The IGG, Raphael Baku’s decision to summon the other ministers named in the Chogm scam, comes in time to refute public claims of selective prosecution.

The decision to slap criminal charges against three senior members of President Museveni’s inner circle for their alleged role in the misuse of Chogm funds will probably come as some uplifting news to jailed former Vice President Gilbert Bukenya, and his legion of sympathisers. Remanded to Luzira Maximum Security Prison on Monday following the revocation of his bail upon the committal of his case to the High Court, a crestfallen Prof. Bukenya would be forgiven for believing that he had been singled out, isolated, and left to burn in the sun.

But as if to say ‘you are not a lone’, Acting Inspector General of Government Raphael Baku threw down the gauntlet by dragging Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa, NRM Chief Whip John Nasasira and Labour State Minister Mwesigwa Rukutana to the Anti-Corruption Court to face similar graft charges.

Mr Baku’s decision comes on the back of complaints about selective prosecution. Several constituencies including lawmakers from Buganda region have protested Bukenya’s handling. But beyond the curious timing of the criminal summons, which Mr Baku admitted yesterday had “nothing to do” with pressure by the pro-Bukenya lobby and everything to do with “completing our investigations,” debate is split over whether government is finally walking the talk on corruption in hunting down proverbial “untouchables”.

“This is not a question of crocodiles and small fish,” says renowned academic and politician Prof. Dani Wadada Nabudere, using the analogy famously used by retired Judge John Bosco Katutsi when he criticised the government for shielding corrupt powerful individuals from prosecution. “What is happening now shows that our systems are beginning to work. We are dealing with the problem of impunity of leaders.”

Prof. Nabudere was, quick to add, however, that “there shouldn’t be any favouritism”, and suggested that other senior NRM ministers implicated during the 8th Parliament’s probe into the misuse of Chogm funds “should be summoned”. “Even Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and Hope Mwesigye should go to court and answer,” he said.

The possibility of court action against Mr Mbabazi, accused of influence peddling, and Ms Mwesigye, who was accused of causing financial loss, may be as good as none following a July report by Mr Baku which exonerated the duo. Opposition reacts However, opposition strongwoman and FDC vice president Salaam Musumba said there was little to get excited about, arguing that the IGG’s latest charges “are just an attempt at treating symptoms of an endemic problem”.

“We need to look at the bigger picture of how theft is contracted and sustained by this government,” she said. “We should be talking about big theft and not big fish. These are small people; if he [Bukenya] was a big fish, why did the big fish cry?”

Kutesa, Nasasira and Rukutana are in no way small fish. The trio are reported wealthy businessmen with the political clout to match the depth of their pockets but in a country where the high and mighty have appeared to get away with grand theft, despite documentation of a series of graft cases, Ms Musumba’s sarcasm may not be misplaced.

Their indictment, however, may offer Mr Museveni some fodder to challenge those who accuse his administration of protecting so-called “well-connected” wealthy and influential corrupt officials. Luweero Triangle Minister Rose Namayanja admitted that “it was good” to see criminal summons slapped on the heads of powerful, serving members of the ruling party.

“This will certainly be a deterrent if the so-called untouchables are being touched,” she said. “For a whole former Vice President and then you have ministers’ arraigned in court? It is a sign that government is committed to the fight against corruption.”

Unlike Prof. Bukenya, who was dropped from Cabinet in May, this latest group are current members of Mr Museveni’s fourth term administration, a matter that poses deeper political implications. Are the three men now deemed expendable?

Former MP Charles Rwomushana and vocal NRM cadre argued that it would be foolhardy to expect a political fall-out as a result of the indictments of the three men. “Who among them can command 10 policemen on the streets of Kampala? They may cry, yes, but they are not that influential,” he said. “People have been complaining that Museveni’s tolerance of corruption was at 80 per cent, so now he is moving down to zero. There’s going to be traffic jam to Luzira.”