Inside Museveni, Kazoora politics

By Muwonge C W Magembe, Researcher 

OUR HISTORY

Kazoora is among Museveni's bush war comrades who brought the NRA/M to power. Today, will look at how the two old friends fell apart.

In 1984, when Yoweri Museveni, John Kazoora and their comrades in the National Resistance Army (NRA) were fighting Dr Milton Obote’s regime; an election was held in neighbouring Zaire (now DR Congo). 

During the campaigns, DR Congo President Mobutu Sese Seko and his party, Popular Movement of the Revolution (MPR), paid famous musician, Franco, to sing at their rallies. 

And since the election was a one-man show, Mobutu/MPR won with 14,885,997 votes (99.16%). By January 26, 1986 when the NRA captured power, Mobutu was still the president. 

Indeed, after Museveni was sworn in as president on January 29, he right away travelled to Zaire for a security meeting with Mobutu. He was accompanied by Dr Kizza Besigye, who received Mobutu’s gift for Museveni. 

The gift was a consignment of hoes. Upon returning from Zaire, Museveni appointed Besigye, minister of state for internal affairs and Kazoora, special district administrator (SDA) for Kampala. 

Kazoora then interested taxi drivers and operators to form Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA). In line with Kazoora’s plan, UTODA carried out political mobilisation and intelligence gathering for the state.

Order at ISO  

After Kazoora ended his tenure as SDA for Kampala, Museveni instructed the director general of Internal Security Organisation (ISO), Brig. Jim Muhwezi, to appoint him director of finance and administration at ISO on October 18, 1990. 

Kazoora found when ISO leadership had contracted Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) to electrify their facility at Makajjjo II Estate at sh27,699,637 in February 1990. And on August 9, ISO’s line ministry, President’s Office, made a part payment of sh24,375,680 to UEB by cheque. 

As the new director of finance, Kazoora queried the contractual fee as inflated, among other issues. He, therefore, wrote to UEB on November 12, seeking refund of  sh24,375,680 part payment. 

UEB deducted what was agreed as first round expenses and then issued a cheque for the balance to ISO. The cheque was collected by ISO controller, Lt. John Bwomwezi. 

He deposited it on ISO account no.41106001 in Nile Bank on January 15, 1991. The credit balance on the aforesaid account increased two days later (January 17, 1991) when ISO was issued with two cheques worth sh110,240,000 from President’s Office for its operations. 

It had been budgeted that sh12m would facilitate the covert work and also the medical bill of their agent, Jane Rwomijjo, in London, UK. Rwomijjo had requested Kazoora to receive the funds on her behalf. Indeed, on January 25, 1991, the said sh12m was debited from ISO account using cheque no. 411934. 

It was then deposited on the personal account of Kazoora, who was meant to hand it over to Rwomijjo. These happenings were at the time of speculation that Museveni was set to promote Kazoora in ISO hierarchy. 

Amidst intrigue, Kazoora was accused of embezzling the aforesaid sh12m. The acting chief magistrate at Buganda Road convicted him on September 1991, and sentenced him to imprisonment for five years. But through his lawyers, Protasio Ayigihugu and Alex Rezida, Kazoora appealed in High Court, Criminal Appeal No. 51 of 1991. 

And to Kazoora’s delight, on June 18, 1992, Justice John Wilson Tsekooko ruled: “I accordingly quash the conviction of the appellant (Kazoora) unless the appellant is held on some other lawful charge, he is set free forthwith.”

President Yoweri Museveni

Third-term battle  

Two years after his acquittal, Kazoora competed with Urban Tibamanya to represent Kashari in the Constituent Assembly (CA). Tibamanya won with 25,220 votes (49%) out of the 51,116 votes cast. 

The CA came up with a new Constitution for Uganda in 1995. It contained Article 105 (2), stipulating: “A person shall not be elected under this Constitution to hold office as President for more than two terms.” 

And in 1996, Kazoora swore to defend that Constitution when he was elected MP in the Sixth Parliament (1996-2001), representing Kashari. He repeated the same oath when he was elected to the Seventh Parliament (2001-2006). 

