{UAH} MBABAZI RETURN FAVORS ADONIA AYEBARE’S BID TO REPLACE MINISTER KUTEESA

By Mulengera Reporters

Whereas it's true President Museveni has been exhibiting growing confidence in Ambassador Adonia Ayebare, widely favored to become the next Foreign Affairs Minister, the impending return of John Patrick Amama Mbabazi to the mainstream government boosts amiable diplomat's chances even more.

JPAM is the one who first inducted Adonia into the Museveni government business when he used to leverage on his excellent journalistic skills to give him private errands to execute for him at a time the man from Kanungu held part of the foreign affairs docket regarding pacification of the Great Lakes region and more so the Democratic Republic of Congo. Adonia's active hostility towards his current boss Kutesa, who JPAM has never forgiven for the way he publicly decampaigned him in 2016, when he contemptuously branded him "kano kazintuka," can only make JPAM (the kingmaker of the season) more interested in using him for payback purposes against SK.

Reflecting on the conspicuous roles he has lately been playing executing Gen Museveni mediational or go-between errands involving the new US Ambassador and Rwanda's Paul Kagame, one can't avoid perceiving Adonia Ayebare as the crown prince regarding who Kutesa's Foreign Affairs docket successor is going to be. JPAM is understood to have signaled Gen Museveni about the caliber of Cabinet he would like to supervise and superintend over for the next 5 years as a Vice President with more powers and clout than the lukewarm Edward Sekandi who he is widely expected to take over from effective May. It will to be a cabinet with more energetic young men and women than has been the case. This too favors Adonia Ayebare ahead of SK who is way much older than the 56-year-old diplomat currently representing Uganda as Permanent Representative at the NY-based UN.

And besides the US and Rwanda-related errands, there are other indicators Adonia Ayebare is the man of the moment in as far as Gen Museveni's foreign policy calculus is concerned. On a humid Wednesday afternoon recently, Ayebare was held up in a long private meeting with Gen Museveni at Entebbe State House. On that same day, Gen Museveni met Igara MP Micheal Mawanda Maranga whose equally long meeting preceded that of Ayebare which went into the night. We couldn't readily establish what the big man from Rwakitura discussed with the two gentlemen, each meeting him separately, but it most likely had a lot to do with the practice of foreign relations and the upcoming cabinet alignment.

THE HOWEVER SIDE
His apparent suitability for the job notwithstanding, there are things that diminish Amb Adonia Ayebare's pedigree for the job at hand including being perceived by colleagues at Foreign Affairs as an ambitious controversial figure who can't work well with some colleagues. Sources say that some of the diplomatic colleagues that he isn't comfortable with include his NY Deputy Kintu Nyago (now of SA) and the much respected Mull Katende, who represents Uganda in Washington. Some colleagues are also uncomfortable that the very ambitious Ayebare, whose brother Abel Kandibo heads CMI, hasn't been exactly very courteous and respectful towards SK who is his superior by virtue of being the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

There are also concerns especially among the career diplomats as to where someone whose station is NY gets time to be available to do all sorts of errands for the H.E. as if he is Ambassador at large. And indeed a recent circular by SK directing all ambassadors to immediately return to their respective stations excited many Adonia critics at the Foreign Affairs Ministry because they perceived the same as aimed at people like himself and Henry Mayega, the former UPC diehard who is always in Kampala writing political articles and appearing on media talk shows as if he isn't deployed to a station abroad.

There have also been efforts by Adonia supporters and sympathizers to portray Amb Mull Katende as too old and unfit for the Washington task while referencing on the old man's alleged failure to effectively counter Kyagulanyi's NUP propagandists at the US Capitol.

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Allaah gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him."And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things." (6:17)

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