Jim Muhwezi, the survivor

Sep 21, 2005

Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi was censured in 1998 over abuse of office, writes Joshua Kato. He bounced back as <br>minister. Members of Parliament are now baying for his blood over mismanagement of the Global Fund for AIDS. Will he survive this time round?

Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi was censured in 1998 over abuse of office, writes Joshua Kato. He bounced back as
minister. Members of Parliament are now baying for his blood over mismanagement of the Global Fund for AIDS. Will he survive this time round?

Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi is like the legendary cowboy. A cowboy never dies. If he dies, never rots. If he rots, never smells. If he smells, smells perfume....

Muhwezi is a survivor. He has never ‘died’ even after his detractors have predicted his downfall. It appears the tough circumstances have made him stronger than before. This has been his life since he became a policeman in the late 1970s, a guerrilla fighter in the 1980s and a minister in the 1990s.

In 1998, he was censured over abuse of office, though it is said is was simply because of being rich.

There is a story that has been told several times. One day as President Yoweri Museveni was fascinated was flying over Rukungiri in western Uganda in his helicopter, he saw one of his properties and said:
“I didn’t know this area had a huge factory.” He then asked: “Who is the owner of that factory?”

“It is not a factory sir. It is Jim Muhwezi’s house,” one of his aides answered.

Later, as the heat to censure Muhwezi intensified, Winnie Byanyima, the then member of Parliament for Mbarara Municipality called the house a “Basilica.” The house, in Rujumbura, is country home for Jim Muhwezi.

The issue of his wealth was talk of the town as a list of over 27 of his properties in and outside Uganda were produced before Parliament.

His assets were valued at about sh3b. However, none of the MPs proved that Muhwezi had stolen money to become rich. Legislators feared that he had dipped his hands in the Universal Primary Education (UPE) coffers, peddled influence to get shares from Crane Bank and did many other things, which is why his wallet was bigger than for the others.

However, nobody produced evidence to confirm that Muhwezi had taken any of this money.
Muhwezi believed that the fight was about him as a person and the wealth he had worked so tirelessly to get.

“This battle is not against corruption or building integrity and good image of the Movement,” he said during his censure.
He even launched salvos against some of those who wanted his head.

“Winnie is a sinner who needs to repent,” he said.

Muhwezi is a son of a priest. So, it was surprising when he joined the security forces because at that time, they had a tainted image. He had a bright future practising law than holding a gun. However, he thought otherwise.

He joined the Police force, trained at Kibuli and Masindi police training school, before he became officer-in-charge of Mbale Police Station.
When Museveni went to the bush, he apparently started connecting to him. In 1981, he was arrested for his links with the then National Resistance Army (NRA) in the bush.

However, his escape from Jinja Road Police cells was another case of his survival.

This time, he went beyond a “mere” cowboy to a James Bond.

With David Tinyefunza, they grabbed guns from their guards and shot them before escaping. He hid at Hope Kivengere’s house, before sneaking out of Kampala to the bush, dressed like a woman.

In the bush, he was involved in counter intelligence, combat operations and was in the political wing of the NRA, where his expertise at law and Police matters came in handy.

After the war, he became Internal Security Organisation (ISO) boss until 1996.

Muhwezi helped improve the image of intelligence organisations. There were no reports of torture by ISO during his reign.

“I brought a human face and compassion into ISO,” he said, adding that past intelligence organisations were full of murderers.

He served in the Constituency Assembly, where he contributed ably.

In 1996, Muhwezi became State Minister in charge of Primary Education.

This was a very important posting since government was to introduce UPE the next year.

In 1998 however, MPs discovered he was very rich. man and called for his censure. Information about his dealings with among others Sudhir Ruparelia also called for attention in Parliament.

For it was during Muhwezi’s reign as ISO boss that Ruparelia was arrested with dollars at Entebbe International Airport. However, Sudhir was not found guilty of any case.

Investigations revealed that Muhwezi had shares in Ruparelia’s Crane Bank. This was sighted as influence peddling and possible corruption.

Muhwezi put up a strong fight, but his destiny had already been decided by the legislators. He was finally censured. Many legislators thought that by censuring him, he was finished, forgetting that during his escape from the Police and out of Kampala, he passed over 600 heavily-armed UNLA soldiers dressed like a woman.

Just a few months after his censure, in 1998, he was back in the limelight. “Muhwezi bounces back,” read a New Vision headline of December 23, 1998. At the time, he was elected on one of the leading committees in Parliament.s
This time round, he has managed to survive MPs who were baying for his blood recently.

A total of 109 MPs reportedly wanted to move a motion to censure him over the mismanagement of the Global Fund for AIDS.

The chief petitioner Isa kikungwe (MP Kyadondo South) however, failed to submit to the speaker the required signatures within 10 working days as per Parliament rules and procedures. Until another MP petitions the speaker over the same issue, the move is considered a flop. Muhwezi is a survivor.

Contrary to popular belief, Muhwezi is rated as one of the most performing ministers. In 1997, President Museveni entrusted him with managing UPE, one of the most ambitious Movement projects ever launched.

In 2001, the President again entrusted him with managing the health ministry, including the creation of sub-county health centres throughout the country, reducing maternal death, improving immunisation, fighting HIV/AIDs and other health programmes.

Statistics indicate that Muhwezi has performed well. HIV/AIDS prevalence has dropped from around 10% in 2001 to around 6% at the moment. Maternal mortality rates have gone down, immunisation levels gone up and sub-county health centres promised by Museveni in 2001, are operational. His detractors claim he had a hand in the mismanagement of the National Drug Authority (NDA). However, reports from there indicate that Muhwezi helped turn NDA into a profit-making parastatal that it is today.

Born in Rukungiri to Rev. Father Katugugu in the 1950s, Muhwezi has since grown into one of the opinion leaders in the district.

In 2001, his fight for the home turf against Col. Dr Kiiza Besigye was as tough as they get. At the end of the day, however, Muhwezi won, since his candidate President Museveni got almost 70% of the vote there. Muhwezi is still one of the most powerful leaders in western Uganda.

He is married to Susan Muhwezi, who is in charge of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) in Uganda.

Now officially a retired Maj. Gen. of the UPDF, whenever he gets time, he goes to church, reads books or watches sports like golf, badminton, table tennis and others.
After the 1998 censure, he said: “I have not lost, the ashes of the apparent defeat are seeds of a fertile ground for success,” he said.

That is the belief of cowboys, who never die or lose hope, even at the most trying of moments.

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