BUSTED: Appointed Ministers plagiarize gratitude message

On Saturday evening, President Museveni made unexpected changes to his cabinet of over 70 Ministers.

Seven Ministers were dropped from the cabinet, some maintained their positions, while others were moved to different ministries.

Several Ministers have since celebrated their appointments and transfers in different ways. Notable among those is Mr Raphael Magyezi who was appointed Minister for Local Government, replacing Tom Butime. Magyezi celebrated his win with family members, according to a viral video which showed him dancing to Big Trill’s Parte after parte.

But then, on Twitter, the story is that of plagiarism. Three Ministers tweeted the same gratitude message, making slight changes to it.

According to the time lapse, Frank Tumwebaze who was moved from the Ministry of ICT to Gender, Labour and Social Affairs, seems to be the originator of the message.

For surviving the axe, he took to his Twitter to congratulate his colleagues who had retained their positions, those re-deployed and the newly appointed.

“Congratulations all colleagues retained, re-deployed & newly appointed in the cabinet reshuffle announced by H.E @KagutaMuseveni. I thank God & H.E the President for giving us the opportunity to serve our country. I look forward to learning new perspectives from all stakeholders,” the tweet reads.

Tumwebaze posted this message at 8:42 PM on December 14, 2019 and received loads of congratulatory messages from followers and well-wishers.

At 8:33am the following day, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, who maintained her position as Minister of Health tweeted the same message, only changing the last line to, “… our motherland. Looking forward to stronger partnerships in the future,” and also eliminating, “I thank God...”

Similarly, at 9:39am on Sunday December 15, 2019, the newly appointed Minister for Kampala, Ms Betty Amongin tweeted a message closely related, only changing the wording.

Congratulations to all Hon Colleagues, redeployed, retained, and the newly appointed in H.E @KagutaMuseveni cabinet reshuffle. Am thankful to God and the President for believing in us and giving us the opportunity to serve our country. @KCCAUG”

President Museveni’s cabinet reshuffle saw a total of seven minsters dropped off the cabinet list and some new entrants in the cabinet.

Among those that were axed include former Minister of Works and Transport Ms Monica Ntege Azuba, Ms Aidah Nantaba, who was State Minister for Information Communication and Technology (ICT), Ms Janat Mukwaya- Gender, Labour and Social Development docket, Ms Irene Muloni formerly Minister of Energy and Minerals, Mr Charles Bakkabulindi, who was Minister of State for Sports and Mr Alex Onzima who was Minister of State in the office of the Vice President.