Hajjat Sarah Kanyike, who was deputy lord mayor for Kampala before dumping DP for the ruling party and being appointed state minister for the elderly and persons with disabilities, was dropped from cabinet. I'll tell you a short story about her defection. Fairly long thread.
Gen Museveni wanted to spite Lord Mayor Lukwago by snatching his deputy & also hoped to ride on Kanyike to appeal to the Kibuli Muslim faction, particularly Prince Nakibinge whose ear he though Kanyike had. Kanyike was the councilor for the Kibuli area and taught at Kibuli SSS
Kanyike considered the proposal, weighed it against her political prospects, especially that she was approaching 60 and was unsure the bid she was considering for the Kampala woman MP seat would succeed. Stella Nyanzi and Aisha Malende had already emerged to challenge Nabilah
She confided in some of her friends, explaining that she felt she had outgrown the KCCA councilor position and needed to advance, but her natural way seemed blocked yet Gen Museveni, the supreme target of their 'struggle', had offered a way out.
Some of the friends immediately dismissed the idea of joining Gen Museveni as satanic, others offered advice. The plan she adopted was to exit the 'struggle' and join the technical side of government, maybe in a ministry or at KCCA.
She'd argue that she'd just taken a govt job as any other Ugandan would & hoped to avoid attacks by fellow 'strugglists'. The plan seemed smooth & it's what she presented to Gen Museveni as her irreducible demand for the deal. Joining the political side was out of the picture.
Gen Museveni saw no problem with it & he nominated her to become Director for Gender at KCCA. Lukwago was livid, giving her a deadline to reject the nomination or he would replace her without further warning. No answer.
Lukwago then named Doreen Nyanjura his new deputy, underlining during a press conference that now that Kanyike had joined the technical team, she would be directly supervised by Nyanjura in the gender docket. But the original plan would soon run into a wall.
One needs to have a master's degree to be appointed director in the civil service and when the Public Service Commission interfaced with Kanyike, they discovered that she had not completed her master's even though she had enrolled for one. They informed Gen Museveni accordingly
With her appointment blocked yet her political marriage to Gen Museveni was already public, Kanyike was left at the mercy of the appointing Authority. The General would then pick and choose what to give her, hence the then dusty state minister for the elderly and disabled slot.
During the vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Kanyike was asked whether it didn't bother her that the term had just about 9 months to end. She said she didn't. In truth she had no choice & perhaps was sure Gen M7 would get another term & reappoint her
In deciding to make her 'senior presidential advisor' (a post for welfare purposes according to Tamale Mirundi) it's improbable that Gen M7 consulted her. Hers was such swift transition from opposition to cabinet to presidential advisor. THE END
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