Mafia talk is back and the engineer behind it is none other than the former Vice President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya.

In an interview with Daily Monitor in 2005, Prof. Bukenya alluded to a corrupt mafia group in government. Prof Bukenya had been traversing the country to popularise the cultivation of Upland rice.

However, he was also accused of having used the tours to hold secret meetings with soldiers and Catholic leaders, an insinuation that he wanted to become president.

Mafia Talk

Prof. Bukenya in an interview on NBS TV Thursday morning reminded the nation that the mafias are still very much alive in government. He went ahead to warn the new Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja to keep her eyes wide open.

The former Vice President warned: “I pray for Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja. I advise her to go slow because these people (mafias) are not ready to be disturbed.”

Prof. Bukenya went on: “The time I raised the issues of mafias, people ignored me but aren’t you hearing people talking about them now? The mafia group is big, it participates in corruption and will remove any tree however deep the roots are. The mafia group wants to take over the country. It’ll try to destabilize anybody who is sincere to this country.”

New leadership ‘arrogant’

He delved into the operations of his part the National Resistance Movement NRM and the new crop of leaders.

Prof. Bukenya blasted: “The NRM I knew was a humble party, a mass party organizing for the whole country. A party that was in discussion and not fighting. We were actually grooming leaders. That is suddenly sliding away into arrogance.”

He pointed out: “I was shocked that there was violence in the last election. When I saw that, I withdrew. I had never seen the NRM fighting.”

On the successor question, he said: “Transition means a successor, a leader that will shape good governance. Without a leader, what are you talking about good governance?”

Prof. Bukenya hailed the position of the party chief and the President: “We have a very strong leader in President Museveni. I don’t know what is in his mind because we don’t talk much, but he must be thinking about a transition.”

Lost chaotic NRM primaries

Prof. Bukenya’s anger boils a year after losing the NRM primaries in Busiro North constituency to incumbent MP Dennis Ssozi Galabuzi.

Independent Magazine reported then that the results tallied at Wakiso NRM district headquarters, Galabuzi polled 16,643 while Prof. Bukenya got 7,642 votes, and the third contestant Dr Daniel Kyabayinze got 211 votes.

However, although Bukenya lost, he went on to contest as an independent candidate in the general election.

The election in the constituency was characterized by chaos and accusation of voter bribery and inclusion of non-party members in the register which led to fights at different polling stations. For instance, in Namuyumba town council Prof Bukenya lost control and tore the register.

Chaotic scenes also saw a delay in the tallying of results as the agents of the aspirants submitted declaration forms with unmatching results from several polling stations. The returning officer and police officer spent several hours harmonizing the contest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd5gNoceQIE