KAMPALA, Uganda – President Yoweri Museveni has dismissed his top aide-de-camp and several members of his presidential operations staff, a move that follows his recent public admission that corruption has “clogged” State House.
Sources say the president directed his State House directors to ensure the principal aide, whose name was withheld, “stops following me,” making it clear he did not want to see him anywhere on the premises. Museveni reportedly declared, “I do not want to see him with my eyes anywhere.”
This shake-up comes on the heels of Museveni’s candid remarks about a corrupt system within his office, which he described as “dead” and “clogged by parasites.” He admitted that some officials were extorting up to 30 million Ugandan shillings from people seeking access to the president. “People were paying money… so that their letters reach me,” Museveni said, revealing that arrests had been made.
Although it remains unclear if the dismissed staff were directly implicated, sources suggest the dismissals are a symptom of long-standing intrigue and political infighting within the presidency. This is not the first time the president has acted on internal issues. In 2023, he fired top commanders of the Special Forces Command after learning that his loyal aide, Lt. Col. Robert Mugabe Koch, had been sidelined without his knowledge.
The recent investigations referenced by Museveni have already led to the arrest of several senior State House officials, including Lt. Vicky Munaaba, who managed correspondence for a presidential adviser, and private secretary Rose Nalunga, who was accused of leaking classified information.
The corruption has become so pervasive that, according to the president, desperate citizens now bypass official channels and approach his family members, such as his daughter Natasha Karugire, in a bid to get their requests through. The ongoing situation reinforces public allegations that access to the highest office is often contingent on paying bribes to intermediaries.
