By Alex B. Atuhaire
May 22, 2003
The head of Political Intelligence in State House Charles Rwomushana has accused First Deputy Prime Minister Eriya Kategaya of mobilising with other senior Movement and army officers against President Yoweri Museveni. "[Mr] Kategaya is mobilising Movement people against his long term colleague. [This is] treachery of the highest order!" Mr Rwomushana said on Tuesday while appearing on Andrew Mwenda Live, a talk-how on 93.3 Monitor FM. Mr Rwomushana also is a former Constituent Assembly delegate from Rukungiri and RDC for Pader. During the talk-show, he named Local Government Minister Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, East African Community Secretary General Amanya Mushega and an army brigadier, whose name he never disclosed, as part of the group that has been organising against the president over the past one year. Rwomushana claimed that Mr Kategaya, who also is the minister of Internal Affairs, has been working "undercover". "One day a brigadier invited [Mr] Bidandi and Hon. Kategaya and they addressed a training wing of more than 1,000 recruits to mobilise against the third term. This is a high degree of treachery," he said. Mr Rwomushana was commenting on issues regarding the controversial attempt to amend the 1995 Constitution to lift presidential term limits. One is expected to serve as president for two five-year terms. The lifting of term limits, an issue that continues to pervade political discussion, is seen to favour President Museveni to stay on when his constitutional term expires in 2006. Mr Kategaya, Mr Bidandi and Mr Mushega, all senior Movement leaders, are opposed to the amendment. Mr Kategaya was yesterday said to be away on duty in Kenya. But before he left for Nairobi, he warned Mr Museveni against running for a third term in an interview with a local newspaper. Mr Kategaya was quoted urging Ugandans to organise for the sake of their country against manipulation for a third term for Mr Museveni. When contacted yesterday, Mr Bidandi dismissed Mr Rwomushana's allegations as "of course nonsense". Mr Mushega told The Monitor yesterday, on phone from Arusha, that he could not respond to Mr Rwomushana because he was not his equal. He said: "I don't know whether that is true because I have not read or listened to him. But even if it were true, I cannot engage in debate with Rwomushana because he is not my equal and it's not fair to the people of Uganda." Mr Bidandi said the allegations proved what kind of person Mr Rwomushana is and what he is after. "It's these Rwomushanas who could land the country into problems. I think there is something they are looking after, from me," he said. Mr Bidandi denied ever having addressed an army-training unit, adding that he had nothing to do with the army. On Tuesday, Mr Rwomushana alleged that the conspiracy in government started when Mr Kategaya and his group began mobilising, even before Dr Kizza Besigye, a former Movement insider, ran for the 2001 presidential elections. "They wanted to mobilise and put up their own puppet, hijack the Movement and dictate like they used to do before. They discovered that they didn't have the ground, but they have now bounced back. The young Movementists are saying no," he said. "These fellows have over-exaggerated themselves; they have walked on the back of President Museveni, we pray that he sheds them off and we work on them politically," Mr Rwomushana said, before launching stinging personal attacks on Mr Kategaya, Mr Mushega and Mr Bidandi. Mr Rwomushana claimed that Mr Kategaya could not manage competitive politics, a reason he said former Ugandan High Commissioner to Kenya Francis Butagira was given the diplomatic posting to save the minister politically. "They had to remove Butagira to make him an ambassador such that a lazy Kategaya can become an MP. You certainly know that Kategaya cannot manage competitive politics," he said. Mr Rwomushana also claimed that Mr Bidandi had politically collapsed in Nakawa before he retired from active politics in 2001. He accused Mr Mushega of lacking credibility to talk about democracy. |
© 2003 The Monitor Publications
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