Abu Mayanja has never been a cabinet or other minister in any Obote regimes

In this photo:Abubakar Mayanja (C), Badru Kakungulu (2R), K. Nakibinge (R).(Courtesy of the Daily Monitor)

For record purposes, Abu Mayanja has never been a cabinet or other minister in any Obote regimes. Despite the fact that he was a founder UNC Secretary General in UNC, and a founder member of UPC in 1960 when he was a Kabaka’s minister for Education, he became an MP in 1964, and was one of the KY members crossed to UPC on orders of Sir Edward Muteesa, to fight Obote from within, was detained without trial for criticizing the regime in ”Transition” magazine, was appointed Labour and later Education Minister by Idi Amin until he was dropped in 1974, and was DP MP representing Mityana from 1980 to 1982 before he went into exile.

Abu never served Obote as minister, for Obote feared him too much. He later served as Legal Advisor to Interim NRM Chairman, Yoweri Museveni during Nairobi Peace talks, became Information Minister, Third Deputy Premier, Minister of Justice / Attorney General, until he was dropped in 1994. He was however a French Talleyrand who served almost all regimes of the French Revolution, Napoleonic Era and Post Napoleon.

Buganda has many enemies but the arch enemy is some of the Baganda’s autocratic rulers. They have not learnt a lesson for 1953 Kabaka’s crisis and 1966 Uganda Crisis.

The politics of Museveni-dynasty arguably started when term limits were dropped from the constitution. So, Ugandans just opening their eyes now because Tinyefunza has spoken as just that: a bit blind, sometimes!

AHMED KATEREGA