{UAH} Amelia feels like a hypocrite to work with corrupt colleagues

Amelia feels like a hypocrite to work with corrupt colleagues

Written by Simon Kasyate

Last Updated: 28 September 2015

Amelia Kyambadde

Last week, we had Amelia Kyambadde share her early life story with Simon Kasyate on Capital FM's Desert Island Discs programme.

In the second of the two-part series, we bring you Amelia talking about life as a secretary to Commander Yoweri Museveni; her role in the liberation struggle; the challenges of being a principal private secretary to the president; and why she quit civil service for politics.

Amelia, from the time we ended last week, you were a happy, married lady. Had you already attained your qualification in secretarial studies?

I finished afterwards. When I got married, I went back and finished my secretarial course.

Did you get a job immediately?

Now my father comes into the picture. I am married, imagine! So, my father says, it might be difficult for you to get a job… He says come and work for me. So, I worked for him in Kulubya and Company Advocates.

But I was not working. He would say go home and look after the baby, and he was paying me a lot of money…He pampered me so much. I felt I was going to become totally useless…

So, how do you leave your dad's and get a new job?

During that time we had a car, a Honda car. It was stolen by some of these liberators, Tanzanians. When it was stolen, people said that the only person who can liberate it is this young minister of defence. That he is the only person who is feared by Tanzanians.

So, I talked to my husband and my father about it. He said no no no, you should not have anything to do with soldiers…. let us forget about the car. But the car was parked at Radio Uganda and was being driven by one of the commanders of the Tanzanian army…People said we can connect you to this minister.

You know, normally I am very stubborn. When I want something, I go out and get it. I said but how can the car park there? We can get it; it's not theirs! I am always looking for fairness and justice.

And these are liberators acting like…!

So, someone took me to the minister there and that minister was operating from Nile hotel. And you have queues and queues of people waiting to get sugar, to get beer, to get foreign exchange..

From the same minister?

From the same minister.

I thought a minister of defence was for defence...

Nooooo. Those ministers were very powerful; they could do anything... They would just write you letters. It was because of the scarcity at the time.
So, I joined the queue for three days... When I finally got there... I said sir, I lost my car and it was stolen by Tanzanians; could you help me? So, he said, but who are you?

I said I am Amelia Kulubya Kyambadde. He said who is your father? I told him. He said, ohhh, I know him. He said, okay, what I will do is I will write a letter; you will come and pick it from here and you get your car. I didn't believe it; he said come back on Thursday…I found the letter with the personal assistant. I was surprised. I went and as soon as those people saw the letter, they went into a state of panic.

How did you get there, how? They feared. They fueled the car for me; they washed it and gave it to me. And everybody at home was shocked, my husband, father.

You just showed up driving a Honda?

Yes. They said: how did you get it? But after about a week, the personal assistant [to the minister] called me and said someone wants to talk to you. And I got on the phone; he said you remember the other minister? I said yes. What did you say the work you are doing? I said I am working as a secretary (I had told him all that). He said can you come and see me?

Now I was thinking; should I go there? I said I will go. He gave me a date. I went. Then he said I am looking for a secretary who is not Amin's secretary. Because I don't trust these secretaries here, because at least with your background, having trained in Nairobi, you haven't been involved in these local politics…why don't you help me get somebody who is like you?

But everybody of my peers was like whaaaat, who works for those people? But remember, for me, I already had that issue of the car, remember this person helped me…I didn't want to disappoint him. So, I went back and he said why don't you work for me part-time while you look around because I am desperate...?

I said okay. But the challenge was with the other job, my father, and I feared to tell him. So, I told my new boss, I will only help you for a short time. He said okay, I will be drafting my letters, leave them here, you come and type, leave them here, I come and sign them and I will get somebody to dispatch them.

So, I would find drafts. He used to write ohohoh!! That Mustard Seed started there, piles, piles, piles!

Now that you have let the cat out of the bag; this minister is President Museveni now?

Yes.

So, you just meet him, desperately wanting a lost car…he also needs a secretary…was the guy good at paying?

But I was working for free. I was paying for the car. But eventually he introduced me to the ministry of defence and I started working officially. But now getting away from the other gentleman [father] was also not very easy.

He was very upset. He said no, you should not get involved in politics. I got lectures. He said why should a daughter of mine become a politician?

Unfortunately he passed on. If he knew that I had become a member of parliament now, he would kill me. Perhaps he would be proud, because eventually when I worked at State House, he became proud.

So, you met Museveni in a volatile government and you still stuck around and worked!

I was committed. I realised that we shared certain notions, ideas, especially when it came to grassroots people. I had now got someone who would nurture my love for the underprivileged. We would spend a lot of time listening to the wananchi.

Honestly speaking, did you see in this guy that maybe one day he would be president of this country?

I remember my father told me, he said something like, you know this young man seems to be very ambitious. One day he is going to be someone bigger than what he is.

Then eventually we heard on the radio that they had actually chucked us, no longer in defence. A reshuffle. So, I had to rush into the office and pack all the things.  Now we are moving to regional cooperation.

