The touchy question of whether family members of Uganda Peoples Congress party (UPC) founding father, Apollo Milton Obote, should work with President Museveni and his NRM party government has once more split the family.
The latest trouble pits Obote’s heir and first son, Tony Akaki, against Gender, Labour and Social Development minister Betty Amongi, also the wife of Akaki’s younger brother and UPC party president Jimmy Akena.
Akaki, in an undated letter accuses Amongi of using the family home to campaign for President Museveni and asks her to vacate the family home with immediate effect.
But Amongi has shot back saying the rest of the brothers that Akaki claimed were part of the decision to eject her have denied any role in drafting the letter.
Amongi insists she is not going anywhere as long as she and Akena remain in love.
But Akaki said Amongi has lost the moral fabric of being a family member and must vacate the Obote family house. He said Amongi cannot use the Obote family home to campaign for Mr Museveni who in 1981 launched a brutal five-year guerilla war against Dr Obote’s government after he accused the former president of influencing the rigging of the 1980 elections organised by the seven-member Military Commission led by Paulo Muwanga, with Museveni as his deputy.
Akaki, in a blistering tone, wrote: “I have seen and read with much disdain and disgust, that Betty Amongi is campaigning for the continuation of the military dictatorship from President Obote’s home in Lira District.
“This is unacceptable, particularly after insulting former First Lady Mama Miria Obote in March, claiming that President Obote’s wife has failed to uphold the Obote legacy and that she Betty Amongi is the one to preserve and protect the Obote name. Betty Amongi and her team of NRM goons and sympathisers should vacate President Obote’s home forthwith,” the letter stated in part.
Amongi is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Oyam County South in the 11th Parliament and was elected on the Opposition UPC party ticket.
“As Obote’s eldest son and heir, with the tacit approval of President Obote’s approval sons, namely my brothers, we call for Betty Amongi to stop operating from stusingwire@ug.nationmedia.com our home. You are not welcome in any of President Obote’s homes,” the letter further adds.
But only Akaki appended his name on the letter.
The sons of Obote include Akena, Akaki, Edward Engena Maitum, and Benjamin Obote.
Mr Akaki for much of the time has had a frosty relationship with minister Amongi. Shortly after she was appointed a minister in 2016, Mr Akaki accused Amongi of being a mole planted by President Museveni to destroy the Obote family and his legacy.
However, while the two have squared off, the rest of the family members have remained guarded in their responses, opting not to get drawn into the fight. Akena, who was reached for a reaction over the the latest lat family squabbles, refused to be drawn into the matter, but questioned whether the contention was deserving of any sensible answers. We were ere unable to get responses from the other Obote sons that Akaki said were part of the decision to expel Amongi.
But Amongi yesterday said the rest of family far members have disowned the letter and said Akaki wrote it as an individual.
“I am writing to address the above issue, authored by Mr Tony Akaki, the elder son of my father-in-law, Dr Apollo Milton Obote. After consulting with other family members, I have confirmed members, I have confirmed that they [had no] involvement in crafting the letter,” she stated in a reply to queries to this publication.
The minister said her role as the wife of Akaki’s younger brother Akena has never been in doubt and that she remains committed to loving her family and will rise above what she termed as Dove what petty issues being raised by her brother in-law.
“My husband has not expressed any dissatisfaction regarding my role or presence in that home. Therefore, I kindly urge Mr Akaki to separate personal family matters from political viewpoints. I aspire to rise above the petty issues that may divide us.”
“The political decisions I make are guided by careful analysis and a commitment to the future of Uganda rather than personal grievances. This will be my first and last time to address this matter publicly,” she said.
Ms Amongi said the family welcomed her as their own and Akaki cannot wake up one morning and say she is not welcome in her own home when her husband has not done so.
“In light of this context, I wish to assert my position as the wife of Honourable Jimmy Akena, Mr Akaki’s brother. I was welcomed into this home by my husband, and it is my firm belief that Mr Akaki does not possess the authority to evict me, as I am not under his jurisdiction, she said.
UPC responds
Mr Fred Ebil, the UPC party secretary general, said the party cannot be drawn into family squabbles, but remains committed to mobilising support for its members in the forthcoming parliamentary and local council elections.
UPC did not field any presidential candidate after Mr Akena was disqualified by the Electoral Commission (EC) over contravention of internal party constitutional.
“As a party, we respect family boundaries and cannot get involved in members’ domestic issues. Our work is just to mobilise for our flagbearers at parliamentary and local council levels and we are hopeful that we shall win these coming elections at those levels,” he said.
Akaki had in his missive warned Amongi against using the family name to advance her own interests and asserted the family would not tolerate that.
“Amongi must stop infecting the Obote family with her reputation of mismanagement, alleged corruption and the corrosive use of access to NRM’s patronage and abuse of public resources for personal aggrandisement, all of which go against the values my father stood for and built UPC Con on,” he said.
Akaki said Dr Obote was very categorical right from 1986 when Museveni took over power from the late Gen Tito Okello Lutwa, who a few months earlier, had ousted Obote in a military takeover.
