ORDERED OUT: Gender Minister Betty Amongi
The family of former President Dr Apollo Milton Obote has ordered the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Betty Amongi Ongom, to immediately stop operating from the late president’s homes, including the residence in Lira City.
In a strongly worded statement, the family—led by Obote’s eldest son and heir, Tony Akaki—accused Amongi of using the former president’s home to campaign for President Yoweri Museveni and the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Akaki said the family viewed with “disdain and disgust” reports that Amongi was mobilising political support for what he described as the continuation of a military dictatorship from President Obote’s residence. He said the matter had caused deep anger within the family.
The Obote family further accused Amongi of allegedly insulting former First Lady Maama Miria Obote during remarks reportedly made in March, in which she claimed that Miria Obote had failed to preserve the Obote legacy and that she, Amongi, was instead the one protecting the Obote name.
“Betty Amongi and her team of NRM goons and sympathizers should vacate President Obote’s home forthwith,” Akaki said in the statement, a copy of which Kampala Gazette has seen.
He added that, with the consent of his brothers, the family was directing Amongi to cease operations from all of President Obote’s homes, stressing that she was no longer welcome in any of them.
The family accused Amongi of tainting the Obote name through what they described as mismanagement, alleged corruption, and the abuse of access to NRM patronage and public resources for personal gain. They said her actions were inconsistent with the principles and values upon which Obote founded the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC).
Akaki cited a message delivered by President Obote in October 1998 to the AMO Club International Conference in London, in which Obote stated that the mission of the UPC since January 26, 1986, was the removal of the dictatorship proclaimed by the National Resistance Army (NRA).
The Obote family said the struggle to free Uganda from what it termed NRM dictatorship was ongoing, and condemned what it described as widespread human rights abuses, including illegal detentions, torture, violations of property rights, and repression of opposition political parties.
They also criticised economic mismanagement, corruption, nepotism, political patronage, and influence peddling, which they said had become entrenched under the NRM administration.
Akaki further referenced the findings of a 2023 Parliamentary Select Committee that investigated alleged abuse of office and mismanagement at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), which reportedly found Amongi culpable and recommended her resignation. The committee accused her of writing to the NSSF board requesting that shs6 billion be set aside for projects linked to her.
He also recalled that in 2018, while serving as Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Amongi faced calls to resign over alleged involvement in land grabbing and was questioned by the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire.
“We, the Obote family, distance ourselves from such a despicable person and want her to vacate the Obote home,” Akaki said.
The rift between the Obote family and Amongi dates back several years. In June 2016, Akaki described Amongi as “a mole sent to destroy the legacy of the Obote family and the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC).”
At the time, Akaki was quoted as saying the family did not wish to be associated with the NRM government, adding that internal misunderstandings within the family had since been clarified.
Amongi joined the NRM government in 2016 after President Museveni appointed her to Cabinet alongside several opposition figures, following his re-election. She has since continued to serve in various ministerial positions.
On April 6, 2013, Amongi married UPC president Jimmy Akena, Obote’s son, in a lavish cultural ceremony attended by President Museveni, who reportedly supported the event.
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