Wait a minute. These reshuffles came in such a manner that you are not given prior information?

No no. So, we had to go to regional cooperation. It was a nightmare. There was no work. He would sit and write what became the Mustard Seed...but during that time, he was able to establish his links and connections for the next move. We would go to some of these revolutionary countries. For example Namibia, South Africa...

Choses Amelia by Dr Hilderman

By the way, how did this song come about?

…It was deliberate. When he [Hilderman] moved around Mawokota and saw what I had done, he started getting curious and came up with the song... I was upset.

I said I am in office and you are composing a political song. It is going to create problems for me. He said it is not political. He started to twist it and said he was talking about a random girl called Amelia, but he eventually admitted and we worked on it…

Plays Amelia by Dr Hilderman
 
….You now go to the military commission with Museveni?

During that time, my father was arrested by Muwanga, by that military commission where I was now working! So, I was supposed to get involved.

What was his crime?

Because he was driving a Kenya-registered vehicle. The vehicle belonged to John Kulubya, the brother, who was staying in Nairobi then. So, at that time, if you were driving a foreign-labeled number, you were seen as a rebel. So, they picked him up, locked him up at Makindye. They called me and at that time the vice chair, Commander Museveni, was out of the country.

So, there was Muwanga, I walked up to Muwanga's office, which was on fourth floor, parliamentary building. When I walked in, he said: ehhh, are you a Muganda? You know all this time I thought you were those people. I said what kind of leader is this? I said, which people? He said abo abo abo (referring to westerners).

I was shocked…So, I have been observing you here but I didn't know…you are one of us. I was so disappointed. Then he said: why are you working with them? I was shocked.

And remember, working with His Excellency, you are ideologically awakened. I thought this was very strange for a leader. Anyway, I walked in and had a seat, but I was very uncomfortable. Then he said, what happened? He didn't seem to know what was going on! The Inspector General of Police then…came in running, the man was panting.

He [Muwanga] said: Oh my daughter, can you go out briefly, go to your office, I will call you." I stayed at the secretary's office. I heard him saying: "You know these Baganda are very funny people. This man Kulubya, you never know, he might have been involved, interrogate him thoroughly (this involved torture)." And this IGP man kept telling him, Mr Kulubya is apolitical. He never gets involved in politics.

The IGP knew your dad?

Yes, they were friends. The IGP was in charge of training dogs and my father had this passion for dogs. He was trying to plead for him. So, Muwanga shouted at him: "Do as I have told you. Go and interrogate him." But what the IGP did, he went and released him...

He [Muwanga] called me back and said don't worry daughter, I have sorted it out. We are going to release your father. But from that day, I knew he was a snake and feared him and kept away from him.

From military commission, we had to go into exile. Things got bad, we went into elections. The situation worsened. They wanted to kill all of us.

…As a married woman, weren't you worried of the security of your family?

When you are younger, apparently you are so brave. You have the temerity to do all sorts of things. I was enjoying my work. I could see so many qualities in this gentleman.

My concern was his relationship with ordinary people. His system of leadership; the way he treated all of us; he was approachable; I could see so many qualities.

Plays A New Day Has Come by Celine Dion

Where did you go to exile?

I went Sweden, with my family. We were there for five years. We were living in the same estate [with the Musevenis]; so, we used to go there for information. We also had an external NRA/M branch. So, we were looking for money, my husband would take the money to Nairobi.

So, your husband got involved?

Yes. We would move to all these offices, get funds, clothes, drugs, take them to Nairobi.

So, eventually when you heard that he had become president…

He called me back. Sserwanga Lwanga called me... in 1986, I came back. But I realized I had to go back and study. Work in State House became very challenging, having only a secretarial…

I went to Makerere, did a BBA…that is when my boss started getting confidence in me. He started promoting me. I didn't realise that actually it was an advantage. I went to UK for my master's. I have an MBA as well. I am trying to get a PhD. Then it helped me, I qualified as a principal private secretary.

Tell us briefly, what does being a PPS for the president mean? 

Being a PPS is a very tough job. First of all, you are the link between the president and the rest of the country/world. It's not a joke. I remember we used to sleep for about three hours. Because you start in the morning; at about 7:30am. You work throughout, until about 2am or 4am. You just go home and change…

I am not sure if our listeners can point to who the current PPs is or the one before you. What was it about you that made you the household name for PPS?

That is a very difficult question for me. But maybe I had been there for a while. Two, I had authority. I was in charge.

How easy is it to be in charge?

It is not. You get a lot of resistance from the public. Resentment. People don't get to understand that you are doing your job. For example, organising programmes for the president, people think they could just walk in.

You work up schedules and say, your excellency this week you are going to meet groups, this week individuals…but people don't want that.

But what about him, as an individual…did he listen, follow your programmes

Sometimes he would. But there would be a lot of pressure. Sometimes you would say, Mr President I am giving you three programmes today, in the morning you are doing paperwork, then meet individuals, then you go for lunch and in the afternoon you meet groups. But you find him fixing another set of programme.

