Three weeks ago, former Ugandan minister Jehoash Mayanja Nkangi appeared before the judge of the country's Commercial Court after being sued by a Kenyan firm for failure to settle a debt. Special Correspondent GERTRUDE KAMUZE reports

Mayanja Nkangi: His fortunes have changed dramatically

"I am a poor man. I do not have money, but the lord is with me," said Nkangi during a recent interview. "Of what use would it be to have worldly riches if I lost my soul?" he asks.

To many Ugandans, Nkangi and the country's politics are two sides of the same coin. From the 1960s, when he was premier in the Buganda government in Mengo, through Kabaka Edward Muteesa's exile in the UK and the 1990s when he served as Museveni's Finance Minister, Nkangi has always been at centrestage of the country's political life.

Yet, politics does not seem to have benefited him the way it has enriched others. He attributes this to his "up front" way of doing things.

"Throughout my years of service, I have craved for money, but only for that which comes through the front door," says Nkangi. He has resisted the temptation to allow any in through the back door.

When he says he is hard up, it is easy to believe him. Three weeks ago, Nkangi, now in his 70s, appeared before the judge of the Commercial Court after being sued by a Kenyan firm for failure to settle a debt.

Portland Cement Industries sued him for failure to settle a bill for cement he bought on credit a few years ago. Appearing before the Commercial Court in Kampala, Nkangi said that since he left the government, he had been unemployed and was trying to get a job to enable him to pay off the debt.

Speaking to The EastAfrican, Nkangi said he was setting up an export business while at the same time attempting to revive his law practice.

Nkangi entered into a contract with Portland for supply of cement worth Ush30 million ($17,000). The cement was supplied to Nkangi, who made a part payment, leaving a balance that he has so far failed to pay. Nkangi says he made part payment of Ush10 million ($5,700) leaving a balance of Ush20 million ($11,300).

He told the court that he was willing to make proposals to settle the matter and pay within a period of 10 months. The court has since ordered the two parties to meet and arrive at a comprehensive settlement. 

In spite of his current financial situation, Nkangi remains a household name in Uganda, not only because of being a party leader and one of the longest serving ministers in Museveni's government, but also for some of the controversial laws which parliament passed during his term as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

One such law, authorising the controversial 2000 referendum on political systems, which was passed without the required quorum in the House, on the grounds that enough MPs had signed the register.

He is also remembered for the way he intervened to solve the crisis in the Buganda kingdom in 1998, when three princesses disowned the Kabaka, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi. "I have the Will of Sir Edward Muteesa in my possession, and when the time comes I shall produce it," he said, during the height of the debate about the parentage of the king.

Nkangi went to the prestigious King's College, Budo, and Oxford University in the UK before starting his legal practice in Kampala in 1959.

At independence, he was one of the few educated Ugandans, and thus his appointment as a minister in the first government did not come as a surprise.

The new government was a coalition between the Buganda kingdom ruled by Sir Edward Muteesa II and the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) of Apollo Milton Obote.

How could a man with such a CV claim to be poor? The answer from Nkangi, Museveni's minister for 15 years, 1986-2001, is simple: "As long as I am still alive, the lord has a reason for that and he will provide for me." Nkangi is a born-again Christian. He said one deal to waive taxes on imports for a businessman that he turned down when still finance minister still haunts him, several years later.

Between 1962 and 1963, Nkangi was Minister of Economic Affairs in charge of East African Affairs. Later, he became minister in charge of the combined Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 

In 1964, he became the prime minister of the Buganda Kingdom, a post he held until 1994, when Joseph Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogerere was appointed to the position.

This is the post Nkangi was holding during the 1966 crisis in Buganda, when central government troops attacked the seat of the Buganda kingdom in Mengo, forcing Kabaka Edward Muteesa II to flee into exile in Britain, where he died in 1969 of poisoning. 

Two weeks after the attack on Buganda, Nkangi followed his master to into exile.

"I did not have money and I did not have a job," says Nkangi. "I depended on handouts from well-wishers."

For a full year, qualified as he was, Mayanja had no employment in London. He realised that he was not being shortlisted because of his rich CV. "My problem was that I was a former prime minister in Buganda kingdom and a minister, so no one was ready to employ me," says Nkangi.

After a year, he landed a job as a research fellow to Alisdare Macbean, a lecturer at the University of Lancaster.

It was a turning point for Nkangi. Six months into his new job, he became a lecturer in Monetary Economics at the same university. It was during his years at the university that Idi Amin overthrew Obote.

"I decided to come back home in spite of an offer by the university to increase my pay," he said, adding that although he was enjoying his work there, he used to cry whenever he remembered the desecration of the kingdom. 

During Amin's eight-year rule, Nkangi kept a low profile at his law firm on Kampala's Nkrumah Road. If it were not for one of Amin's agents, who kept following him around, he would have found all this perfect. This does not mean he condoned Amin's misrule.

Mayanja says that the security agent came to his office thrice, trying to pin him down. The first time the woman came, she asked about the portrait of Sir Edward Muteesa in his office.

Mayanja's answer was simple: Muteesa was part of his history and culture. 

The second time, Nkangi was asked if he was no longer interested in being a minister. This time, the former Katikiro's answer was that since he had been a minister earlier, others should also get the opportunity to serve.

The third and last time, the woman asked about what he thought about Amin's killings. "My answer was that being the president of a country is not an easy task." The system gave up.

Nkangi bounced back into the limelight in 1980 after the fall of Idi Amin. He formed a political party, the Conservative Party (CP), that participated in the 1980 general election alongside the Democratic Party (DP) of Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere, UPC and the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) of Yoweri Museveni. CP drew most of its support from traditionalists who wanted a return to federalism. 

CP did not do well in the elections, but did not "go to the bush" like Museveni's movements. Nkangi went back to legal practice on Nkrumah Road until the 1985 coup that overthrew Obote's second government. Days after the overthrow of Obote, he heard over the radio that he had been appointed Minister of Labour.

He was not prepared for it, but would he turn it down?

He feared for his life, and he was warned against turning down the post. When called upon to be sworn in, he attended the ceremony but did not take the oath.

The Chief Justice, Allen Peter, performed the swearing-in ceremony. He was later to tell Nkangi that he admired his courage. However, this was shortlived as a week later, a soldier came to his office and told him he had to attend another swearing-in ceremony.

This time, Nkangi went along quietly and was duly sworn in as Minister of Labour. He says he accepted the post under duress, holding it for only three months – the government fell to the National Resistance Movement of Yoweri Museveni in 1986.

Being an economist, Nkangi enjoyed his post but did not like its political aspects. Between 1986 and 2001, when President Museveni dropped him after the presidential election of March, he served in numerous powerful offices.

For example, between 1986 and 1989, he was the Minister of Education, before moving to the powerful Ministry of Planning, where he stayed until 1992. Between 1992 and 1998, Nkangi was the Minister of the merged ministries of Finance and Planning. The 1998 reshuffle took him to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.