Along the way, Kazoora had a private talk with the first deputy prime minister and minister for internal affairs, Eriya Kategaya, when he learnt that some MPs like James Kakooza, Hope Mwesigye, Karooro Okurut, among others, were plotting to scrap Article 105(2), so that Museveni would contest again in 2006. 

Kazoora and Kategaya resolved to oppose such an attempt. They also resolved to mobilise other historicals like Kahinda Otafiire to oppose the planned scrapping of the term limit. 

Using his additional office as parliamentary commissioner, Kazoora mobilised MPs to oppose the scrapping. But many objected like Otafiire. He had a talk about the subject with Otafiire during a party for the elected members of East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in Kampala on January 25, 2002. 

Actually, the party ended on a bad note, when Otafiire confronted a journalist, Wilfred Sanya, who photographed him when he was dancing Kinyakore style on an American song rhythm. 

As Kazoora-Kategaya reinforced the anti-third-term campaign, Museveni dropped Kategaya from cabinet in May 2003. Despite that, Kategaya and Kazoora continued planning the fight. 

They agreed on the way forward when Kategaya attended a Thanksgiving function of Kazoora’s mother, Mangeri, at Rutooma in Kashari, on August 22, 2004. 

And five days later, Kategaya was enlisted as a founding member of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) on August 27, 2004. He was registered as FDC founding member no.72. 

As Kazoora enjoyed Kategaya’s moral support, he had the audacity of telling Museveni in the presence of Amelia Kyambadde at Rwakitura on April 8, 2005, that: “What I can tell you is that you cannot beg age to give you kisanga (term of office). You can get the third, fourth and fifth term, but time will come and you will leave.” 

And when the Amendment Bill proposing the scrapping of presidential term limit from the Constitution was tabled before Parliament in June 2005, Kazoora debated: “Constitutions are for long term benefit of society and not short term goals of rulers. The kind of debate we get is as if some people want to write the name Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in the Constitution.” 

Later on July 11, 2005, Kazoora was crestfallen when majority MPs, including his former ally, Capt. Guma Gumisiriza, voted in favour of scrapping the presidential term limit. 

The amendment stipulates: “A person may be elected under this Constitution to hold office as President for one or more terms.”

Muwonge C W Magembe, Researcher 

Loses MP seat  

The amendment enabled Museveni to get re-elected in 2006. However, Kazoora lost his MP seat to Tibamanya, who received 40,228 votes against his 11,808. 

Museveni then appointed Tibamanya as a minister. Later in 2011, Museveni sought another term, he popularised his campaigns by singing Mpenkoni song, also known as ‘You want another’. 

Kazoora reacted by describing Museveni’s music style in an election campaign to that of former president of Zaire, Mobutu. He said: “A person who has been the president for 25 years is going at every campaign rally singing Mpenkoni and asking the public to give him another rap instead of creating employment. This means he has failed to work and is trying to introduce himself to the people he has led for 25 years.” 

At the time, Kazoora was competing for Mbarara municipality parliamentary seat, having relocated from Kashari. Museveni backed Kazoora’s rival, Dr Medard Bitekyerezo, who won with 12,553 votes (39.55%). Kazoora received 8,846 (27.87%).

Museveni speaks out 

In the post third-term debate, Museveni issued a statement, entitled, “Blame load shedding on FDC, foreigners and drought.” 

He blamed Kazoora and other politicians for causing electricity shortage in Uganda. He also revealed why he supported the scrapping of the presidential term limit. 

Museveni wrote: “The 1995 Constitution had been designed by the likes of Bidandi Ssali, Besigye, Nabudere (Dan), etc, to weaken the powers of the president and the Executive to an illogical level. Given this straitjacket, the only options open to such a president were to either, continuously beg the Parliament, resign, use the army to overthrow that Constitution (as in 1966) or patiently work for the changing of that Constitution. I decided to opt for the last option, change the Constitution. 

Working with you, the people of Uganda (who launched the kisanja movement) and with the 230 Movement MPs, we eventually, changed some aspects of the 1995 Constitution. The first thing to change was Article 105(2) which had limited the term of the President to two terms only.”

The writer/researcher, Muwonge, wrote a book, President Idi Amin: A narrative of his rule (1971-1979). It costs sh100,000 at Uganda Bookshop, Kampala.