When emotions override all reason

PRIME Minister Apolo Nsibambi will surely not love this. For one man that represents utmost temperance in all of President Museveni’s cabinet, his latest shenanigans will do so much to injure that reputation.

I was having a chat with Deputy Speaker Rebecca Kadaga last week at the opposition snubbed European Union funded democracy workshop at Speke Resort Munyonyo, when Prof. Nsibambi did the unthinkable. Looking crisp in a grey suit, he walked hurriedly towards us. I humbled myself, bowed courteously and extended my hand to greet him. Prudence always dictates that you compose yourself in respect and honour, in the presence of a ‘big man.’

He grabbed my hand and I said, “Good morning Hon. Prime Minister.” I suspect he didn’t hear me greet him. In a burning fit of rage, Prof. Nsibambi quickly went on to unleash a tirade of obscene proportion.
Still holding my hand and turning to Ms Kadaga, he barked; “This man is very foolish. You are very foolish young man. Foolish!” I stood and watched in consternation. He still held onto my hand and we walked in the same stride, towards the conference hall. “How could you write and create the impression that [Nandala] Mafabi and I are enemies. We are not. In fact I have always supported him because he is doing an excellent job. No, no, that was a bad article,” he said.
“Did you read the article?” he asked Ms Kadaga, and she nodded in the affirmative.
“You are a hopeless man and I will never talk to you again,” he said. Ms Kadaga looked at me sheepishly.
It was the perfect anti-climax. Moments earlier, she had agreed to grant me an interview- one that I had been chasing for weeks, and when it all seemed perfect, Prof. Nsibambi turned up and spoilt the party. I was pretty certain that the Kadaga interview was now gone with the wind, in the same vein Prof. Nsibambi would have expected his tirade.

Before he let go of my hand, I collected myself, took a deep breath, already embarrased by the verbal attack on my person and reputation, and told Prof. Nsibambi; “Hon. Prime Minister, I honestly think that is below the belt. You are accusing me falsely and that is not what my article said.”

But he would have none of it and simply walked on with Ms Kadaga, talking about the story.
“Oh I read it and I think it was....,” she said, but her voice drowned with the sound of chattering from other guests who were returning to their seats after the 11:00AM coffee break. I quickly lost my appetite for the coffee but a colleague insisted we get a cup nonetheless. He too was taken aback by Prof. Nsibambi ranting. “I didn’t read the story but you must have annoyed the Professor,” he said.

But it was written in plain English and the article spoke about the character of Mr Mafabi, the bold chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. And do you know what pissed off Prof. Nsibambi? Well, I quoted snippets from the Parliament Hansard of 2004 in which Mr Mafabi verbally clashed with the Leader of Government Business. Mafabi had called Nsibambi a liar, citing court proceedings. But I rightly pointed out that the FDC MP was forced to recant his statement. Now that was fact and not a painting of my imagination.

Two hours later, I bumped into the usually jolly good professor, but this time in the gents. He picked up from where he had stopped. “You are a foolish man,” he said. “Young man you cannot make a whole professor of political science look foolish in your writings. That is not acceptable.”
I told him there are always two sides of the story and it is only necessary not to dwell on the negatives.

He still wasn’t convinced and marched out of the loo wearing a vexed look.
I was troubled and disappointed. But to overtly hurl insults at a reporter was in many ways dishonourable behaviour. That morning I was pretty certain Prof. Nsibambi had forgone his honour. Forget that I have always had much respect for him. It didn’t matter then and it doesn’t now.

As I resigned to my humble abode that evening, it had never occurred to me that much that intelligence is a gift from God and surely isn’t picked up from books.

Drawing parallels between that bizarre episode and the decision by the five represented opposition parties in Parliament to boycott the EU workshop, it also had never been clearer that politicians often let their emotions override all reason.

Prof. Ogenga Latigo, the Leader of the Opposition will surely have a difficult time convincing me why the opposition snubbed the do. That Speaker Edward Ssekandi invited the other obscure or if you like ‘ghost’ opposition parties to the discussions, was never good reason to warrant a boycott. What would the opposition lose by sitting on the same table with the reportedly briefcase parties, often described as appendages of President Museveni’s NRM? This wasn’t Parliament, and no decision reached at would be binding, in any case.

I thought I would share my trials and tribulations about last week’s quizzing by the Criminal Investigations Department but since I am making another visit this morning, I will save that for next week. Press freedom is still under attack.

The Insider

Chogm: You must account for our money

As you read this, I'll probably be rubbing shoulders with inquisitors at the Criminal Investigation's Department. It turns out that a story I wrote in August about a salary scandal implicating the IGG has rubbed this stone-faced, stone-cold and stone hearted woman the wrong way. But after four years exposing government excesses, it has been a call a little too late. But alas, it has come.
Well, expect every single detail of the quizzing. ..........
Chogm is around the corner; billions have been spent but we shall demand accountability.
Enjoy today's episode of The Insider's exploits. .......................



