MAFIA EMPIRE AND THE TRANSITION
By:Joseph Kabuleta
Kato is the most daring person I had the misfortune of knowing several
years ago; a sneaky and adventurous lad who lived on the edge. He was
also a good storyteller and that’s what kept me around him even if I
detested several things about his lifestyle. But what shocked me is how
many audacious things he got away with.
His day job was at a big
workshop somewhere in the outskirts of the city but that didn’t last
long. Every evening after his shift, Kato would gather up useless
sawdust, put it in old sacks, and push it out on a wheelbarrow.
Naturally, the guard at the gate was suspicious.
“What’s that you are taking out?”
“It’s only sawdust.”
The guard wasn’t convinced. He pulled the sacks off the wheelbarrow,
pressed hard on them to make sure there was nothing hidden within,
before reluctantly allowing him to proceed.
And so it was every evening. Kato left work with a wheelbarrow of useless sawdust.
After some weeks, the guard called him aside and said: “I have a
feeling that you are stealing something from this company, but I just
cannot put a finger on it. If you tell me, I promise not to apprehend
you.”
I don’t think Kato believed the guard, but still he told him.
“Wheelbarrows! It’s wheelbarrows I am stealing.”
Of course the guard snitched on him and Kato was fired.
Ok, I don’t know any Kato who worked in a workshop, but I told that
story to show how the biggest mysteries are often hidden in plain sight.
It started with sporadic appearances at events, a few dreary speeches,
and plenty of social media activity but now it’s clear to every
discerning eye that The First Son (official title) is crawling out of
his hole like a squirrel.
Even his bevy of paid promoters are
becoming bolder in their proclamations; calling him “our next president”
in their tweets. Knowing who these people are, and how close they are
to the junta, that is more than idle talk.
Clearly, whatever has
been cooking under the scenes is about to be unleashed. And it has been
several years in the making, starting in the mid-90s with a recruitment
of young, graduate soldiers who were in effect Muhoozi’s boys. As that
crop grew through the ranks, although not as meteorically as the man
they were enrolled to serve, the recruitment net was cast wider.
About twelve years ago, a close colleague raised the subject in a
cavalier but serious way, if you know what I mean. He knows me to be a
bit of a firebrand, a mover, so to speak, and thought those qualities
were being wasted in sports. I could be an asset in their push for the
presidency of “our age mate”.
I was at crossroads in my life at the
time but I could not involve myself in any venture for which I had no
conviction. I would have to lock my conscience in a maximum security
prison to be part of an operation that turns our country into a
monarchy. Even then, I suspect my conscience would stage a prison break
to rival Michael Scofield and find its way back into my heart.
The
gentleman who was inviting me is now a cabinet minister and was one of
the organizers of the recent 45th birthday party thrown for the First
Son at Munyonyo. It was more than just a hyped revelry that made the
front pages of the New Vision. It bore the markings of an initiation, or
a rite of passage. It was a coming of age, so to speak. It’s no wonder
that the main protagonist noted how it was his first public birthday
celebration in 33 years. The last time was in 1986 (!!!)
Uganda has
often been referred to as a Mafia State by many of its disillusioned
citizens so permit me to juxtapose the affairs of this state with the
Godfather trilogy of movies taken from Mario Puzo’s fabled novel that
bears the same title.
The head of the family Vito Corleone is
frail and goes into semi-retirement. His son Michael, who was once
determined to live a normal life away from his family’s criminal empire,
is the new boss even if his ageing father lurks in the background. The
Capos of the family and the Consiglieri, the executioner in chief, doubt
if the young and reticent Michael can take after his father.
But
how wrong they are. Michael earns his stripes by arranging for the
simultaneous execution of the heads of the five rival families, followed
by an internal cleansing in which all family traitors are also killed.
Almost overnight, the once demure army veteran and family man became
even more ruthless than his father.
In one of the most iconic
scenes from the movie, all the Capos come and kiss Michael’s hand,
acknowledging him as the new Don. Muhoozi’s birthday party had a similar
feel; an opportunity for his “age-mates” who have served the old man to
pledge their allegiance to him.
In the eyes of the Uganda mafia family, the support structure to uphold the new Don is already in place.
