Friday, December 05, 2008

Jamwa axing: Another lesson for doubting Thomases

"Trust not hounds brethren--they love the smell of blood." (Don)

So, the NSSF boss Chandi Jamwa and his deputy Prof. Mondo Kagonyera have been shown the exit. Anyone surprised?? Not me at least. I saw it coming. Not because the pair was incompetent but rather because they trusted politicians—worse still NRM politicians. This by the way—does not apply to Prof. Kagonyera directly. He is a politician; it is poor Jamwa, the civil servant, who suffered.
Look, you know in the middle of the NSSF-Temangalo scandal, where the security minister, Amama Mbabazi and his finance counterpart Ezra Suruma, were accused of peddling influence to have the workers fund buy their wetland at Shs11 billion, Mr Jamwa felt cornered and penned a letter to the President, detailing the pressure he had gone through to sign the cheques.
In Jamwa’s confession, he told the president how some of the guys had even described the State House bedroom, to show their political power. They had told him how they contributed to the president’s campaign coffers and how they could slot a good word for him if he “behaved”. Scared of these people’s might, the poor lad okayed the release of the money.
That was before the press got the story, splashed it in the media and forced parliament to act. Act---maybe clown, because later, the “informed” Attorney General said the whole parliamentary probe was a farce since the MPs lacked powers to enforce the Leadership Code.
Anyway I digress. So, Jamwa first puts up a brave face, actually shielding the culprits, until realizes, he is cornered. He asks the House to let him confess in camera. He then pours out his soul, at one point asking the MPs, “What could you have done were you in my position?”
Then, he writes to the President, seeking protection. Showing, how despite his large mass, he was dwarfed and cowed. That was the pinnacle of his mistakes. Thinking the president could shield him from the hawks—hawks he has worked with for the past three decades.
The moment the President summoned MPs and ordered them to get off Mbabazi’s back, I knew Jamwa’s goose was cooked. The President was shielding the men Jamwa has tried to expose. And once Mbabazi was safe—it was time to placate the public—somehow at least—and guess who the sacrifice would be? Jamwa, the technocrat. And collateral damage involved Prof. Kagonyera.
This is not to absolve Jamwa—he made a mistake to trust politicians. He should have come clean from the word go. But like most other people—he now has learnt---trust not Museveni and his clique. They use you and dump you---like a piece of toilet paper.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

politics stinks, especially in UG

Anonymous said...

Interesting insight of the inner workings, especially for those of us who loathe politics.

I have a bulldozer theory about Uganda and Africa in general. Flatten everything, start afresh.

Just might work.