Leave me alone, Mbabazi tells his critics

Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi (C) his wife Jacqueline and the Rev Tukwasibwe at Karubaizi church yesterday. Photo by PMPU

KAMPALA.

Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi yesterday said the talk about his perceived presidential ambitions was “nonsense”, but stressed that nobody will stop him when he decides to stand for any elective position.

Mr Mbabazi told worshippers during Easter prayers at St Andrew’s Karubaizi Church of Uganda in Kanungu District that if he harboured presidential ambitions, he would directly announce his candidature to the country.
“Let those who are after me leave me alone,” Mr Mbabazi was quoted as having said in the statement issued by his office last evening.

The statement said the PM, accompanied by his wife Jacqueline, urged the youth to speak out whenever their rights are violated, saying he and peers in government began their revolution at an early age.
“For the youth, you should be focused because we the old generation will soon leave and we are banking on you to takeover because we have already played our role,” Mr Mbabazi said.

During a February retreat of Members of Parliament subscribing to NRM, Mr Mbabazi was accused of using party structures to woo delegates to campaign for him as the next president, while simultaneously undermining President Museveni, the party chairman, a claim he denies.
Northern Uganda Youth MP Evelyn Anite sponsored a unanimously passed resolution fronting Mr Museveni as NRM’s unopposed presidential flag bearer for the 2016 vote.

Yesterday, Mr Mbabazi who signed onto the Kyankwanzi resolution at number 202, said he has been in the struggle for the country’s liberation for long to ensure that “the rights of all Ugandans are respected”.
Offering one’s self uninhibited for any elective position, he said, was one of those rights.

He asked the faithful at Karubaizi church if he had ever lobbied any one of them to vote for him as president, and the congregation chorused: “no”.
Mr Mbabazi’s presumed presidential bid is allegedly being coordinated by his wife Jacqueline, leaked secret police interrogation tapes show.
At yesterday’s service, the prime minister’s wife, who is also a Canon in the Church of Uganda, told the congregation that she will never shy away from speaking out the truth in her capacity as national chairperson of NRM Women’s League.

“When you are a leader and fail to tell the truth, you let down the people you lead,” she said.
In his sermon, the Rev Justus Tukwasibwe said the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christianity and urged the believers to renew their faith and always rely on God to overcome life’s challenges.