The Cabinet Reshuffle Leaks: Making Sense of How Big Political, Security Actors Emerge as Suspected Leakers of Cabinet Supposed Nominees and Why

In this discourse, this prized Investigator media website looks at the recent cabinet list leak and reveals some of its implications. We further attempt to explore the most critical elements of all with respect to those behind the leaks and for what ends. We disclose how one of the key suspects is high up there in the corridors of power, rendering this not only to be a very insightful, very interesting but also a must-read piece.

The Genesis

A cabinet list attributed to President Yoweri Museveni leaked out recently, becoming the latest of such embarrassing episodes to occur at the highest level of cabinet. The list provisionally names Islander, Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, the works and transport minister, the next vice president, taking over from Maj. Jessica Alupo, leaked to social media, ending up into the public domain.

Another stunning thing about the list, is with respect to Robinah Nabbanja’s supposed drop from grace to grass. The list indicates how the indefatigable fisher, Nabbanja `Musafiiri Majegere` had lost her prime minister slot, raising speculation that the cause was her role in the Karamoja Mabaati loot saga.

Strikingly, the leaked document indicated all the ministers who had previously been implicated in the Mabaati saga, had been dropped from cabinet, rendering it a semblance of genuineness. Recall, the president had prior to the bizarre development, vowed to use political means to punish ministers who had been implicated in the loot.

He emphasized he would do that whether or not the police had been able to compile evidence tight enough to sustain the prosecution of the ministers implicated in the saga. Citing Nabbanja and her group of Mabaati looters among cabinet ministers Museveni had allegedly dropped, added a veneer of truth to the leaked cabinet list.

The Buzz

The bizarre development caused a big fuss on different social media platforms as Ugandans frantically discussed and debated its pros and cons, sparking anxiety and apprehension within cabinet and interest groups. This was even as the man who holds the ultimate say on how the cabinet list should look and appear, had not officially declared his cabinet list.

With the frenzy threatening to cause inertia, heart attacks, disillusionment and lack of cohesion at cabinet and government levels, President Yoweri Museveni’s media handlers moved with speed, dismissing the then so-called trending cabinet list as being a figment of some people’s fertile imaginations.

For learning purposes, the Head of State in Uganda is the one and only one exclusively mandated to appoint cabinet ministers to serve in his or her government as per the Constitution and laws subordinate to it. Subsequently, leakage of what is touted as Museveni’s cabinet list, occurred while he was away on retreat, preparing and finetuning his copy ahead of officially releasing the same out to the public.

During such very critical moments, Museveni remarkably consults different interest groups about who should appear on his new cabinet list and, who should be dropped for reasons including, but not limited to regional, gender, political, religious, special needs groups and cultural balancing.

The Implications

One of the key implications, supposing the list was genuine, it implies that the government of Uganda is still very poor at keeping its own, sensitive documents. So bad that Andrew Mwenda vividly stated how top sensitive cabinet documents could easily end up in hands of mandazi sellers, using them to wrap their snacks, before ministers and the president himself can discuss and pass them.

The second implication is that the president can be compelled to change his cabinet list, if it’s true the provisional one leaked. This view, since Gen Yoweri Museveni may not want to release the one already up on social media platforms, embarrassing himself as someone who can easily be second-guessed, negatively implying that (pun not intended) he is unsophisticated (kataala)

That infers, some of the people who had originally fallen into things like Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, just for demonstrative purposes, may end up losing out and, those who had been dropped, end up retained in cabinet. The last scenario, the president can find alternative people to replace people like Robinah Nabbanja, just for demonstrative reasons, who he had originally dropped from cabinet or even those who he had, matter of fact, appointed into cabinet.

The Suspects

Museveni: President Museveni writes the cabinet list and when it leaks, impliedly turning him into the first prime suspect, though, without necessarily, rendering him liable for criminal prosecution since he is excluded from that process.

In addition to that, President Museveni is a very witty politician. He engages a lot in mind games, rendering him capable of psychologically reading situations, figuring out the mood of people towards his key decisions or actions, adjusting things accordingly

Intelligence: Museveni consults his intelligence to carry out background checks on his cabinet nominees, standing them in good stead to know who is who on that list. Should the list leak before it’s official release, Museveni’s intelligence cannot by reason of that role, escape from suspicion, inquiry and curiosity.

Political fixers: These are the people whom the president either consults about who to choose or who actually second nominees for cabinet ministerial slots. Those ones can innocently choose to leak the list of nominees purely out of excitement or in the negative sense, arm-twisting the president to adjust his provisional line-up of nominees in favor of alternative nominees, fearing to be treated as some leader easier to outguess.

Political dealers: Uganda has a group of people whose job is to make political deals, connecting political job-seekers to government, earning political jobs for those desirous of getting them. Some of those are simply fake or speculators, leading them to leak equally fake cabinet lineups, rendering it to appear as if those they had scammed are actually on the president’s upcoming genuine list of cabinet ministers.

Opposition: Some opposition leaders or supporters, of course working with their government conduits, can leak the list, embarrassing the president, depicting him as a leader unable to keep sensitive cabinet secrets.Those groups can also leak the list, inciting members of public, members of diplomatic corps and the civil society, among others, influencing the appointing authority to try to drop them.

Interest groups: These ones can leak the list to generate debate skewed towards getting their members appointed into cabinet. They can sponsor debate, depicting their members as a discriminated lot, compelling the president to try to do the needful, influencing him to give alternative jobs to their members.

In the final analysis, cabinet list leaks are used as a means to merely generate excitement, to generate debate about the suitability or lack of it of the nominees, to embarrass the appointing authority, to express discontent about perceived discrimination of certain groups of people, among other reasons. Kindly share your view on [email protected] or WhatsApp: 0751857756/0772621522

Author Profile

Stephen Kasozi Muwambi: Mr. Stephen Kasozi Muwambi is a seasoned crime investigative writer, majoring in judicial-based stories. His two decades’ experience as a senior investigative journalist has made him one of the best to reckon on in Uganda. He can also be reached via [email protected]