Fellow Ugandans,
All professional folks like Justice Mwondha, devote their professionalism to a company or a country with the faith and knowledge that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) appreciates their contribution to the advancement of the country or corporation.In fact, the quarterly or yearly evaluations are designed to narrow the gap between the envisioned direction of the CEO and that of the employee or professional person at hand. The chief interest of the CEO is to establish a process, and institutional workflow to produce results that meet employees or societal needs effectively.
The moment all professional folks dread is the existence of a fundamental chasm in the philosophy between them and the CEO who hired them. If there is a major discrepancy as to where corporation or country is heading, they tender their resignation immediately, so as not to compromise their professional integrity. It is a fundamental vision of the professional, not to impede the progressive flow of the corporation, having summoned all their good will.
At such a cross road, finds our own professional justice Mwondha, whose good name and intentions are being mired in the politics of incompetence, jealous and malice,we are told by the likes of those whom in her eyes deserve to be prosecuted and thrown out of office for the good of the nation.
The president has lost far too many honest women from the justice circles, at the counsel of such greedy, malicious men. I’m reminded of Christine Nabakooza k,’s story a once vibrant director of youth, who had championed the youth agenda in the country with intentions that were purely devotional to her country and professional career.
The president picked her as the Director of Youth, from the ministry of Justice where she was bruising and netting top corrupt officials. She recalls working in a culture of men, who were malicious and against her advancement, filled with reproach and against many great ideas that she forwarded at the secretariat. She accused them of being bent towards her destruction and demise, by fabricating purely unfounded innuendos of corruption. In doing so they denied the Country and society, the sagacity and fresh perspective of a good international lawyer, highly regarded by both the Nigerian and Ugandan Bar Association.
If you took a poll a decade later, of those who falsely accused her of corruption and caused her termination, you find that they have amassed land, houses and bank accounts that couldn’t be properly reconciled, with the meager wages they earn. Incidentally the Auditor General’s report exonerated her completely. Today like yesterday the cloud of the corrupt still oppresses her by denying her a rightfully earned pension and remuneration.
It is absolutelywithin the power of the president to lead this professional woman through this perilous tuff, for letting her down would decry foul and hopeless devotion in the circles of women who have devoted their professional careers to advance his causes.
The president should provide her with the necessary legal framework of protection, to maneuver through the parliamentary committee. If there is perceived fear of the largeness of her mandate, then tough, one cannot teach a dog how to hunt and scold it when it comes home with the road kill.
Surely,when the president and parliament picked an IGG, they went for the kernel from the other branch of government, an incorruptible justice, who by all accounts showed a willingness to assist the executive along with parliamentarians. She was acquired in the wisdom of a proverb well known to us, “when you find one of your own on a rough journey, your spirit is rejuvenated”
She was given the mandate to fight graft in the country and it was a salvational moment for the country, to have a champion of her stature from the judiciary leading the cause.
Now is the time for our CEO, to reconcile the two branches of government, and to quiclkly remove any rancor that has brought paralysis in governance and disaffection to the populace.These charges that emanate from supposedly tainted hands, that she is against development, are baseless and meant to derail and malice a good justice. If there is such a thing as a project that has no corruption from the bidding process to its finality in Uganda, then I believe that Justice Faith Mwondha, would have had no hesitation to put her “NOT corrupt” stamp on it.
However, if she sniffed any semblance of graft, her instinct as a justice would have been to stop it in it’s tracks immediately much to the chagrin of those who were in the frenzy of the eat.
Once you hired a justice, you had to know that she needed a definitive measure of autonomy to carry out her work. If her petition had fallen on deaf ears as Nabakooza’s, it would have appeared as though the President and parliament wanted to use the gravity of a justice to stop corruption, but were unwilling to protect a person of her judicial calling from those who had been seething at the mouth for obvious reasons to tear her apart.
Efficiency in the governance of a country or company is hinged upon the harmonious environment that is fostered by the Chief executive officer.
We were all pleased to see that the President reciprocated salvation to the judiciary, a branch that wasted no time, when he made the call to fight corruption. As to our Parliamentarians, a good dictum to follow next time, on such matters pertaining to the judiciary is to use: appeals, judicial reviews and special inquiries, as appropriate mechanism to bring checks and balances to such high ranking members of the judiciary, providing legal services.
Also the media and parliamentary committees are wrong types of mechanism to bring pressure upon the judiciary, much as they have an impact on the actions of the judiciary
Since the inspectorate is charged with the responsibility of eliminating corruption and abuse of office, and because she has to reports to parliament, with a higher calling function of promoting and ensuring strict adherence to the rule of law, natural justice, equity and good conscience. The Attorney General and Parliemant will have to reconcile and adopt to her style for now. We also need to think of a serious arbiter,trusted by the President and Parliament to resolve such issues of governance in future.
Tendo Kaluma
Ugandan in Boston
