Museveni fighting corruption would be against his own govt, says Ssenyonyi

Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Joel Ssenyonyi has said President Museveni is not interesting in anti-corruption efforts because he would be fighting against his own government.

Ssenyonyi was reacting to Museveni’s remarks in which he rebuked critics who accuse Parliament Speaker Anita Among of misusing billions of taxpayers' money for self-enrichment.

Monitor spoke to Ssenyonyi in a Monday interview.

What's your take on President Museveni’s defence for Speaker Anita Ámong who is facing corruption allegations mostly on social media?

We are very unfortunate as a country because to have somebody at the helm of the nation who does not believe in accountability.

There is a government policy called Zero Tolerance to Corruption, but we only say it and talk about it. Not many years ago, Museveni and several other people did a walk in town from Kololo to other places and they were saying ‘we are walking in protest against corruption’. So, they talk and talk about this thing but when it comes to actions, it is a different story.

Do you mean Museveni has not done anything to fight corruption in the country?

In 2018, I was part of Nation Media Group (NMG) and we conducted an interview with then Inspector General of Government (IGG) Justice Irene Mulyagonja and one of the questions that we put to her was ' why is it that you go for the small fish?'

She told us that: "Whenever I go for the big fish or thieves, I find them hiding behind the president, so I can't touch them because they are protected." 

Museveni got annoyed and at one of his state of the nation addresses said the IGG was not helping him in fighting corruption. That's when he introduced the State House Anti-Corruption Unit.

What can other anti-corruption agencies do to fight graft?

In reality, anybody involved in theft at whichever level, as long as Museveni does not want that person touched, he or she won't be touched.

Recently, Museveni told IGG Beti Kamya to go slow on the life style audit because these thieves are going to run away with money. His argument was that at least now they have invested [the stolen money] in Uganda by building shopping malls, as if those are national malls. You can imagine his attitude towards corruption. No wonder as the country is calling on Among to account for billions of shillings, Museveni says people attacking her are being used by homosexuals and imperialists....leave my Anita Among alone, can you imagine!

Do you think there is any relationship between the passing of the Anti-homosexuality Act and the current criticisms towards Among?

They are the people of Uganda who are asking for accountability, but [they] have reduced them to saying they are being used by outsiders, imperialists or homosexuals. These are tax prayers, they want accountability for their money.

But anyhow, it is a scapegoat issue. This government of Museveni is not interested in fighting corruption because if Museveni does, he will be fighting his government. He is too scared to touch any of his corrupt people and that's why he protects them.

So, what's your way forward now that Among has support from the president?

I wrote to the IGG, auditor general, Financial Intelligence Authority and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) asking them to investigate the office of the speaker and the Parliamentary Commission.

But they are on a test, because the IGG and all these other institutions keep saying we are independent. I am waiting to see if they will actually carry out the investigations after now that their appointing authority has told the whole country to leave Among alone.

We have accountability committees in parliament, do you think they can do anything about these in-house corruption scandals?

Accountability committees of parliament are in a more precarious situation because their work stops at producing reports. I was a chairperson COSASE and the most we would do was to produce reports, table them and pass resolutions which are not even acted upon.

So, for the committees it more problematic, but again I want to encourage them because we as opposition need these committees. Let us do our part, put everything on record, some day, the day of reckoning will come but it is a very precarious situation we are in as a country.

The President accused Speaker's critics of being used by imperialists and homosexuals, how is this true?

In this country, the person who works more for and with imperialists is Museveni. He is always on the plane to go and meet them to ask for donor funds and so on. He interacts with them a lot more than any of us.

Then, what is the motive behind the President's allegations that you work for the imperialists and homosexuals?

Museveni has mastered the Ugandan population. He knows certain things that don't sound good to the ears of the people of Uganda, so he used that as scapegoat and you heard- the speaker was the first to say it but how does that come into play when people are asking her for accountability.

Let’s even imagine that imperialists or homosexuals are behind this, but regardless, still respond to these issues because the money that Ugandans are asking you to account for is tax payers’ money.

From your perspective, don't you think that some of criticisms are meant to witch-hunt the Speaker?

The other day I heard the Speaker Anita Among also attacking her predecessor Rebecca Kadaga, saying she is the one fighting her. They will blame anybody that is easy to attack but the questions don't go away, because the reality is, money was misused.

Parliamentary plenaries resume this week, are you going to raise these matters on the floor of parliament again?

We are not going to stop demanding for answers using all the platforms that we have. They can intimidate us like all they want, they can scapegoat and find excuses [but] we will not stop because it our job to keep the government in check.

What advise do you give Ugandans participating or following these issues?

Don't stop speaking out because Museveni wants to pour cold water on all efforts to demand accountability from Parliament and his government generally. He wants people to give up [or] to drop the ball. On our end as leaders, we are not going to drop the ball.