Cyprian Musoke and Moses Mugalu
8 November 2008
Kampala — He finally managed to sigh in relief after Parliament cleared him of wrongdoing in the NSSF land saga that had dominated the public spectrum for nearly three months.
The relieved security minister, Amama Mbabazi, on Friday told Sunday Vision that he was happy the whole thing was over, adding that he harbours no bitterness against anybody.
"I am a leader and I expect to be subjected to political scrutiny. I am happy I was not found wanting in anyway. There are people who obviously wanted to use this as an opportunity to pull me down, most of them in my party, but I forgive them and we move on," he said.
Finance Minister Dr. Ezra Suruma said: "I don't hold grudges in my life, but I hope members realise we need discipline in the party."
The two ministers found themselves at the centre of a controversy sparked off by NSSF's purchase of land in Temangalo at sh24m per acre. Accusations of influence-peddling, conflict of interest and inflating the price were levelled against them, prompting a parliamentary probe.The issues threatened to tear the party apart.
It took the NRM caucus meeting last Monday at State House Entebbe to weigh the findings and recommendations of the probe committee to clear the ministers.
The meeting was convened to hammer out a party position ahead of Tuesday's debate on the NSSF report. This followed a two-month probe after the Fund bought land from city businessman Amos Nzeyi and Arma Limited, a company linked to Mbabazi.
Two reports were produced. The main one signed by 14 of the 20 members on the committee accused Mbabazi and Suruma of influence-peddling and conflict of interest. Both ministers have shares in the National Bank of Commerce (NBC). Mbabazi and Nzeyi, another shareholder, sold their land to increase their shareholding in the bank.
NSSF is supervised by the minister of finance.
During the Monday meeting, President Yoweri Museveni explained to the caucus members that it is not the Government that decided to rescue NBC, but rather shareholders sold their properties and bought shares that were on sale.
This followed members, among them Kinkinzi East MP Chris Baryomunsi inquiring from the President whether he benefited from the sale of the land in Temangalo. The President reportedly emphasised that the Temangalo issue was simply a sale of land as the sellers needed money for other purposes.
Parliament on Thursday cleared security minister Mbabazi, Suruma and the NSSF management of any wrongdoing in the purchase of 463 acres of land.
After an acrimonious debate laced with wrestling of legal and political muscles and a walkout by the opposition MPs, the House, presided over by the Speaker Edward Ssekandi, approved a motion to absolve the ministers and NSSF.
Sources who attended the Entebbe caucus meeting said the President opined that the sale should not be equated to the cases of Greenland Bank, the Bakoko Bakoru issue or that of Jim Muhwezi.
"He cautioned that they should avoid mixing up issues. The President repeatedly emphasised that there was no reason for him to fire Mbabazi and Suruma," the sources said.
Earlier, the two ministers had asked to apologise to their colleagues in the NRM for the acrimony that had accompanied the Temangalo saga over the last two months. The saga had divided the legislators into two camps, one claimed the two ministers were guilty, while another defended them, saying they were innocent.
According to sources, the President clarified that the apology was "more to contribute to re-building harmony in the NRM than admission of wrongdoing."
In his apology, Suruma reportedly said sorry for unintended lapses in the entire land sale transaction. Mbabazi apologised for not having paid sufficient attention to the details of the transaction.
"Mbabazi went on to explain that he should have paid more attention to the details and also to the squatters. He clarified that all encumbrances on the land had been solved," sources said.
Before that, sources said, there were disagreements on whether or not Mbabazi should apologise, with some legislators saying this would be admission of guilt on his part.
"But as the meeting was reaching a consensus, one member said thatâ-‚the Minister of Security should refund Temangalo money and also resign," sources said. "This contribution threw the entire meeting into panic and tempers started rising, but the proposal did not find sustenance."
According to sources, some MPs felt that the Temangalo saga was about politics and that a few were using it to get at Mbabazi for several reasons.
