NRM Rebels Face IGG Knife

Panic last week gripped several NRM MPs perceived as rebels after it emerged that the Inspector General of Government Irene Mulyagonja had started a move to kick them out of Parliament.
The information came yesterday in the legal and parliamentary affairs committee chaired by Stephen Tashobya while meeting Mulyagonja over her 2012/13 budget.
The MPS whose seats are in balance include Sam Otada, Theodore Sekikubo, Barnabas Tinkasimire and Wilfred Nuwagaba while files for the remaining three unnamed rebels are being processed by the inspectorate.
A crestfallen MP Otada broke the story to the committee stating that the IGG is being pressured to kick these people out on the account that they feasted on the now scrapped constituency development fund (CDF).
Otada told the committee that the IG is acting on orders from Museveni whom he also stated had asked the IG to pen a letter to the speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga telling her to eject Bukonzo west MP Yokas Bihande from parliament after he was convicted by the anti-corruption court of feasting on the same fund.
“I have received confirmation from my sources in the IGG’s offices to the effect that there is a plot mooted to eject seven MPs from parliament. The plan is to take us to court, convict us and they declare our seats vacant. Pressure is coming from the president” Otada (independent) stated.
He went on ‘so far, four files for Otada, Nuwagaba, Tinkasimire and Sekikubo have been finalised. The three others are still being processed. We are aware that some offices have been fighting hard to have us removed from parliament. They are using the IG’s office to politically persecute those they think are not towing their lines.
We are ready for that battle’ The IGG Mulyagonya confirmed the secret plot, but however, denied that it had been instigated on orders from Museveni.
‘Museveni has never given us instructions but he also raises complaints. I have seen complaints coming from your (MPS’) constituents. Several of them are on my table. The constituents are citizens with a right to raise a complaint. We are not going to sweep them under the carpet. We are definitely going to come to you (MPS) whom these complaints have been raised against” she stated.
She went on ‘the president can only make complaints to me. He does this and even yesterday, he sent me a complaint about a certain ministry he wants to be investigated. That letter came to me yesterday and it is on my table. I went to that office on July7, but I have not received any complaint from Museveni about you (MPS) but from your constituents’ she stated with shaky voice and lips.
The MPs were however, angry with the IGG as to why she shies away from investigating officers from state house whom they say are also involved in scandals. Mulyagonya said that her office has never received any complaint about a state house officer.
The NRM is currently facing an internal revolt with majority of those named in the secret IGG probe being part of the dissenting voices in the party demanding for reforms and Museveni to quit state house come 2016.
The same committee grilled former IGG Raphael Baku over allegations of him being a corrupt giant arising from allegations that he inflated the budget for buying the IG’s plot of land in the city.
“Hon. Members, in our work, we step on some people’s toes. I am sure some people were hurt. I am informed they even went to CMI, state house and police and even the media (Red Pepper). They accused me of inflating the figure and also misusing the shs900m meant for Chogm funds’ investigations. That investigation is baseless. However, we have answered the queries and we are waiting for report by the investigators” he stated.

Migereko Warns Rebels
Government chief whip Daudi Migereko has promised hell for the NRM rebels if they don’t zip their beaks regarding the succession debate.
Addressing the media at Parliament on Friday, Migereko said that the rebels are anytime from now facing severe punishment if they continue discussing the matter.
“Any MP who belongs to NRM and has an issue to raise should do it through the caucus. The approach some of our members are taking is unacceptable. Their actions are some of the issues we should put on table so that we have a minimum standard for our people” he said.
His remarks came in the wake of agitations among NRM rebels asking Museveni to quit the post of NRM chairmanship following several by-election losses. They also want him to quit state house after his current term of office.
“We are going to debate behavior of members. We shall sit and discuss the code of conduct. We have to respect leaders and also give the chance to work. The debate is premature. We must be focusing on service delivery” he said.
Migereko said that currently, people are raising several issues some of which regard health, education among others. He said that Museveni is still an asset to the nation and the region.
“The reasons for electing Museveni in 2011 are enshrined in the NRM manifesto. The debate should be; has NRM delivered on those issues? People want to see whether we people in government are doing enough in fulfilling what we promised. When it comes to 2015, we can discuss succession. Museveni is doing a good job not only here, but also regionally. He is involved in issues of RDC, south Sudan, and Somalia. This is therefore a wrong time to talk about 2016!” he said.
The minister had appeared before the press to respond to the media regarding the ongoing losses his party is registering in by-elections.
“It is unfortunate that we again lost in Kasese. We shall take off time to understand why we lost and we come up with remedial and corrective solutions. We are going to study this loss so that our support doesn’t continue to fade” he said.
The NRM once again made confirmed its record of losing by-elections after losing the one of Kasese on Wednesday. Several MPs have blamed the loss to poor service delivery by the party.