The regular army has been systematically disengaged and replaced with
Muhoozi’s SFC. Many of the old guard have found solace in business,
farming and NAADS. The rest are quietly disillusioned. It was General
David Sejjusa who first stood up to resist what he called “The Muhoozi
Project” and he got his comeuppance in the form of a stint in exile
followed by total oblivion. It was said that even the Late General
Aronda Nyakairima was opposed to it and that’s why he was sent out to
the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but what do I know?
The project
also needs a ‘friendly’ police and the appointment of Major General
Sabiiti Muzeyi as Deputy Inspector General of Police was the first step
in that direction. It has since been followed by other appointments of
army officers into police in what Army Spokesperson Brig Richard
Karemire described as “cross pollination between sister security
agencies”.
It would be cross pollination if police officers were
also being appointed in the army, but they aren’t. So it is in actuality
a military invasion of police and it is all a part of preparing for the
new Don.
The net has also been cast in the media. Cedric Babu, a
close friend of Muhoozi’s, now heads Uganda Broadcasting Corporation
(UBC) and by kowtowing to the new Don, Robert Kabushenga has ensured
that there will be no need to appoint a younger person to head the New
Vision empire.
Then there is the war chest. The billions that
have been set part for the purpose. NRM MPs approved the $379m for the
fake Lubowa Hospital investor because they were told it’s the money they
will be given for campaigns, and that’s not about all. More money will
be minted and printed for that purpose, because the Godfather, having
gathered illicit wealth for 35 years, will be looking to keep it within
the family. After all, they say there is no success without a successor.
Key sectors in government and finance are being held by old and
near-senile people with no ambition while in the interim Muhoozi kids
are entrenching themselves below. It is a discreet but systematic
takeover.
SFC is in charge of natural resources and national
parks while the First Family have their fingers in every major
cash-generating venture. It’s not just greed. It’s control. It’s as much
about getting the money as it is about keeping it from rivals. So that
by 2021, only one camp is liquid. Those who bow and kiss the hand of the
new Don are rewarded with the means to live. The rest merely survive or
worse.
But the biggest hindrance to the Muhoozi project is the man himself.
Unfortunately for Museveni, qualities like political sagaciousness and
charisma are not necessarily transmitted through genes. Muhoozi has no
allure beyond the privilege of being his father’s son. He has no
personality, no aura, no charm. He carries the tormented look of someone
struggling to match people’s expectations of him. Even at the
aforementioned birthday party, he looked stoic and disinterested, like
he would rather be somewhere else. Somewhere he doesn’t have to be the
centre of attention and doesn’t have to give a speech.
Then there
was his much-hyped interview on UBC with veteran journalist Tony Owana.
As much as I tried to keep an open mind, I couldn’t last the duration
of the discourse. For a moment I was tempted to blame the interviewer,
who was overly excited and animated like an intern meeting his childhood
idol. But I spared a thought for him because I suppose Muhoozi is not
an easy person to interview. The dialogue never got out of first gear.
Dressed in full combat with his beret hanging under the ranks on his
shoulder, he spoke about key moments in his life as if they had been
lived for him, and gave one-line answers to open-ended questions like:
“Tell us about Sandhurst?” He sounded more like a suspect being
interrogated by police, trying not to give anything away, than like a
potential politician, much less a president.
He has lived too long in
his father’s shadow and his only exposure is to the wealth and privilege
that surrounds him. He cannot relate with the poverty that his father
has inflicted on Ugandans. I would be hard-pressed to mention anyone
more ill-suited to be a leader.
The big question for Ugandans is: How and when are they planning to make this transition?
The First Son is already being sent on foreign missions on behalf of
his father and is meeting ambassadors and dignitaries, and tweeting
about it.
Maybe the Godfather is planning to go into
semi-retirement after rigging the 2021 elections and take on an advisory
role as his son runs the Family Business called Uganda Limited.
Or maybe, just maybe, the transition happens within NRM and the country
adopts a Parliamentary System in which the party with the most elected
legislators takes the presidency.
Whatever their plans, I know
for sure that the reality will be different. The Mafia empire is
crumbling and Uganda will return to Ugandans.
