Meet the hard days the former Prime Minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazi faced during the 2016 general elections when he tasted the bad side of his boss, and he was almost about to lose his life.
Maverick Kira Municipality legislator Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda claims that John Patrick Amama Mbabazi the former Secretary General of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and Prime Minister stood for presidency in 2016 after being frustrated by his former boss President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Ssemujju claims that as a celebrated political journalist, he received credible information that Museveni promise to support Mbabazi in 2016 presidential elections and between 2006 to 2013, he even gave him the powers to take critical government decisions on his behalf and allowed him to organise for himself the government he was going to work with after winning the 2016 presidential elections.
He explained that all that time, Mbabazi was branded as a super minister and everybody both in government and in opposition were very sure that he is going to be the next president. Ssemujju said that everyone was surprised that Museveni turned against Amama and even fired him from executing party and government assignments.
Ssemujju, the shadow finance minister alleges that Mbabazi tried to put up a spirited fight against Museveni and many thought that he was going to put up stiff competition but they were surprised when the results came out and Mbabzi had performed poorly.
Senior presidential advisor on media Joseph Tamale Mirundi revealed that Museveni squeezed Mbabazi to the extent that he even tried to pull out of the presidential race due to his bank accounts being frozen in the heat of the elections.
He explained that Mbabazi was isolated to the extent that he remained with only his family members since all his business partners and political allies were threatened by Museveni.
However, Mirundi insisted that Museveni was ready to surrender power to Mbabazi but he failed the political test when he appointed his wife First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni as Karamoja affairs minister and she was under Mbabazi.
Mirundi, a political analyst, explained that Museveni wanted to test Mbabazi to see if when he gives him powers, he is not going to harass his family like many African presidents have done to former presidents.
Mirundi claimed that Mbabazi frustrated Janet’s plans to change the face of Karamoja using junior officers in the office of the prime minister who undermined her.
He said that what Janet did was to report to Museveni who made a number of warnings including one in writing directing him to stop harassing her wife.
He claims that Pius Bigirimana the current Permanent Secretary and Secretary to Judiciary was the one who tried to protect the First Lady from government officials including those from the Audit General’s office who accused her of misusing government’s money.