THE House is still closed and it is has everything to do with my current state of mind. But the rest of the country is basking in the Chogm frenzy. Why, can you blame them? The prospect of playing host is one many relish and one whose benefits the ideal bloke in down town Kampala is waiting reverently in earnest to enjoy. Will he?

The city has been much of a construction site the last couple of months, and by the look of things it will until the eve of the summit; perhaps even after the summit has ended. All this across-the-board preparation for the Kampala Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, however, has not spared Parliament either; although it must be said, it has turned out a blessing in disguise. I

t is no secret the Parliamentary Building has been bleeding for attention the last couple of years; bullet hole ridden, brownish coatings on the wall and leaking roofs. And because the structure of the National Parliament is perhaps the most prominent symbol of government, it was all the necessary that this five-decade-old building got a quick facelift.

But we can all attest to the weeks of inconvenience we have been subjected to as we access the precincts of Parliament.
The main entrance to the House remains closed, with visitors and everybody else including Parliamentary Commission staff and MPs using the entrance the south side of the building. For close to a month, the Speaker’s parking lot has been the front desk of Parliament with a makeshift reception curved out of three chairs and wide rectangular table.

And what seemed like an emergency exit, or perhaps the Speaker’s back door exit, turned out the “main” entrance into the House. Now take a stroll down Parliamentary Avenue and a pretty sight will greet you. All of a sudden, the House has been given a fresh berth of life. Although Roko Construction has pulled off a mean fete, the other Chogm contractors are facing serious credibility issues.

If you live in Kampala, you can easily tell that the country’s readiness for Chogm is in serious doubt. Will the opening up of manholes and digging of pavements continue until the last minute? Some of the works, in all honesty are ridiculous. For instance take a close look at the new pavements in along Acacia Avenue, right up to inlet to Kira Road. A thin layer of cement is what holds the single concrete blocks together.

A friend recently quipped that one single hailstorm would come uproot and wash away these “laser thin” held blocks into the golf course. It has been a quick fix job; patch up and move. But we have sunk billions of shillings into the Chogm project. Aren’t we entitled to value for money? We all knew about Chogm four years ago didn’t we; why this frenzy two weeks to the summit? By the end of 2006, Parliament had approved [and government had spent] amounts in excess of Shs 110billion in preparations to host 53 heads of state and government.

This year alone, another Shs 153billion has been approved and we are made to believe, will be spent entirely on the summit. Have you forgotten what strain the government went through to raise this money? Government departments and ministries are cash strapped courtesy of an across-the-board slash of their budgets and have been left with money to cater for salaries, fuel and occasional breakfasts at the office.

But when the dust finally settles and we look back at our performance on the global stage, we shall ask, how did you spend our money? Were all the laid down procedures of public procurement followed? It will be necessary for Parliament to institute a special audit for the entire Chogm accounts. It has also been said people are making a killing out of the project in dubious closed door deals and inflated budgets. This audit will provide necessary answers.

But outside Chogm, MPs converge today at the Speke Resort Munyonyo for a two day residential conference on the political path our country is taking and one that is expected to generate a roadmap to initiate electoral reforms. Speaker Edward Ssekandi spoke last week with a lot of enthusiasm about the conference saying it is the perfect opportunity for all MPs, despite the different political shades to dialogue with civil society actors and strengthen the country’s budding multiparty democracy ahead of the 2011 general elections.

But we all know what comes of such gatherings; usually the findings and agreements remain in the conference hall. The opposition, however, is not taking anything to chance. “If we could get reform, sleeping in Munyonyo before the heads of government come to sleep there,” said Prof. Ogenga Latigo the Leader of the Opposition, “that would be the greatest thing; because the other way of getting reform is to go to the streets and get beaten and suffer tear gas. People think we go there because we enjoy, no we don’t.”

I won’t attend the opening session, much as I would have loved to because I have been invited by the Criminal Investigations Directorate “to assist in providing valuable information” over a story I published in August about the IGG’s salary scandal. Well it’s just a beautiful way of saying I am being summoned for interrogation. Press freedom is under attack, but we shall weather the storm.
Until then...

Here's the best of Amama Mbabazi

If there is one guy that really intrigues me, it is Security Minister Amama Mbabazi. Oh yeah, he is back at his usual best unleashing tonnes of snobbery.

But I will reserve his latest antics at the NRM MPs retreat in Kampala, for another time. But let us relive the true character of a man who projects himself as President Museveni’s successor. This article was published in the Daily Monitor, and is reprinted here. Cheers.
The Insider.

This is the Amama Mbabazi show

Lights, camera and action, welcome to the Amama Mbabazi show.
He is a star student of his boss and without doubt a man of considerable intellect and work ethic. Highly talented, I must add.

