NRM secretary general Justine Kasule Lumumba and party electoral commission chairman Tanga Odoi are quarreling again, this time over a pay raise for some employees at the ruling party’s secretariat.
In an interview with The Observer yesterday, Odoi claimed a select group of NRM employees close to Lumumba recently got a pay raise without merit. The selective pay raise, Odoi said, amounts to discrimination and could trigger a rebellion among other employees.
“The fees [salary] should be raised across the board. If you don’t do this, you will encourage a rebellion among other people in the party,” Odoi said. “In the military, it would cause mayhem.”
In earlier correspondences seen by The Observer, Odoi said it was illegal [for Lumumba] to use party resources discriminatively.
“I request that you attend to the plight of other staff, since they too contribute to the development of our party. Besides, the NRM party does not condone discrimination,” Odoi wrote to Lumumba on November 23.
The letter is copied to President Museveni, the party chairman, and all members of the Central Executive Committee (CEC). In his second letter dated December 5, Odoi listed five employees whose salaries, he claimed, were enhanced recently.
They are: Charles Engwau (Shs 5 million), Alice Kobusingye (Shs 3 million), Boniface Okot (Shs 3 million), Johnson Tebyasa (Shs 3 million) and Chrisantha Achen (Shs 3 million). It is not clear in what capacities these people work but we understand that they include personal assistants to Lumumba.
Speaking to The Observer yesterday, Odoi said it has never been a practice of the NRM to exclude some people at the expense of others.
“Today you may be a diehard opposition like many of our leaders who started with other political parties, including the secretary general [Lumumba] who was in Pafo (Parliamentary Advocacy Forum). But when you cross to NRM, you are treated equally,” Odoi said.
He added that Lumumba’s behaviour and management style do not reflect the spirit of inclusiveness. Odoi said he was forced to write the letters because Lumumba avoided meeting him face-to-face and refused to pick his calls.
He said: “She does not want to discuss anything she does with me or other leaders. She does it according to her wishes. She does not pick my phone calls. The party chairman will handle it.”
Efforts to talk to Lumumba were futile as her phone was off. However, Rogers Mulindwa, the spokesman of the NRM secretariat, said yesterday he was not aware of any pay raise for anyone at the secretariat.
“I have, however, looked at the circulating letters purportedly written by Dr Tanga and I am yet to believe that he is the author,” Mulindwa said.
NOT FIRST TIME
It is not the first time Odoi and Lumumba have bickered publicly. In September last year, the two fought over administration, facilitation and hierarchy issues.
Odoi accused Lumumba of frustrating his work by refusing to release money to facilitate the holding of party primaries. Odoi requested and was denied money by Lumumba after Centenary bank blocked him from accessing the party’s electoral commission bank account without clearance from the secretary general.
Early this year, the two clashed again over a proposal by Lumumba to restructure the secretariat and phase out some positions. President Museveni has tried unsuccessfully to reconcile the two in the past.
ekiggundu@observer.ug