On July 31, President Museveni appointed Dr. Nassan Mutembeya Tandekwire as a presidential advisor on indigenous cattle, and he is to receive a salary of shs15 million.
The appointment not only sparked outrage on social media but also shocked citizens.
Many thought the position was a duplication of the existing Ministries and roles of the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.
Among the discontented Ugandans who took to Twitter to express their disappointment was the Executive Director of the African Institute for Investigative Journalism, Solomon Serwanjja, who tweeted, “President Museveni appoints a presidential advisor on indigenous cattle with a salary of 15m. Wawooo. Just wawoooo. Your excellency, this is unacceptable.”
Adding to this, Olive Najjuma, the presenter of the Fatboy Show, said the appointment was increasing the wage bill but without returns on investment. “It is not even mentioned that the Qataris will do anything than see the cattle.”
“All these are ostensibly technocrats that the President could summon anytime to offer him guidance on any issues about indigenous or any other cattle,” said Fatboy
Adding, “so there is no need for adding another person on the payroll earning 15 million shillings to do duplicitous role others are already doing.”
His co-host Olive told Fatboy in response, “It is like me being the Head of News at RX Radio, and then you get a new advisor at the same station. You are duplicating the role, and the question is, why are you spending more money? If Olive can’t do her role well, fire her and engage someone that can do the job better,” she argued.
She thought the President would have laid off the Commissioner in charge of Animal Husbandry and replaced him with Dr. Nassan instead of recreating the same position.
In his letter, President Museveni asserted that he had acknowledged Dr. Nassan’s proposal to bring Qataris to his farm in Kisozi, such that they learn about the Ankole cattle. As a result, he was appointed a senior Presidential Advisor to earn 15 Million Shillings.
He also noted that his daughter is to coordinate the visit, which left the presenters wondering whether she would be compensated for the coordination.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.