Minister Onek threatens to resign over Nabbanja’s work ethics

KAMPALA, UGANDA: The Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Hon. Hilary Onek, has threatened to resign over the conduct of her new boss, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja.

In a letter dated October 29, 2021, Onek said that he contemplating resigning because Nabbanja has totally usurped all the roles of his office. According to the letter, Onek expressed that he is tired of watching Nabbanja with “displeasure” as she takes over all the work he should be doing.

“From the time of your appointment, 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 policymakers on matters of refugee and disaster management have been totally usurped by your office,” Onek said in the letter.

Onek said that ever since Nabbanja was appointed, she has been calling for meetings, going to disaster-affected places, and visiting refugee settlements without informing either his office or that of his deputy.

He added that “to my shock, my staff who I supervise are the ones being called for the meetings and not the line ministers. On 29th October 2021, you called for a meeting with the local leadership of Bududa without involving my office or even the area MPs which may lead to decisions being made that contradicts earlier and official cabinet position.”

Onek added that Nabbanja has also purged the department of disaster management, taken over the distribution of relief items, and caused interdiction of staff members without proper investigation.

He also accused the prime minister of halting the settlement of refugees in Kyangwali over a land ownership dispute on 5th October 2021. He said that what hurts is that the decision was arrived at without involving him, or any of his line ministers.

This website also understands that the conflict between Ministers Onek and Prime Minister Nabbanja started when the Prime Minister diverted Shs. 5 billion from the Shs. 15 billion allocated to the Ministry of Relief, Disaster Preparedness, and Refugees earlier this year.

The issue escalated and it was brought to Parliament for investigation.

MPs on the budget committee asked Nabbanja why she had diverted the funds and yet it is the Ministry for Disaster Preparedness that is charged with responding to disaster issues.

In her reply, the Prime Minister said that she needed the money to execute her plans to manage disaster-related issues.

Since then, Onek and Nabbanja have been in conflict up to October 29, 2021, when the disaster minister decided to put his discontent in writing.

In the letter, Onek added that he has worked with three different prime ministers, and for long, he thought that their constitutional role is to coordinate legislative agenda, lead government business in parliament, and monitor ministries and government programs, which is not the case with Nabbanja who he says that she instead “inconveniencing” his ministry.

“They (the past prime ministers) never got involved in the micromanagement of other ministries. If you decide to micromanage other ministries, what then is the role of the sector ministers who are supposed to plan, make policies, and deliver on the manifesto of H.E the president?” Onek asked.

He added that “if you (Nabbanja) 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 to carry on with your duties.”