The grand plan by State Minister for Investment and Privatization, Evelyn Anite to uproot the UIA Boss Robert Mukiza in order to protect her interests was properly orchestrated at the beginning of this year.
It started with the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) surprise and dramatic raid at the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) offices on January 16, 2024 where laptops were seized.
Although the motive is hitherto still obscure, what is clear is that the raid did not yield any tangible results but highlighted the fact that some individuals at the UIA and IGG’s office were in bed with Minister Anite to embarrass the UIA Executive Director. This forced the ED to fire the Human Resource manager.
The well hatched move had been orchestrated to push out Mukiza and replace him with his then deputy ED Paul Kyalimpa who had earlier been placed at the establishment by Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija having stepped out of the race to represent the people of Buyanja County in the parliament.
Following this well drafted template, Kyalimpa tendered his resignation to the then UIA board chairman Morrison Rwakakamba in May 2024 to make the war against Mukiza easy and create a chance for the former to bounce back.
To cover-up his motive, Kyalimpa wrote a letter to the minister threatening to sue her for defamation in her pursuit of the UIA staff in relation to the return of Shs545 million received as ‘honoraria’ from funds earmarked for construction of transport infrastructure in Namanve Industrial Park. Kyalimpa accused the minister of knowingly publishing false statements for political gain. Kyalimpa’s statement rubbed the minister the wrong way since it nearly let the cat out of the bag and this forced him to retract his threats in a communication to Anite, expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to serve the nation through the UIA. The minister is doing this in search for a weaker administration where she can also promote her personal interests.
Intelligence picks indicate that Anite’s motive in her fight is to take charge, have an upper hand so as to satisfy her personal interests.
Intelligence picks also indicate that she already has two foreign big contractors (from UAE and China) and one local contractor (name withheld) that can take up the infrastructural development Kampala Industrial Business Park and other scheduled industrial parks in the countryside. Following the current status quo at Namanve head office, she can hardly execute any of her plans.
Highly Intelligence sources also reveal that the conflict between Anite and UIA management started way back when she picked interest in Namanve land and forced the latter to buy an offsite land which was unnecessarily expensive. The management refused to take up her request and she cut wires. An investigation is also going on about the land which she acquired in Namanve through a proxy and put it on the market.
She can only accomplish her mission when Mukiza is no longer at the helm. In this analysis, we bring you the other steps she has taken to achieve her goals and how she has misfired.
SECOND ATTACK – IGG PETITION
The minister who referred to her targets at UIA as “wolves in Sheep clothings” and is popularly known for her confrontation against individuals, continued her well calculated but clandestine war by officially writing to the IGG.
Following her template of how she pushed out Jolly Kaguhangire from UIA, Mark Shoebridge and Bemanya Twebaze from UTL and USRB respectively, she complained and tasked the government Omdurman to investigate.
The minister accepted to have whistle-blown the matter to the IGG’s office to which the latter confirmed saying they are investigating the allocation of land to investors, management of the UIA payroll, and development of the Kampala Industrial and Business Park (KIBP) in Namanve, among others.
The IGG is also probing the recruitment process of Ahmed Busoobozi (deputy director finance), Alice Ndagire (acting head of procurement), Joanitah Kambedha (documentarist) and Alex Nuwagira (project manager).
To show her ulterior motives and open war against Mukiza, Anite revealed in an interview “before the IGG officials raided UIA, I was already aware of the mismanagement at the authority and I had already cancelled some of the wrong decisions the director general was making, especially firing the head of human resource and I had already called the board and asked them to reconsider.”
By hiding under the cover of fighting corruption, her target all along was bringing down Mukiza. She openly said that she had reversed a number of irregular decisions that had been taken by the ED. “I can only manage the institution through the board and every time I get an accusation, I call the board and tell them this is not right and they correct it,” Anite added.
Just like she alleged during the UTL saga that the mafia wanted to kill her, she is again claiming her life is in danger. “I want to ask the IGG to call for a public inquiry into the corruption at UIA as a person who wants to expose the corruption in government. People must stop using their family connections to threaten me.”
The “Tuli Majje” minister is simply a cry baby and a go-getter whenever she is pushing her point to achieve her personal interests.
In July, Mukiza had responded to Anite’s initial demands, defending the honorarium payments as legitimate and approved by the UIA board. He argued that the payments were justified compensation for additional work performed by UIA staff and the project management team. Mukiza’s letter also accused Anite of spreading falsehoods, including her claims about discussions with the British High Commissioner and pressure from the UK Export Finance (UKEF).
Mukiza further stated that Anite’s insistence on refunding the payments was based on inaccuracies and misleading information, suggesting that she had ulterior motives. In a bold move, Mukiza publicly challenged Anite’s narrative, highlighting that the issue had already been addressed under the guidance of President Museveni and that her continued pressure was unfounded.
THIRD ATTACK – SOCIAL MEDIA WAR
With the pending IGG investigations, Anite had sleepless nights and was hovering up and down loving for Plan B. Anite, a trained journalist from Uganda Christian University turned her writing skills into a UIA and Investors’ blackmailing tool on her social media X-handle.
