By Mulengera Reporters
Speaking on Monday at a Kampala Monday function where she presided over the glamorous ceremony for the handover of electricity distribution assets and facilities by UMEME to UEDCL, Energy Minister Canon Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa enumerated people who have been very supportive and in the process made easy her work to deliver electricity and other related services to the Ugandan public.
Among those she thanked was State Minister for Energy Hon Sidronius Opolot Okaasai who is also the MP for the Kumi area in Teso sub region. Nankabirwa, who leads one of contemporary Uganda’s most cohesive sectors where there is least intrigue and cohesion is the order of the day, said that Okaasai is a senior public official who knows his stuff and has a lot of experience yet he is very humble and down to earth.
She thanked the President for deploying such a high value addition person to work with her at the Amber House-based Ministry to deliver energy-related services for the people of Uganda. Nankabirwa described Okaasai as a well-spoken leader who always speaks with extreme clarity and in the process making simpler stuff that ordinarily would have been hard to comprehend by non-technical persons. She said even when he is deeply knowledgeable, Okaasai remains humble and respectful of everyone.
The Minister from Kiboga recalled first working with Okaasai years ago at MAAIF where she was State Minister for Fisheries at the time the former civil servant served as Director Crop husbandry before clocking retirement age. She said the President must have used his intelligence to establish that the two of them would comfortably work together and move Mountains in the Energy sector.
She then pleaded with the voters of Kumi county imploring them not to make the mistake of dropping Okaasai in the 2026 elections slated for next January. Nankabirwa asserted that Okaasai is a national treasure as can be testified upon by all Cabinet colleagues. She suggested that Kumi voters must reciprocate the good work he has done in service of his country and bring back Okaasai unopposed to continue representing them into the 12th Parliament.
Making it clear she personally is done with politics and won’t be seeking reelection in Kiboga, where she served as people’s representative from 1994 to 2021 when she was swept and neutralised by the Kyagulanyi NUP wave, Nankabirwa promised to be available and ready to do anything within her power to ensure that Okaasai bounces back as the Kumi MP unopposed in 2026.
She didn’t rule out the possibility of driving to Kumi to help amplify the case for Okaasai’s retention as the Parliamentary representative of his people. She was also proud of the fact that her entire speech was broadcast live on UBC TV. She said this means the people of Kumi heard her loud and clear while making out the case for Okaasai’s retention as MP for his home area. She asserted that the whole of Uganda, and not just Teso sub region, will stand to lose out a lot in case a high-performing Minister like Okaasai isn’t reelected. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
