Mbabazi dropped, Rugunda is new Premier
Outgoing Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and his successor Ruhakana Rugunda (L). PHOTOS by geoffrey sseruyange.
When Mr John Patrick Amama Mbabazi took over as Prime Minister on May 12, 2011, he was so close to President Museveni that it was almost unthinkable that he would turn out to serve the shortest period as Prime Minister in his fellow Bush War struggler’s Cabinet.
Dropped on September 18, 2014, Mr Mbabazi served in the office for three years and four months, seven months shorter than the time served by the late George Cosmos Adyebo, who was appointed on January 22, 1991, and dropped on November 18, 1994.
The late Samson Kisekka and Kintu Musoke both served for about five years, with Prof Apolo Nsibambi leading the pack, having held the position from 1999 to 2011.
Mr Mbabazi’s immediate predecessor, Prof Nsibambi, liked to refer to himself as “a technocratic” Prime Minister, meaning that he was never interested in electoral politics. Never during his career did he ever stand for election.
For Mr Museveni to succeed him with Mr Mbabazi, the man many regarded as his star politico-chess player, analysts were divided on what the President was up to. Prof Ogenga Latigo, the former Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, says he did not know what to make of Mr Mbabazi’s appointment. “I couldn’t make out as to whether President Museveni wanted to retire or not. I now know he wanted (Mr) Mbabazi to play the loyal cadre he had always been,” Prof Latigo says. FULL STORY