Museveni Betrays Speaker Anita Among: Why Does He First Hide Behind The Veils?
Museveni Defends Surreptitious 100m Given to MPs as Strategic: But Who Defines Patriotism?
Uganda Today Edition: Museveni Defends Surreptitious 100m Given to MPs as Strategic: But Who Defines Patriotism?
By Uganda Today
In his latest direct-to-the-Bazzukulu communication, President Yoweri Museveni once again sought to redefine the corruption debate in Uganda—this time, by flipping the script onto the opposition. The President criticized a group of opposition MPs, led by MP Kivumbi, for raising alarm over reports that each Member of Parliament received Shs 100 million from classified funds.
Hitting the nail on the head, Museveni betrayed the Speaker of Parliament Anita Annet Among who had, the previous day denied the fact that a number of MPS, had pocketed 100m each. The Speaker had vehemently dismissed these allegations as “speculation” and urged the general public to ignore the rumours with the contempt they deserved.
However in a dramatic course of events, characteristic of his style of coming out to clear the air on contentious national issues, in the same way he ever did with: Bizarre incident preceding Kabaka’s riots of 2009, when he saw that the situation was running of of hand, he came out to give conditions which Mengo should have adhered to, if Kabaka were to be permitted to proceed to Kayunga. This more than anything else confirmed beyond doubt that he was fully behind the catastrophic fatalities that ensued later.
The allegations of beating to pulp occasioned to Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu after cold blood murder of his driver Yasin Kawuma in 2018, Museveni first denied any torture of Kyagulanyi but later, he stabbed himself in the foot that Kyagulayi was “properly beaten because he fought his soldiers”
When Fred Enanga touted numerous lies as to why Kyagulanyi was denied his right to stage concerts, with cosmetic reasons that Kyagulanyi failed to adhere to pre security directives including but not limited to provision of fire ambulances, Museveni later came out to say that he denied Kyagulanyi permission to perform simply because Kyagulanyi went to western countries and asked them to stop foreign aid to his government.
Betrayal of the Speaker
Instead of addressing the concern over the secrecy and accountability of those funds, the President asked a different question: “Have you ever heard of foreign funds being sent into Uganda to influence our politics in favour of the foreigners?” Unashamedly and in the most subtle manner, the president acknowledged and gave confidence to a number of MPs who had started contemplating returning the money. The Speaker was left agape.
It’s a familiar pivot—when caught in a corner, divert the conversation toward a larger “enemy.” In this case, Western influence and LGBT advocacy groups, citing U.S. Congressman Andy Barr’s statement about the Biden administration’s pushback against Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.
The President went as far as calling MPs who receive foreign funding “not only corrupt but traitors.” The implication is that Ugandan MPs taking money from Ugandan taxpayers in secret—under the veil of “classified funds”—are patriots.
But this raises several questions:
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Who decides what counts as classified? And should MPs—lawmakers—be silent recipients of such funds without public scrutiny?
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Does the end (sovereignty) justify the means (secret payouts)?
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And most importantly: If foreign funding is dangerous because it compromises independence, what about local funds used in non-transparent ways to compromise oversight and legislative independence?
The public deserves a clear, principled stance on corruption—whether it comes wearing foreign suits or local camouflage.
If, as the President suggests, some activists are indeed co-opted by external agendas, that should not become a blanket justification for shielding government officials from accountability.
Both truths can coexist:
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Foreign influence is a real geopolitical concern.
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Domestic corruption—especially veiled in patriotism—is a slow poison to national integrity.
Instead of playing rhetorical ping-pong between these extremes, Uganda needs a sober conversation on transparency, sovereignty, and the ethical use of state resources—classified or not.
Published by www.ugandatoday.co.ug, your trusted source for news and analysis
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