Foreign minister, the late Kategaya, informed me of the letter Kiwanuka wrote to try and get me in hot water. Photo: Wikipedia.
Harold Acemah.
[Aluta Continua!]
I have read with dismay, disgust and disbelief a Comment by Prof. Semakula Kiwanuka titled, “Uganda’s diplomatic service is in good hands” published in the government-owned New Vision newspaper of February 2, 2022. According to New Vision Kiwanuka is “a diplomat and an academician,” but frankly he is none of the above.
For Ugandans who do not know him, the New Vision opinion piece exposes Semakula Kiwanuka for what he truly is, a conman, a disgrace, a fraudster, an opportunist and a pathological liar.
During his tenure as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Uganda to the United Nations, New York, I was Head of the Multilateral Organizations & Treaties Department (MOT) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kampala. As Head of MOT, I supervised the work of Uganda’s Missions to New York and Geneva from 1996-2003; so I know Kiwanuka quite well. He is totally unfit and unsuitable to be an Ambassador of Uganda anywhere in the world.
In my capacity and role as Head of MOT, I was Kiwanuka’s immediate boss and supervisor, something he did not initially appreciate, accept and like, not because I was incapable or incompetent, but because of where I come from, namely from the Greater North of Uganda. It’s a typical case of judging a book by its cover instead of its contents.
Truth be told, Kiwanuka is a tribalist and sectarian. He suffers from arrogance, ignorance and poverty of the mind. How low can a so-called academician sink into the abyss of prejudice and moral decadence? He is the most unpleasant person I interacted with during over 30 years in the diplomatic service. He was a pain in the neck and left a shameful and tragic legacy in New York. Kiwanuka did enormous and irreparable damage and harm to Uganda’s national image and prestige.
On a positive note, working with a very difficult man like Kiwanuka provided an opportunity for me to bear witness as a follower of Jesus Christ and reflect his light in a dark political environment. In the “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus taught his followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends; hate your enemies. But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may become the sons of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil.” Matthew 5 v 43-45 (GNB)
During the 1998 session of the UN General Assembly, Ambassador Olara Otunnu, who was the United Nations Under-Secretary General, invited me for lunch at a New York Restaurant. When Kiwanuka learnt about our lunch engagement, he wrote a long and confidential letter to Hon. Eriya Kategaya, the foreign minister, about the matter accusing me of dealing with exiles who were enemies of Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party in the USA and hoping that the government would fix me accordingly.
A few days after returning to Kampala from New York, Hon. Kategaya summoned me to his office to discuss some official matters. Towards the end of our meeting, he pulled a letter from his desk and asked me to read the same, the letter was from Kiwanuka. After reading the letter, Kategaya sought my opinion. I confirmed to him that I had lunch with Ambassador Otunnu who is a friend. Kategaya smiled and told me not to worry, but ignore Kiwanuka. He added that he himself had met Ambassador Otunnu during visits to New York.
True to his nature, Kiwanuka makes several absurd, baseless, fake, wild and ridiculous allegations in his Commentary which do not deserve a detailed response from me. For example, Kiwanuka boasts that he was elected twice as Vice President of the UN General Assembly. That is a blatant and shameless lie. It was Uganda as a Member State which was elected Vice President of the UN General Assembly, not an individual.
Suffice it to say that Kiwanuka’s word is as worthless as the Zimbabwe dollar and should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. Contrary to what he claims, Uganda’s diplomatic service is definitely not in good hands and deserves a lot better.
Arua, Uganda.
February 8, 2022.