She deviated from her ministerial roles and started fighting investors and government officials on social media platforms. The tweeting minister took over the role of the ministry’s communication officer.
This however helped her to attract the attention of the president and a meeting at the state house was scheduled. She looked at this as a golden chance to finish her nemesis but President Museveni is one leader who does not believe in hearsay and cheap popularity. He is so protective to the investors that anyone who attempts to frustrate them becomes his enemy. Anite carried with her Andrew Bamanya. the representative of the UK contractor, Lagan Group Limited which is working hand in hand with Local Ugandan contractor, DOTT Services Limited (Lagan DOTT Namanve Limited) to improve the infrastructure in the Kampala Industrial and Business Park (KIBP) in Namanve.
FOURTH ATTACK – MEETING WITH PRESIDENT
In the meeting at State House which was attended among other people by the then UIA chairman Morison Rwakakamba, and UIA ED Mukiza, Anite expected to have an upper hand. However, it turned out to be stormy after the furious President blasted the minister and warned her to keep in her lane and stop mixing up the investors.
The meeting also exposed Lagan’s representative Bamanya who traded lies about the activities of Lagan Dott Services. His cheap talk ‘wolokoso’ did not earn him any favour since the president personally knows very well the Directors of Dott Services, the local Contractor.
It is against that background that the President openly accused the minister of fighting the UIA ED Robert Mukiza.
Anite shed crocodile tears saying she is innocent but the President told her to shut up.
Left with no option, she resorted to open blackmail as a prophet to fight corruption. She has even printed out posters displaying her comical face as a ‘messiah’ ready to save Uganda and the Ugandan’s from the corrupt.
Despite Anite being reminded that the government is properly structured in its various positions of communication and offices to fight against corruption, she has since continued her campaign. She has continued undermining Mukiza and his men to prove a point of kicking him out of office.
Hours later after the State House meeting, she took the war online. In one of the comments, she writes: “They are now using marriage connections to cover up their corruption but they will not win.”
In one of the tweets on X formerly Twitter, frustrated Anite wrote “Who will save Uganda and Ugandans from the corrupt? I can’t believe the corrupt like Mukiza resort to lying about me to President Museveni in a bid to save their neck.
“Good news is the truth always wins. I promise to stay faithful to God, myself & my country.’ Anite insists UIA should never have paid to themselves an honorarium out of loan money for a project that is not even completed yet.”
Bamanya’s connivance with Anite to malign the activities at UIA before the President did not yield much.
However, this did not stop Anite from her blackmail stance especially when they went to Kyankwanzi for the CEOs and Ministers retreat. She continued to undermine Mukiza and wanted him off the order paper until her warning to Anite to turn herself into a self-glorified messenger to fight against corruption.
Anite who reportedly shed crocodile tears before President Museveni in the State House where she had dragged in Bamanya to trade his lies got embarrassed at a Kyankwanzi retreat when the president publicly rebuked her.
She was not left with any other option other than cutting short the retreat to fly to Canada where her hubby Allan Kajik sits as country’s deputy head of mission and to cool off the embarrassment and frustration.
Her third attack also failed because a couple of days after the retreat instead it was Bamanya who was fired as a country representative of Lagan due to a litany of sins that included but not limited to a very bad criminal record.
FIFTH ATTACH – THE ALLEGORY OF THE MADMAN
The minister’s attack in an August 30th letter laid bare the widening rift between her and the UIA management which falls under her ministerial docket. Anite was responding to Mukiza’s July 23 letter, where he accused her of lying about the honorarium payments related to the Kampala Industrial and Business Park (KIBP) infrastructure project.
In her letter, Anite dismisses Mukiza’s claims and escalates the feud by using a rather colorful village analogy, referring to him as a serial liar and comparing his behavior to that of a mentally challenged man who disrupts villagers’ lives.
Anite draws a comparison between Mukiza’s actions and a madman who steals the clothes of villagers bathing in public areas. In her narrative, the villagers had grown accustomed to the madman’s antics, but when a newcomer fell victim to the scheme, both ended up in a humiliating chase. The analogy aimed to depict Mukiza as the original offender in this saga, while Anite emphasized that she refuses to partake in a futile pursuit. With both officials now exchanging sharp words, the matter has escalated beyond the UIA boardroom. Anite has since referred the issue to investigative authorities for further examination.
SIXTH ATTACK – FIRING BOARD MEMBERS
Having failed in all other attempts, she has now gone for her best game.
Just as she fired Steven Kaboyo’s lead board which consisted of David Nambale, the Company Secretary, Mark Shoebridge, the managing director, Anite has since hoodwinked the Minister of Finance to fire the UIA board.