But for all the tutoring and mentoring, he is yet to put up a good performance at the big stage. His boss, the NRM leader Yoweri Museveni, has projected charm by investing in exaggerated mannerisms like rolling his eyes wide open, and will say the occasional “bambi ” or “oooh, oohh” when scoffing at his political opponents; actions that have endeared him to many. But for all the political charm he tries to demonstrate, Security Minister Mbabazi is no Museveni.

Last week Mr Mbabazi put up a dismal performance on the floor of Parliament during the tense debate on the closure of Nation TV. It was like one of comical shows acted by the Theatre Factory at the National Theatre. The Government had defied a parliamentary directive to have NTV switched back on air and was struggling to calm enraged MPs.

Information Minister Kirunda Kivejinja had stunned the House with a statement that only offered desperate explanations as why the multimillion dollar TV investment couldn’t reopen—yet again. As expected, MPs immediately threw out his explanations. They said he was employing another dilly-dallying tactic.

Sensing the amount of hostility Mr Kivejinja was stocking up, Mr Mbabazi impulsively, seized the opportunity to unleash his antics and took on the role of information minister. I pitied Mr Kivejinja. He sat there staring blankly as his power was usurped by a man who in all rank and file is simply junior to the third deputy prime minister.

But Mr Kivejinja never complained.
Mr Mbabazi started by lecturing MPs on the procedure of licensing a television station and only provoked fury. He was soon gesturing in an animated manner; hands open eyes even wider. His gesticulating hand and arms had made words almost unnecessary as he toyed with MPs patience. They heckled and continuously interrupted him with points of order, procedure, clarification and information as they demanded that Mr Kivejinja, the line minister, assumes his place.

“Yesterday [Tuesday] the Prime Minister told us that nobody else would debate these [NTV] things and that the only competent person was the minister of information. Is it right for us to continue listening to a long preamble when the Speaker has asked a straight forward question,” complained NRM MP Kasule Lumumba.

“I would not like my government to change goal posts all the time whenever it is cornered,” bellowed Theodore Ssekikubo (NRM Lwemiyaga). “Why should we be subjected to posturing and gesticulations when the matter is simple?”

Many more expressed their lack of confidence in Mr Mbabazi demanding that Kivejinja rises up and does his job. “Could we request that the minister of information answers us because he holds that portfolio,” Mary Mungyenyi (NRM Ntungamo) demanded.
“I move a motion under rule 66 that we don’t hear the minister for security because he is wasting our time,” Odonga Otto (FDC Aruu) cheekily said.

Defiantly, Mr Mbabazi declined to budge. He stood up sluggishly, poured himself a glass of water, took a sip and then said, “I am a minister in this government…for Otto to ask me to sit down is a clear indication of lack of knowledge of government work.”

Blame Apolo Nsibambi, the leader of government business who supported Mbabazi. Somebody whispered that Mr Mbabazi would put up a good act in one of NTV’s premier soap operas Camilla, as the villain who sabotaged a blossoming love affair. I didn’t disagree entirely. His performance that hot afternoon was very unconvincing. I understood that it is his lack of charm that is his biggest political shortcoming. As long as he operates in the backroom, he remains relevant but when he comes into the fore, the theatre empties.

Watching from the press gallery as the bespectacled Mbabazi kept his nose in the air-- a mannerism not identified with modesty--my memory quickly flashed to the NRM National Executive Committee meeting in January at Munyonyo, when calls were very apparent for his resignation as NRM Secretary General.

A source that attended the meeting said delegates had expressed anger that the party is losing ground to the opposition because "Mr Mbabazi is so sophisticated which makes him a bad mobiliser. The stature of the secretary general is supposed to be someone who is down to earth.
Mr Mbabazi could be a good and experienced public administrator, which is good for diplomacy, but not for mobilisation purposes.”

If anyone was ever in doubt as to why party members accuse Mr Mbabazi of arrogance, his “stellar” performance relieves them of the burden. Oh boy, you should have seen him, the security minister! And yet this is not Jerry Springer.
The Insider

The Beginning

I am cringing in my seat as I write this, because I am embarrassed that three years after the world was (is) getting crazy with blogging, I am only embracing it right now. Where the hell have I been?

Oh, now I remember, I was locked down in the corridors of Parliament, chasing political gossip and watching with gawking eyes, every move our so called venerable legislators make.

I have been, admittedly, divorced from reality for sometime now; shut away in the small cocoon that the Daily Monitor newsroom is - which is quite awkward for a media practitioner.
But it’s never too late to gatecrash the party, init?

I am in, finally, to share the life and times of the Parliamentary Insider from Uganda’s banana republic.

So sit back and enjoy this roller-coaster-ride of all the untold stories, news and commentary from Parliament as seen by The Insider.

Cheers