The Priest of Kitanga Parish in the Kabale Diocese Rev Fr. Gaetano Batanyenda has said that President Yoweri Museveni’s appointment of election losers in top Government positions was a deliberate move to defeat the people’s will.
On Thursday, President Museveni announced a reshuffle in permanent secretaries for different ministries and government agencies.
In the changes, Museveni appointed former Bunyangabu County member of Parliament Adolf Mwesige appointed as Clerk to Parliament, and former lands Minister Betty Olive Namisango Kamya who was appointed as the Inspector General of Government – IGG.
While quoting the first article of the constitution which states that “all power belongs to the people,” Fr. Gaetano said Ugandans have been rendered powerless after they voted out some people and the losers bounced back to serve in high government positions.
“Politicians like Adolf Mwesige lost the trust of the people, but the President has shown that it doesn’t matter,”said Fr. Gaetano.
He also made reference to the recent appointments to cabinet in which former Kiboga Woman MP Ruth Nankabirwa and former Kitugum Municipality MP Beatrice Anywar bounced back as Ministers after losing the Parliamentary elections.
Fr. Gaetano noted that Politicians usually lose elections as a disciplinary action by the electorate for failure to perform, and therefore the Appointing authority is expected to follow the will of the people by leaving the losers out of government.
It should be recalled that after losing the NRM Primary elections in Bunyangabu County, Mwesige declared his retirement from elective politics and asked President Museveni to consider him for a government position in a letter written on June 10, 2021.
While responding to questions about the letter, Mwesige confirmed it adding that he applied after receiving reliable information that there were vacancies of chairperson and other commissioners at Uganda Human Rights Ccommission, which the President is mandated to fill under Article 51 (2) of the Constitution.
In related development, Fr. Gaetano said that President Museveni’s appointment of Ms Alice Kaboyo as Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister for Luwero Triangle-Rwenzori Region was the scandal of the year.
Ms Kaboyo was first rejected by the Appointments committee of parliament after it was found out that she had been convicted of corruption in 2012, and the law prohibited her from occupying any government office for a period of 10 years.
However, her name was sent back to parliament by President Museveni for reconsideration, and finally the Appointments committee approved her after putting the decision to vote.
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