Busoga-The First Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga has delivered one of the most political exclusives in recent memory after declaring that she personally forced through the appointment of Milly Babalanda as Deputy Resident District Commissioner despite her lacking the minimum academic qualifications.
Kadaga’s revelation comes at a time of open friction between the two leaders, following a controversial National Resistance Movement meeting in Iganga chaired by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni which Kadaga was not invited to.
Speaking with unmistakable resolve, the veteran Busoga power broker dismantled any notion that Babalanda’s rise was organic.
“You remember government consideration for RDC or deputy RDC, you must have an A’Level certificate. I looked around for a Musoga girl to recommend. I found Milly Babalanda. She had no Senior Six, no Senior Four, no certificate. I forged the recommendation because I lacked a qualified Musoga girl. That is how Babalanda became deputy RDC,” Kadaga revealed.
The statement, delivered without hesitation, reframes Babalanda’s political trajectory as one engineered by Kadaga at a time when she says the minister did not meet the threshold for appointment.
The timing of the disclosure is significant. On January 11, President Museveni openly questioned Kadaga’s absence from the Iganga NRM meeting.
“I spoke to my young sister Rebecca Kadaga and asked her whether she was coming for the meeting. She told me she was not invited,” Museveni said before party leaders.
He further revealed that he contacted Speaker Anita Annet Among to clarify the matter.
“She told me that all flag bearers were invited. I called her again and told her Kadaga said she was not invited. She asked me how they invited her,” Museveni recounted.
However, Kadaga insists the January 5 letter authored by NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong was never meant for her category.
In a detailed breakdown, she listed those invited to the meeting: all NRM city chairpersons, district chairpersons, municipality and city division chairpersons, town council chairpersons, parish and ward party leaders, LC1 chairpersons, sitting district LC5 chairpersons, city mayors, and other sitting local government leaders aligned to the NRM structures in Acholi, West Nile and Busoga.
“I am not a city chairperson. I am not a district chairperson. I am not a parish or ward chairperson. I am not among those categories. This letter was never intended for flag bearers. Therefore I was not invited,” Kadaga said.
She added, “It was addressed to district and city chairpersons, parish and ward leaders. I am not among those. This letter was never intended for flag bearers. I was not invited.”
But beyond the invitation dispute lies what appears to be a deeper political rupture.
Kadaga reminded Babalanda that she once publicly acknowledged the role she played in her rise.
“One day she hosted the President and confessed that had it not been Kadaga, you would not have seen me. She said it herself,” Kadaga revealed.
In a pointed caution that carried both political and personal weight, she added, “I want to request Milly Babalanda to calm down. The wars you want to start up, you may not manage them.”
Kadaga did not stop there. She questioned Babalanda’s command of the powerful Ministry for the Presidency, suggesting that key functions are handled by aides.
Kadaga revealed that there are things that are not about that but now that Babalanda has raised the head, she had to do so.
“Even the speeches and research she reads are written for her by Faruok Kirunda. It is Farouk that has been running the ministry. She reads word per word. If you ask her a question, she cannot respond,” she said, alleging that others are effectively running the ministry.
Another issue, Babalanda has a habit of blackmail, she got that position becausing of blackmailing Esther Mbayo, she blackmailed her until she was taken to another ministry., because Babalanda’s job is just to to come to the airport to wave at someone travelling and even another one returning then you make a line and kneel down, Kadaga further revealed.
The unfolding confrontation lays bare growing fractures within Busoga’s NRM leadership, a region long considered one of Kadaga’s strongest political bastions. At the Iganga meeting, Museveni urged unity, warning that internal battles were hurting ordinary citizens.
“What I advise you is that poor people need unity among leaders because you are delaying their exit from poverty by not working together,” the President cautioned.
Yet the latest escalation signals that reconciliation may not be imminent. What began as a dispute over invitations has now evolved into a full-blown political reckoning, with Kadaga asserting her historical influence and questioning the legitimacy of the very leader she says she elevated.
