Muhwezi, Ogoola clash

Health minister Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi yesterday lost his temper at the Global Fund probe, and wondered where chairman Justice James Ogoola was when he fought for peace, write Vision Reporters.

Ogoola had made a strongly-worded call for him to take responsibility for the Global Fund mess. Ogoola said to Muhwezi, “You have the opportunity to look into that camera (WBS TV) for a second and with a straight face tell the President who appointed you and Uganda that you are sorry!”

Infuriated, Muhwezi shot back: “When there has been a call for patriotism and statesmanship, I have been there. I don’t know, my lord, where you were at that time but the peace that prevails, I was part of.”

Muhwezi was among the NRA guerrilla fighters that captured power in 1986 after a five-year bush war.

Ogoola described his statement as personal sentiments after the former had completed testifying at the commission.

Earlier, the two exchanged hot words when Ogoola said Muhwezi’s directive to spend sh40m Global Fund money for former minister Matthew Rukikaire’s hospital bill in Nairobi stunk.

Ogoola said, “What we are discussing stinks to say that a directive came from above and you ended up using Global Fund money for an activity it wasn’t meant for.”

But Muhwezi would not let go: “I don’t think saving the life of a freedom fighter in the names of Mattew Rukikaire stinks. Even if it did, I have no apologies to save life.”

This is how the exchange unfolded:
Ogoola: I want to thank you for coming. We have detained you for long but we have enjoyed every moment together. Yesterday, I asked and I believe you promised that you might say sorry.
“I don’t know if you consider this a good time to say something, not on the technical aspects but the overall picture.

Muhwezi: My lord, if I did, it would be perceived that I have done so because the press said so. So I don’t think this is the appropriate time. I was taken aback by lies being told from what I heard from witnesses. If I said sorry, it would be on record that I have admitted everything that was said here.
But in my recommendation, I might say something about the mistakes that might have happened especially in the accounting system. There seems to have been something lacking there and it had never been raised at government level.

Ogoola: Let me give you some sentiments, so that when you write (something), you may think about them.

The affairs of the state have gone singularly wrong under your stewardship. The body politick has been deeply wounded.

The wound has festered under your very nose. The filth and the dirt that has come up, that we have been hearing about, has accumulated under your watch.

The accounting which you just referred to, the accounting and the balance sheet, your stewardship in this Global Fund saga have been morally moribund and woefully lacking.

The body and essence of the Ministry of Health in general and the Global Fund in particular have been corrupted to the core under your political leadership. My message to you Mr Minister, and this is a personal message to you, is that it’s in times like this that men stand out from boys. It’s in crises like these that statesmen stand out from politicians.

And you Jim Katugugu Muhwezi, you have the opportunity, if you had planned to do it now, you have the opportunity to look into that camera for a second, and with a straight face tell the President who appointed you minister, tell the people of Uganda who elected you to lead them for all this time, that you are sorry.
Your fortunes and political influence have grown and prospered, thanks to the faith and confidence entrusted by the President and the people of Uganda. But remember the wise and divine words of the holy scriptures, ‘What does it profit a man to gain the whole world to lose his soul.’ So these are my sentiments… If you feel as I do, you owe it to the people of Uganda to do the wise thing, Mr Muhwezi. Thank you.

Muhwezi: My lord, can I have a copy of that press release? (A handwritten sheet of paper from which Ogoola read).

Ogoola: It’s not a press release. It’s not addressed to you. I am telling you as Muhwezi, not as a minister.

Muhwezi: Can I have a copy?
Ogoola: It’s too rough. I will transcribe it later on and if you want a copy, I will arrange for you to get one.

Muhwezi: My lord, we look to this commission to find responsibility in whatever might have gone wrong. That’s the expectation of the people of Uganda. I would like also to say to the people of Uganda, when there has been a call for patriotism and statesmanship, I have been there.
I don’t know, my lord, where you were at that time but the peace and tranquillity and rule of law which prevails today, I was part of.
I don’t posture when I am doing things even when I am here I don’t posture. I am real. I am a real person, Jim Muhwezi. What has happened, if there is anything that went wrong and I had a hand in it, I would take full responsibility.

But it’s my view that what has happened, I don’t know your conclusions, I know your view about Matthew Rukikaire, it’s on record. But I think I have not failed my appointing authority and my people.

My Lord, if it was a question of taking responsibility in that (light) you would have resigned when two judges were allegedly bribed.
You did not. I think you were right because these were mere allegations.

I am not aware that there is any finding as yet, we are all ears. That’s all I can say.