Some of the sacked members who include Morrison Rwakakamba (Board Chairperson), Dr. Joshua Mutambi, Beatrice Mpairwe, Neima Ombambosa, lzama Angelo Opi-Aiya, Getrude Kateesa Lutaaya and Godfrey Byamukama Kereere had their contracts renewed few weeks ago. The reasons fronted are not different from the ones of UTL. The members were accused of tribalism, mismanagement, corruption, and insubordination. One wonders whether the minister wants people to kneel before her. Intelligence sources indicate that Anita wanted to use the board to fire Mukiza and a disagreement ensued. She pushed for the firing of the board, replacing it with a new one, loyal to her so that she can end her game. This is not the first time the board has been fired at UIA – when Emely Kugonza’s board declared the intentions of reinstating Kaguhangire after the intervention of the president, it was fired. Anite who was in bed with Morrison Rwakakamba due to the support he offered in the sacking of URSB’s Bemanya Twebaze was rewarded at UIA. To show that she turns the guns to whoever becomes critical to her, Rwakakamba is no longer at UIA.
The new board recruitment is underway and insiders believe the members must be friendly to Anite and the mission is to ensure Mukiza is forced to step-down.
SEVENTH ATTACK – FLOOR OF PARLIAMENT
It is on record that the state minister for Privatization normally solicits for allies on different foras where the accused cannot defend themselves out rightly. She took the floor of parliament last week and talked about the corruption at UIA. When she emphasized that everyone at UIA is corrupt, she got heckled by some MPs. She however did not mention that she had taken a step to have the board members fired. She was pre-empting the outcome of her actions. It should be remembered that in order to push out Twebaze from URSB, she was seated on former Speaker Kadaga’s cushion.
EIGHTH ATTACK – TV & RADIO TALK SHOWS
As earlier said, she normally looks for allies to fight her wars. Her blackmail campaigns are extended to the radio and TV talk shows. While fighting against URSB’s Bemanya, she rallied the government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo, Budadiri East MP Nandala Mafabi and the then Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga to pour water on the suggestions of the former Attorney Generals, William Byaruhanga, his deputy Mwesigwa Rukutana and Gabriel Ajedra, the former state minister of finance for general duties. In the war against UIA’s Executive Director he wanted to rally with the former Deputy ED Kyarimpa, Contractor representative Bamanya and of course the board but the status quo seems not to favour her. This is the very reason why she has gone to her Senior Minister Matia Kasaija who had politically appointed Kyalimpa. Having confused the minister, she scored one goal – firing the board. However, the war against the ED seems to still be fresh. It may require the intervention of the minister to sort the matter.
The minister works to satisfy her personal egos and not to solve the problems. She was for example chest thumping that utl is 100 percent under the control of the government but did not address its direct problems. Utl continued struggling and its issues worsened. The utl’s financial gap of close to Shs500bn remained intact. It is against this background that Anite’s seniors are implored to investigate her motives before supporting her impulsive moves towards the MDAs.
PRESIDENT M7 INTERVENES
The state minister for Investment and Privatization may be on the hot seat next to explain why the UIA board was fired even when the majority of the members had just had their contracts renewed. An impeccable source reveals that the President has already intervened to save the situation. When the Fountain of Honour inquired from Anita’s senior Minister Matia Kasaija mid this week, the old man from the oil region pushed everything to Anita. They forced the President to call all the stakeholders for a meeting. If there is no clear justification for the ministry’s actions, the new members on the board may not be confirmed.
UNDERSTANDING ANITE
It should be remembered that Anite’s kinsmen and women in her constituency flashed a touch into her intricate behavior and gave her a vote of no confidence. After being voted out, she embarrassed herself further by withdrawing the ambulance she had donated to the pregnant women in her constituency. This implied that she thrives on “give and take” theory; whereby she acts differently when she has no gain. Her behavior towards the investors should be thoroughly investigated based on “give and take” theory.
The frustrated locals and pregnant women in Koboko are hitherto cursing the junior minister for withdrawing an ambulance she donated ahead of the NRM primaries in 2020.
“This is cheap politics. She brought the ambulance here to help pregnant mothers and she did not tag it to any agreement with people of Koboko to vote for her. We vote for people who are mature and ready to uplift the status of the constituents. We all along thought Anite had matured until she withdrew her vehicle and left patients at stake. We are waiting for her in 2026,” a furious resident who was contacted by this publication charged. Anite lost to Charles Ayume in the NRM primaries and got frustrated just like the world had ended. Instead of campaigning in the region for Ayume who was holding the NRM flag, she piled her aggravation on the voters and left many people wondering whether she is a real NRM CADRE. When she appeared in Koboko in 2021, the voters forced her to enter her powerful SUV Land Cruiser and leave them in peace.
Despite her less contribution as an individual, the people of Koboko went ahead and ejected the NUP candidate and voted Ayume overwhelmingly. Instead of turning the heat on the investors, she needs to concentrate on redeeming her constituency if she wants to keep serving the government.
Little or no competent background was known about Anite until 2015 Kyankwanzi saga when she unexpectedly knelt down and thanked President Museveni and asked the members of the caucus to endorse him as a sole candidate. Through her comic posture, Anite who was a Northern Youth representative in Parliament captured the president’s attention and miraculously made it to the Cabinet list.
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