Ugandans question Janet Museveni's academic record

A day after State House planted a story in the Sunday Vision on the academic papers of Colonel Kizza Besigye, calls are growing by Ugandans eager to know the academic record of the First Lady and candidate for Ruhaama country seat, Janet Museveni.

Mrs. Museveni completed a Bachelors of Arts degree in Education in 1997 under circumstances that are raising questions about how fit she is to be a parliamentary candidate.

The Uganda Peoples's ongress (UPC) threatened last December to sue Makerere University for awarding her the degree when she did not do any teaching practice in any school.

The degree is awarded only after undergraduate students have completed their teaching practice.

Other voices are questioning even her academic performance at the university. Mrs. Museveni used to take her lectures at State House and some sources close to the system say she was a poor performer.

At Bweranyangye Girls' School, she is said to have been one of the dullest girls in her class and at the end of the term she was sometimes the last.

This is why she does not like associating with women who were her contemporaries at school, because they know that she was empty-headed.

After she failed her O'Level exams, her cousin John Kazzora took her to Europe for a secretarial course but even there she did not do well.

In 2001 when she attacked Winnie Byanyima saying Byanyima should have her head checked, Byanyima shot back saying she does not have the time to discuss with people who are "intellectually limited."

Sources say that comment by Byanyima hurt Janet so much and that is one of the reasons why she decided to stand in Ruhaama to prove that she is not an empty head.

One of the problems in her marriage is that Museveni sees her as to blame because their children have turned out dense like their mother.

The worst performer was Natasha Byanyima who had to be pushed through school at Kampala Parents' primary school and Namagunga Girls' where she dropped out after S.4.