By KT Reporter
Gender minister Betty Amongi, as was recently portrayed by fellow minister Kahinda Otafiire, is a natural bully who doesn’t mind discomforting others. And in her public life as MP and minister, the UPC first lady has stepped on toes and caused misery to many other people.
Some of the victims of her abrasive style have over the years included NRM cadre Beatrice Lagada who she fought and forced out of the politics of Oyam. Lagada was NRM but was still overcome and humiliated by the bully called Betty Amongi who did ths same to ex-MP Isha Otto in Oyam.
For unknown reasons, even Oyam Woman Santa Alum a fellow UPC doesn’t like Amongi and recently publicly warned Lira residents to beware of who wants to become their MP.
Okello Engola, the late state minister for labor, equally suffered at the gender ministry where Amongi was her boss.
For months preceding his assasination, Engola would stay at home to protest mistreatment at Gender house. He was very stressed and kept telling friends his docket had been hijjacked by an overbearing boss. He wanted freedom to regulate and supervise labor export companies but that would seldom happen.
Ex-youth minister Sarah Mateke, also now deceased, wasn’t having prime time at the Gender ministry. She was rendered idle with no serious work being delegated to her. She was as disgruntled as Engola. The same goes for gender permanent secretary Aggrey Kibenge who has ended up suffering huge stress just as was the case for Mzee Dorcas Okalany at the lands ministry under bossy and belligerent Amongi.
Even today, state ministers Balaam Barugahara and Esther Anyakun the state minister for labor aren’t exactly very happy. While at Kyankwanzi months ago, they told the president they were tired of being suffocated by their senior minister.
Inside UPC, members of the rival faction led by Peter Walubiri have also suffered endlessly for standing up to Amongi’s bonkmate Jimmy Akena. They say Akena isn’t their party president because he came through a coup. Amongi also dislikes them for giving sanctuary to her Oyam rival Isha Otto. The Walubiri group had to fight hard together with MoF bosses to prevent the Uganda House land title from being transferred into the names of Obote family. This was at a time Amongi was lands minister.
Parsis Namuganza also suffered a lot of bullying at the time she served as the state minister under Amongi. The two clashed before the land commission of inquiry under Catherine Bamugemereire. The Bamigemereire commissioners refused to be intimidated and went ahead to grill Amongi even when she was their line minister. The commission ended up being starved of funds to run its operations.
Rebecca Kadaga also suffered the wrath of Betty Amongi as she defended her Speaker seat in May 2021. Amongi had been a key ally but all of a sudden turned against Kadaga in favor of Jacob Oulanyah and she really went bare knuckles against the Kamuli woman MP who ended up losing her seat to Amongi-backed Oulanyah. Hajjat Rukia Isanga Nakaddama also had issues during her days at Gender where she was state minister for culture.
Peter Kimbowa, the good old doctor, also had many disagreements and suffered the Amongi wrath before he eventually lost his post of serving as the NSSF board chairman. The two disagreed on many things including the reappointment of Richard Byarugaba who eventually fell on the Amongi sword.
Moses Byaruhanga of state house also suffered the Amongi wrath when the minister appeared before a committee of parliament and claimed to have recorded him lobbying and trying to pressurise her into retaining Richard Byarugaba as MD for NSSF.
Amongi on that same day humiliated deputy speaker Thormas Tayebwa whose reputation she tormented by claiming that he is among those who summoned her to private night meetings trying to mount pressure on her to reappoint Richard Byarugaba.
She claimed to have clandestinely recorded Tayebwa too trying to peddle his influence to shield his fellow westerner Richard Byarugaba. That submission by Amongi humiliated many big people who were portrayed as favoring Byarugaba, their fellow Munyankore. She told the committee she was ready to play the recording for them but Conmittee Chair Mpaka Mwine objected!
Years much earlier on, the same Amongi humiliated Musevwni himself and his wife Janet when she defeated their candidate Rose Nyakikongoro for the position of chairperson UWOPA, which unites all female MPs in Uganda’s Parliament.
There was a lot of money coming into those UWOPA elections and Janet, who was the Ruhaama MP at that time, personally attended but Amongi had the last laugh as their Nyakikongoto was beaten hands down.
Several insiders within NRM at parliament and outside of it clandestinely decampaigned Nyakikongoro (even when she was more enlightened and therefore a better candidate) on grounds that, with Museveni ruling Uganda for roughly 30 years as of that time, Westerners were already eating enough hence no need to give them the UWOPA position. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
