have a bank loan. I did not abuse my office and by the president appointing my deputy [Lindah Nabusayi] to take up my job, it means that I did not perform badly.  
Why do you think your workmates cheered your sacking save for Sarah Kagingo?

Just like me, Kagingo used to be framed and tossed up and down because of her effectiveness on duty to the extent that she was assaulted by her workmates and denied a two-and-half-year salary.

I am the only man who is not involved in any scandal but the thieves are there. I do not always fight to be on the plane like they do. I can visit USA without getting a ticket from State House. One time I was told to share a room with a friend and I refused because I had the money to cater for myself. I spent 13 years in State House serving diligently.
Do you regret leaving your job as press secretary?

The only regret would be the doctored tape made by these detractors but that would-be regret was overtaken by events when the president promoted me instead.
How do you assess Amama Mbabazi's chances in next year's presidential race?

President Museveni cannot give power to either [Kizza] Besigye or Mbabazi because they belong to a hostile group. I told people that Mbabazi wants to overthrow the government but they wouldn't listen.

The fair crowds seen at rallies during Mbabazi's first leg [of consultations] in eastern Uganda revealed some pointers. Though that is the same crowd Besigye addressed, Mbabazi used money.  He, unlike Besigye, [bought a TV] station which covered him throughout the eastern tour. Besigye, poor as he is now, failed to show any photo of his existence in eastern Uganda.
How do you assess Mbabazi's chances in TDA?

TDA is Mbabazi's outfit, which he created using an invisible hand and disassociates himself from it using a surgical operation without paralyzing the whole body. The moment you take your papers to TDA applying to compete from there, you are just confirming that it is more important than your party. And Besigye was fooled to join it – you can't get married and remain a virgin.

You can compare this alliance to a Cardinal who goes to a witchdoctor and asks whether he is going to heaven. Besigye joined TDA where Bishop Zac Niringiye, Mbabazi's right-hand man and Beti Kamya, a failure in politics, are some of the judges. In this alliance, Mbabazi will emerge victorious because TDA is like his party.

In the event that Besigye is defeated and he insists on running as an independent, Mbabazi will use the media to bombard him because some media houses are in the hands of mafias.
What is your comment about Gen Aronda Nyakairima's death?

Aronda's death is a blow to the nation. I don't have any respect for people who want to capitalize on his death. The likes of Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda opposed Aronda's appointment as minister for Internal Affairs, saying he had not retired from the army, and upon his death they are the same people shedding crocodile tears.

The Baganda have a proverb that says, 'Ekirya atabaala, kyekirya n'asigadde eka,' (meaning that death is everywhere). Another proverb says that Awafiira omuzira, tewaba nsitaano (the brave don't die in big battles); this was evident in the death of [South Sudan president] John Garang, Jonas Savimbi of Angola, Col John Charles Ogole, Maj Gen James Kazini and Alexander the Great.
What are you proud of as a former press secretary?

My major success has been defending Museveni as my master at all costs. I am not a house girl who is chased away because the baby she was looking after has gone to a nursery school. Despite the detractors, some NRM supporters have appreciated my support for Museveni and have given me some money and about 100 cows.
Any challenges encountered?

Fighting thieves has been a big challenge to the extent that some wanted me pushed out of State House. But even if I were sacked, I would be fairly satisfied. If somebody offers you a lift on your way to Entebbe and drops you at Kajjansi, you appreciate because he would have shortened your journey.

I am only 54 with a political ambition. Jomo Kenyatta was Kenya's president at the age of 75 in 1963. He died in 1978 but many people believe that he laid a foundation for Kenya. Abdoulaye Wade started competing for power in Senegal in 1972 and he became president in 2000. The man who laid a strong foundation for China completed it at the age of 85.
Do you plan to become a minister or stand for any political position?

Without being an MP or a minister, I consider myself one of the shakers in Uganda and people listen to me more than those ministers and MPs who are given only two minutes in parliament.

Monsignor Ngobya was not a Cardinal like Emmanuel Nsubuga who was buried at Bakateyamba's home in Ndeeba, but many Christians go to Ngobya's grave very often. Without being a Cardinal, Julius Nyerere is moving closer to being a saint.

I have a vision of establishing a political academy in my home area where I will be inviting international scholars to discuss critical political issues with an intention of changing political trends in the region. 
slubwama@observer.ug

Tamale: Museveni can't give power to Mbabazi, Besigye

http://www.observer.ug/news-headlines/40086-tamale-museveni-can-t-give-power-to-mbabazi-besigye

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