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President Museveni on Friday night gave reasons why he kept outgoing Principal Private Secretary (PPS) Amelia Kyambadde for 31 years, praising her for being a loyal servant and keeping his “secrets.”
While attending the official State House send-off of Ms Kyambadde at Mbuya Military Baracks, Mr Museveni said his first contact with the then youthful Amelia in Nairobi was in 1977 when he set out plans to overthrow then dictator Idi Amin.
“There was a Ugandan lady called Flavia Mulumba who operated a shop in Nairobi. She was one of our contacts. I met her as I was coming from Tanzania to organise a coup against Idi Amin. Then I saw Amelia in the same shop. Ms Mulumba told me about her that she was a Ugandan,” Museveni explained.
Secretive Amelia
“At the time we feared to meet Ugandans for fear of leaking our secrets to the enemy but I eventually met her, although she was not ideological then. I want to salute her for working for your party (NRA/M) for all these years. I kept her for 31 years,” President Museveni said.
He said there was no single secret he entrusted with Ms Kyambadde that has ever leaked. The President said Ms Kyambadde kept most the secrets to herself, enabling him to run the country without worrying about leakages of state secrets. “There were two forces that tried to use her to bring me down or conceal their crimes. The first group wanted to spy on me to find out what I do. The second group wanted to use her to influence me. But she fought the groups,” Mr Museveni said. He recalled how he asked Ms Kyambadde in 1979 to get him a secretary when he was State Minister for Defence during the Obote II regime.
“She looked around but failed to get one. Since she was working in her father’s law firm, I asked her to volunteer working for me and that is when she began her carrier as my secretary,” the President said. He said that Ms Kyambadde has also worked as his spy. “You know when you are the PPS, you have to report every lugambo (divulge secrets to the President) because when I discover that you knew something but you never told me, you will be in trouble with me. ”
The President urged Ms Kyambadde to write a book detailing how she managed to run the PPS office so that it can be used in training civil servants. “You cannot block the ambition of such a person who sees a cow in a ditch and removes it. That is why I could not stop her from contesting for Mawokota North parliamentary seat in next year’s elections. I will support her in every way,” the President said. Emotions ran high among some of the State House employees who shed tears for the departure of Ms Kyambadde. But she told them: “I will always be available to listen to your call.” Ms Kyambadde will be replaced by Ms Grace Akello.
Political step
She said despite all the changes in leadership in the country, people at the grassroots have not felt the benefits, prompting her to join elective politics to meet their needs. The gathering was also treated to humour when Herbert Ssegujja, a comedian whose stage act is mimicking President Museveni took to the stage. “Vote Amelia for MP Mawokota North because she has potential, stamina and vision like me. I notice uniqueness in people with names beginning with ‘K’. Kibaki of Kenya, Kikwete of Tanzania, Kagame of Rwanda, Kabila of DRC and now Kyambadde of Mawokota,” said Ssegujja, thrilling the audience including Mr Museveni.
President Museveni on Friday night gave reasons why he kept outgoing Principal Private Secretary (PPS) Amelia Kyambadde for 31 years, praising her for being a loyal servant and keeping his “secrets.”
While attending the official State House send-off of Ms Kyambadde at Mbuya Military Baracks, Mr Museveni said his first contact with the then youthful Amelia in Nairobi was in 1977 when he set out plans to overthrow then dictator Idi Amin.
“There was a Ugandan lady called Flavia Mulumba who operated a shop in Nairobi. She was one of our contacts. I met her as I was coming from Tanzania to organise a coup against Idi Amin. Then I saw Amelia in the same shop. Ms Mulumba told me about her that she was a Ugandan,” Museveni explained.
Secretive Amelia
“At the time we feared to meet Ugandans for fear of leaking our secrets to the enemy but I eventually met her, although she was not ideological then. I want to salute her for working for your party (NRA/M) for all these years. I kept her for 31 years,” President Museveni said.
He said there was no single secret he entrusted with Ms Kyambadde that has ever leaked. The President said Ms Kyambadde kept most the secrets to herself, enabling him to run the country without worrying about leakages of state secrets. “There were two forces that tried to use her to bring me down or conceal their crimes. The first group wanted to spy on me to find out what I do. The second group wanted to use her to influence me. But she fought the groups,” Mr Museveni said. He recalled how he asked Ms Kyambadde in 1979 to get him a secretary when he was State Minister for Defence during the Obote II regime.
“She looked around but failed to get one. Since she was working in her father’s law firm, I asked her to volunteer working for me and that is when she began her carrier as my secretary,” the President said. He said that Ms Kyambadde has also worked as his spy. “You know when you are the PPS, you have to report every lugambo (divulge secrets to the President) because when I discover that you knew something but you never told me, you will be in trouble with me. ”
The President urged Ms Kyambadde to write a book detailing how she managed to run the PPS office so that it can be used in training civil servants. “You cannot block the ambition of such a person who sees a cow in a ditch and removes it. That is why I could not stop her from contesting for Mawokota North parliamentary seat in next year’s elections. I will support her in every way,” the President said. Emotions ran high among some of the State House employees who shed tears for the departure of Ms Kyambadde. But she told them: “I will always be available to listen to your call.” Ms Kyambadde will be replaced by Ms Grace Akello.
Political step
She said despite all the changes in leadership in the country, people at the grassroots have not felt the benefits, prompting her to join elective politics to meet their needs. The gathering was also treated to humour when Herbert Ssegujja, a comedian whose stage act is mimicking President Museveni took to the stage. “Vote Amelia for MP Mawokota North because she has potential, stamina and vision like me. I notice uniqueness in people with names beginning with ‘K’. Kibaki of Kenya, Kikwete of Tanzania, Kagame of Rwanda, Kabila of DRC and now Kyambadde of Mawokota,” said Ssegujja, thrilling the audience including Mr Museveni.
