Our reliable sources within the Office of the Prime Minister have intimated to us that the ‘supremacy feud’ between Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Eng. Hilary Obaloker Onek and Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has called President Museveni’s intervention and ordered his Vice President Jessica Rose Epel Alupo to call the two and meet them with aim of streamlining their roles.
These stem from a 29th October 2021 letter that was inked by Onek accusing Nabbanja for not observing her limits while executing government duties.
”From the time of your appointment, I have been observing with total displeasure the fact that my role and that of my deputy as the Ministers in charge of refugees and disaster and the lead policy makers on matters of refugee and disaster management have been TOTALLY usurped by your office,” he wrote.
Onek also showed concern for Nabbanja taking his role of distributing relief aid to refugees. ”You have also purged the department of disaster management, taken over the distribution of relief items and causing interdiction of staff members without proper investigation. The interdicted staff were accused of causing a financial loss without conducting a forensic audit by involving office of the auditor general.”
Infact, Onek threatened to resign if Nabbanja doesn’t stop using her position to ‘bury’ his position by bypassing his ministry and work directly with local government officials in activities involving distribution of beans and blankets.
”Rt. Hon Prime minister if you have decided to carry on working like this and rendering my docket irrelevant, kindly put it in writing to H.E the President who is the appointing authority and I will relieve myself of my responsibilities and allow you carry on with your duties. I will NOT be held accountable for decisions that have been taken without my input,” he warned.
However, while at Parliament, Nabbanja in response to Onek’s letter revealed that she is proud of her speed while serving Ugandans and she is not ready to deal with ministers who are slow and still have time for wastage fighting for supremacy instead of concentrating on serving Ugandans.
“I told you from the onset of my term of office that we shall not allow laziness, we are changing the mode of work,” Nabbanja noted.