Museveni praises Balaam, likens Nameere enemies to HIV

• Museveni praised Barugahara and Nameere for their campaign against corruption.

• He compared groups that allegedly undermined Nameere in Masaka to HIV weakening the body's defences.

• Museveni said corruption in programmes such as the PDM creates resentment against the government.

• Barugahara and Nameere have been touring the country to expose alleged corruption and poor service delivery.

President Yoweri Museveni has praised Minister Balaam Barugahara and Justine Nameere for their nationwide anti-corruption campaign, saying the pair are helping expose practices that have fuelled public anger against the government.

Museveni made the remarks on Friday while meeting members of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Parliamentary Caucus at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

The President singled out corruption as one of the major problems affecting Ugandans and said he welcomed efforts by Barugahara and Nameere to confront it.

“One of the problems that our people are disturbed by is of course corruption. I am glad some people are trying to do some little fighting; that is Barugahara and Nameere,” Museveni said.

He then recalled Nameere's political experience in Masaka, claiming that groups opposed to her had attempted to undermine her during the elections.

“This Nameere, they wanted to kill her in Masaka during the elections. There is a way they gang up, misinform people; they are like AIDS. AIDS kills by blocking the body’s soldiers. So, these corrupt people; they start by taking over the information channels,” Museveni said.

He said government structures in Masaka had turned against Nameere and her allies, prompting them to approach him after the general elections.

“In Masaka, the government structures were all hostile to the Nameere group. But after the general elections, she invaded me at Rwakitura with about 20 young people and they said, ‘we have come to say goodbye to you. You will no longer hear of NRM in Masaka because your people are the ones causing these problems.’ Some of these had been candidates at various levels. That is how I became interested,” Museveni said.

The President linked such disputes to corruption within government programmes, including the Parish Development Model (PDM).

“So this corruption, where you have local leaders taking PDM money, that is how you get local resentment,” he said.

Museveni's comments give fresh presidential backing to Barugahara and Nameere's highly publicised “Expose the Corrupt” campaign, which has taken them to several parts of the country.

The campaign has focused on alleged corruption and poor service delivery in local governments and public institutions. The pair have made unannounced visits, confronted officials and received complaints directly from residents.

Barugahara, the Minister of State for Local Government, has used the campaign to scrutinise the implementation of government programmes, particularly the PDM, health services and local government administration.

The campaign has also drawn attention to alleged absenteeism among public servants, demands for bribes, misuse of government funds and the sale of public jobs.

During some of the engagements, residents have publicly named officials they accuse of demanding money before giving them access to government programmes or services.

The approach has generated considerable public attention, partly because confrontations with officials and testimonies from residents have circulated widely on social media.

Museveni has repeatedly identified corruption as a threat to government programmes designed to improve household incomes.