By Aaron Sseruyigo
Uganda’s President Yoweri K Museveni on Monday confirmed the installation of Lt.Col Edith Nakalema as head of a new unit in his office dedicated to fighting corruption.
Nakalema’s appointment comes days since she testified about how being Born-again is the best decision she has ever made in life and how God has continued lifting her from “grass to grace.”
Speaking at a Parliamentary retreat in Kampala on December 2, Lt.Col Edith Nakalema said God’s calling upon any Christian comes with resistance from satan, whose “sole aim is to divert believers from their God-ordained missions.”
The retreat was organised by Workplace Fellowships Network, an organisation mobilising Christians to promote among others intercession in workplaces.
“The day you receive Christ as your personal Lord and saviour, you become identified as an enemy of the devil,” Nakalema said. “God’s calling has nothing to do with self will. It is not self initiated.”
Nakalema, whose parents were both ministers of the Word of God, didn’t think would remain in the army after training following her recruitment in 1998 while at University.
“I wanted work that would enable me preach after passing out from the army,” Nakalema explained.
She later came to terms with Military service, adding that it is possible to effectively serve God even when in military uniform.
Nakalema rose through ranks, as an Order Officer, then Pay Master until 2001 when she joined the State House, and “miraculously” served three (3) years without formal appointment.
Meeting the President
Nakalema’s credibility as Pay Master with the army caught the President’s attention, who soon summoned her to his office in Nakasero, in Kampala.
“I want you to clean up my office using the degree of Salvation. I am surrounded by thieves,” Nakalema quoted the president as saying during their meeting.
The president entrusting me with his office seemed far fetched, she said.
Local media reported Nakalema’s work as President Museveni’s Private Secretary at the State House to be “more influential” than the Principal Private Secretary who was her supervisor. Nakalema was last year sent to London for a one-year senior command and staff course at Shrivenham Defence Academy.
“Positive confessions and prayer will put you where you want to be. God chose me without any good quality to qualify me. We all study, but are positioned by the grace of God,” she said at the retreat. “The only power satan has is the power that we give him.”
“I went to third-world schools but know this, you cannot reach the highest level unless you have been trained. God was laying a foundation for me to speak to you today and confirm that He is able to do anything. Satan knows your destiny and will always use any tool and tactic to divert you. When God calls you, you have to stand for the truth. That way, you will over come,” she said.
At Kololo, the President admitted frustration at the pace of the fight against corruption in Uganda, and said Nakalema will be the link between his office and institutions like the IGG’s office that are already in place.
He said “the State House unit will not usurp the functions of the IGG, but complement it by enhancing the role of citizens and popular vigilance in the fight against graft.”