MP Anifa Kawooya, in her contribution during the meeting, pointed out that lies‚were being perpetuated in the corridors of Parliament targeting Mbabazi, who is also the NRM secretary general.
"There are many rumours here: some people accuse Mbabazi of having killed the late Brig. Noble Mayombo. Others are promoting the myth that the President wants him to be sacked, these rumours must stop and people should be honest," the source quotes Kawooya as having said.
Buyaga MP Barnabas Tinkasimire reportedly told the President that the anti-Mbabazi group would also go for him (Museveni) after the secretary general.
"Mr. President, this move seems to be against Mbabazi, but subsequently, it is going to be against you," sources quoted Tinkasimire cautioning Museveni.
In the Monday meeting that was characterised by "a lot of heat and finger-pointing", the President is reported to have singled out Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire and Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi,â-‚ MPs Chris Baryomunsi and Frank Tumwebaze (Kibale) as some of those trying to make political capital from the NSSF land saga, a source said.
The President reportedly told the meeting that they were in a liberation movement where problems needed to be resolved scientifically, not emotionally, with honesty and not prejudice. He urged the members to handle the issue of Temangalo administratively, according to an MP who preferred to remain anonymous.
Museveni is said to have pointed out that Muhwezi and Prof. Apolo Nsibambi sold their land in the same place at a higher price.
"Mbabazi was a seller and this is not procurement, but an investment. It is not like supply (of goods) that needs tendering. Mbabazi has nothing to answer. Then about this Bakiga Bank, the National Bank of Commerce, this is a bank for the local people and there are shareholders even at sub-county level," Museveni reportedly said.
He reportedly quoted a "friend" who told him that Otafiire had intimated that "when you injure a buffalo, you must finish it off because if you don't, it will kill you", a viled reference to his grudges against Mbabazi.
Tumwebaze, the President noted, was angry because he heard that Mbabazi had planned to sponsor the chairman of the Broadcasting Council, Godfrey Mutabaazi, to stand against him in the next election.
"I am the one in charge and I will not allow anybody to destroy the Movement, and I have the capacity," he reportedly stressed.
According to sources, Mbabazi gave the MPs an assurance that he would not harm anyone.
Sources added that "the President also assured the MPs that he was in charge and would prevail on Mbabazi not to harm anyone".
According to sources, the â-‚President emphasised that some people had been saying the NSSF deal was a personal matter which should not have involved the party, but he pointed out the petitioners brought it to the NRM parliamentary caucus and at that point it became a party matter and the party had no choice, but to deal with it.
In August, seven MPs petitioned the party Chief Whip, Kabakumba Matsiko, to summon Mbabazi to explain his role in the NSSF land deal when it became public. The MPs were Tinkasimire, â-‚Sanjay Tana (Tororo Municipality), Henry Banyenzaki (Rubanda West), Winfred Nuwagaba (Ndorwa East), Okot Ogong ( Dokolo), Denis Obua (Youth Northern) and Amooti Otada (Kibanda). â-‚
In the Monday meeting, which was also used to heal the divisions in the party,â-‚Museveni strongly advised the caucus to learn how to deal with mistakes in a national liberation movement or political party, asking them to differentiate between a 'leaf that has fallen into a cup of tea and a fly falling into the same tea.'
Sources said he urged members of the caucus to speak with one voice on the floor of Parliament during the debate on the majority and minority reports.
During the stormy day-long meeting at State House Entebbe, the NRM parliamentary caucus overwhelmingly passed a number of resolutions absolving Mbabazi and Suruma of wrongdoing in the NSSF-Temangalo land sale.
The Caucus noted that there had been value for money in the land sale and that there had been no conflict of interest or influence-peddling on the part of the two ministers. The meeting also noted that the Solicitor General, in a letter to the committee last month, clarified that procurement of land was not provided for in the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) Act.
The meeting, which went on until late night, "brought out the bad, the good and the ugly, as members fully and freely expressed themselves. The atmosphere was charged, with members heckling and some ready to fight for the survival of their political party," sources said.
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