Akaki said Dr Obote’s message in October 1998 to the [Apollo Milton Obote] AMO Club International Conference held in London clearly stated: “The mission of the UPC since January 26, 1986 has been and shall continue to be the removal of the dictatorship which the NRA proclaimed on that day”.
“The struggle continues to free Uganda from the NRM dictatorship. We the Obote family strongly condemn all forms of human right abuses, including illegal detentions, torture, violation of property rights and the draconian manner in which the state has been repressing opposition political parties,” he added.
Akaki said nothing good comes out from a government that thrives on corruption, abuse of power and grave human rights record and that the Obote family condemns such kind of government.
“We condemn in no uncertain terms the economic mismanagement, blatant theft, corruption, nepotism, political patronage and influence peddling which have more or less become the official policy of the NRM as exemplified by the high-profile corruption scandals, such as the “Mabaati Scandal” involving massive diversion and theft of government-procured iron sheets (mabaati) meant for some of Uganda’s most vulnerable communities in the Karamoja region,” Mr Akaki said.
He also cited other corruption allegations like the controversial Shs6 billion the minister allegedly demanded from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to conduct her projects, including activities which Akaki said were already being carried out by the Fund, and the 2018 Bamugereire commission that he claimed found Amongi culpable of grabbing land belonging to the Departed Asians Custodian Board.
“She was grilled before a commission of inquiry into land matters chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire where she was asked to resign her position as a minister in public interest. We the Obote family distance ourselves from such a despicable person and want her to vacate the Obote home,” he said.
Amongi rebuts claims
But Amongi denied the allegations and said Akaki’s writing is prompted by self- interest in total disregard for the national interests. She said the same family that is currently working in President Museveni’s regime cannot claim to disown her, when the same is a beneficiary of Museveni’s benevolence. Ms Amongi also claimed one of Obote’s sons is currently a staff member at State House, operating from Okello House in Kampala.
“Furthermore, Reverend (sic) Bishop Edward Engena Maitum, another son of Dr Obote, publicly endorsed and campaigned for President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni during the 2011 Presidential election at Kololo Grounds. Additionally, Mama Miria Obote, the former First Lady, hosted President Museveni at her residence on Impala Avenue, Kololo, in June 2012. Since then, their relationship has fostered significant support from the President, including the renovation of the residences of the former president in Kololo and Lira, and compensation for the army’s occupation during the family’s exile,” she said.
Ms Among wondered how someone who is staying in a house renovated by the President can go around and accuse her of campaigning for the President.
“The Kololo residence, which Mr Tony Akaki currently occupies, is one such property that has been renovated by President Museveni, “Ms Amongi added.
Background
Ahead of the 2016 elections, the UPC under the Akena faction reached an informal agreement with President Museveni to support his presidential bid. UPC at the time did not field any presidential candidate. President Museveni confirmed the alliance, which was reportedly signed by NRM party secretary general Richard Todwong on behalf of the NRM during a press briefing at Baralege State Lodge in Otuke District in November 2015.
Consequently, Betty Amongi and other UPC members members were appointed to key Cabinet positions and diplomatic missions in the new Museveni-led government. But the decision to support Museveni created a big rift within UPC, with those in the Olara Otunu faction calling Akena a mole planted by Museveni to kill UPC. Akena had previously denied any such pact in response to Daily Monitor inquiries about the matter in 2015, saying UPC was not for sale but its members were free to choose who to support. At the time, Olara Otunu supported Amama Mbabazi who was the Go Forward alliance candidate, while Akena said he was more concerned with the future of the country, a reason why he opted to support Museveni.
“On a personal note, I am looking at the future of this country. We want a peaceful transition but Museveni must be part of it. And constitutionally, he will not stand in 2021, he will be above 75 years,” Mr Akena had maintained.
But ahead of the 2021 General Election. Parliament amended the age limit cap to allow President Museveni run as many times as he would choose without any age limit. Mr Akena at the time said UPC candidates would participate in the 2016 General Election with the party identity, but not politically married to another party.
Latest fallout
But Mr Akena recently had a bitter fallout with President Museveni when he was blocked by the EC from contesting for presidency in the 2026 election. Mr Akena blamed his woes on President Museveni. Mr Akena in an interview with Daily Monitor at his home in Akokoro in November 11 said his candidature would have upset Mr Museveni’s plans of ruling for a longer period.
“I had created a pathway which was going to upset or put the 50 plus 1 equation into jeopardy, and that would have changed the whole dynamics of the politics and also changed the dynamics of the interactions which we’re going to have,” Mr Akena told this publication.
He added: “And those who are fearing and concerned about what they’re trying to create transition, are fearing that if other players are able to establish themselves among the electorate, it will upset their plans in the future.”
Obote ruled Uganda as president twice, from 1966 to 1971, after he, as executive prime minister, deposed then ceremonial President Sir Edward Mutesa. But Obote was in turn overthrown by the army commander, Idi Amin Dada, who was later deposed by militants backed by the Tanzanian Peoples Defence Forces in 1979. Obote bounced back as president in 1980 after the disputed elections that forced president Museveni to launch the 1981 to 1986 brutal war in Luweero Triangle.