How would he fix it without you, he had other parallel channels?  

No, he used to call people. As I said, he is accessible. That is one of the challenges that he has. 

How were you able to play around that intricate arrangement to ensure that you delivered?

In most cases, I would ensure that even if he is going to meet any group, he must inform me in time so that we work out a brief in time or I get information from those people.

But that is where the resistance came from. People would say, why does she want to know everything?...We also had rules that issues pertaining to government policies should be handled by the prime minister.

And that is where resistance would come in; people wanted to meet the president…  We worked out a system and I trained people that every issue, if it is a legal matter, the legal secretaries had to draft something about the particular case, bring it to me, I fix a programme, then the principal reads it before, by the time the meeting happens, he is aware of the issues...

We have a president who is also a family man: didn't you find yourself on a collision course with the family needs of the president?

Ohhh yes.  Family was another challenge. It was very difficult for me to manage family. The family cannot say I am coming to see him and you say no.

And when they come, they have to bring people. Then people learnt that there was a gap there; so, they [would] go through the family. That one I had no control over. And those were some of the issues that I really realized that…

But did you have a discussion with him?

Yes, and he would say I will inform you before time. But still you could not plan. You cannot go to family and say tell me why you want to see the president. It became very complicated as the family grew. Because they became adults, they had their needs. They needed his attention.

Amelia Kyambadde and family

Eventually you leave State House: what informed that decision?

As we moved around with the president into different districts, I realized two issues. Number one, I realized that the services were not going down to the grassroots. People would stand up and tell the president, sir, we don't have desks in our classrooms; we don't have medicine in our health centres; the medical personnel do not work.

And I was wondering, are these issues really for a president? He would then say, Amelia, handle. Then you would find that you are actually fighting with a ministry, because when you get involved, you find that you are antagonizing everybody in the system…one time I went to the village over the weekend and there was this mother who came with her daughter who had dropped out of school, around 14 years.

She was heavily pregnant and the mother had come to report her to me. I said let her just deliver, I had some mama kits and I gave her. I said I would get some clothes for her baby. After about two weeks, I found the mother crying. I asked her why she was crying and she said you remember my daughter, I lost her.

She died when she was delivering and the baby died as well. I said whaaat, what happened. She said I had not taken her to the health centre because the services are not there and I was trying to have her deliver from a traditional birth attendant but she developed complications and we couldn't help. I said what am I doing in this office? Why don't I come out?
 
One would imagine that as a PPS, you were closer to the president than you possibly are as a member of parliament or minister?

We had worked together for a long time. He was like a father, a brother and I knew his preferences…it was also another drive to ensure that services tally with policies.

I had to make a decision to come and be part of the legislature to ensure that these policies are implemented. I could try out Mawokota as a model constituency. I have tried.
 
Plays Heal The World by Michael Jackson

Now let's look at you as an individual, do you get time to have a good laugh?

I do laugh a lot. First of all I enjoy my family, they make me laugh. And I have these grandchildren, I enjoy them…

I am sure a few things rub to you the wrong way.

What I don't like is unfairness. I hate lies. I hate corruption. These things rub me the wrong way.

How rubbed off do you feel when a certain programme in government… somehow the money doesn't reach where it is supposed to be and nobody takes responsibility of this…?

As an individual, I just feel like a hypocrite to be part of all this. But as much as government is trying, I think we need to start from an earlier stage in one's life. We need to work on the mindset and start with children in school and tell them the evils of corruption.

Otherwise, you can't just wake up one day and say I am locking up so and so; many people have already matured in this. We need to do more, but sometimes I feel so disappointed that some of us are really draining our country; we need to build a patriotic spirit in us.

What is your favorite dish?

I am a picky eater. Sometimes I pretend I don't eat meat, I don't eat fish. I don't have any favorite dish per se. We have these fantasies of getting fat…as we grow older, you can become obese.

A glass of wine for you?

Not really, that one I would develop a headache.

I am told you are contesting for the seat in Mawokota once again?

Yes I am contesting. But after that I will retire. Definitely I will win, I have done a lot.

You people are known for changing your word.

No, no, no.

Not even for the presidency?

No, it is a lot of work. I have seen the president suffering. It is hell. I want to go into business after this. I have realized that businesspeople live a better life than politicians.

If you were marooned on a desert island and were asked to carry one thing or one person, what would that thing or person be?

I like reading. But music, I think, is more soothing.

Before I go, I want to say that I am very independent-minded. Because even leaving State House, my boss talked me into staying, but I had decided. I am very decisive.

Actually, what is it you want to do in the next five years?

I want to concentrate on the youth. I have not had ample time to for them. I have started crafting out courses, especially skills-oriented such that they have something to do, earn a living. We can also go for value addition, access to electricity and water, those are the three areas.

Plays Amelia by Peace Irene Namalwa

TRANSCRIPT: JOSEPH KIMBOWA.

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