Has Wanyoto’s Nandala Succession Bid Vindicated M7 claims?

During a women’s conference in Kampala on August 27, 2018, President Museveni threatened to sack Godfrey Wanyoto, the then head of procurement at the Electoral Commission. The president accused Wanyoto together with a team of 7 other EC officails of orchestrating corruption tendencies at the Commission. According to Museveni the acts of Wanyoto and his clique, namely: Public Relations boss Jotham Taremwa, Commission Secretary General Sam Rwakojo, IT Director Namugera Pontius, Director Finance & Administrator Joseph Lwanga, Data Department’s Edgar Kasigwa, and Network Administrators Jordan Lubega and Musuza Charles, amounted to sabotage of government programmes from within, which benefitted the opposition. In earlier references, he had referred to such public servants as “kawukumi”, vowing to purge them out of his government and replace them with patriotic NRM cadres.
And indeed, about 2 years later on July 21, 2020, Museveni called EC Chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama and ordered him to immediately sack the group, saying he couldn’t stand complaints about them anymore.

While Byabakama tried to sanitize the group’s sacking by claiming that they had willfully chosen to retire early, the President later, on September 7, 2020, cleared the smokescreen by confirming that he actually sacked the group over corruption. It later emerged that the group was fired for ignoring the President’s proposal to allow the Uganda Printing and Publishing Company UPPC and a German company called Veridos Identity Solutions GmbH to handle the printing of ballot papers and other electoral materials for the 2021 elections.

Sources added that the President was furious that whereas this joint venture would save the country lots of money, EC bosses were not embracing it, allegedly with intentions to benefit from the deal. The president viewed this as sabotage and even vowed to replace the group with “NRM cadres”.

Wanyoto’s Current Blues
The President’s claims at the time could pass as grumbles of a bad loser since they came shortly after his party suffered many defeats in the 2018 grassroots elections. However, reports from Bugisu indicate that the president’s kawukumi claims could have some validation, especially given Wanyoto’s current political shade. As we speak now, the former EC boss has, in an unprecedented move, stood on the FDC ticket to replace opposition stalwart Nathan Nandala Mafabi, who has since declared ambitions to stand for president in next year’s elections.

The move has raised eyebrows, especially given that past civil servants in Wanyoto’s league— like Abraham Byandala, Dickson Kateshumbwa, among others — have always chosen to politically ally with the NRM.

The Baganda say that a stingy rich man’s shame manifests when he vomits egg plants— we hope comrade Wanyoto hasn’t vomited some (ntula) already!