By Kassim Ssematimba
There is widespread anger being directed at a good number of NRM CEC-level bosses who a lot of voters think have over stayed in their positions and aren’t indicating readiness to quit.
These include Moses Kigongo the National Vice Chairman, Rebecca Kadaga the 2nd National VC and regional vice chairpersons like Singh Katongole for Kampala, Godfrey Kiwanda for Buganda, Capt Mike Mukula for Eastern region, Gaddafy Nassur the Youth League chairman, Lydia Wanyoto the chairperson Women League, Chris Baryomunsi the Vice Chairman Western region and even Sam Engola who is battling to bounce back as VC for Northern region. Engola had been there until 2021 when he was ferried by Jacob Oulanyah.
Some of these officials have been CEC members without a break since the party’s founding in 2005 and this is something that angering a lot of people in a youth-dominated country where the population is increasingly getting agitated and wants all the long serving incumbents out to pave way for fresh ideas.
But in a Friday interview, party ideologue Jossy Nuwabine, who has been defending NRM on radio talk shows as a cadre for an eternity, said in the case of some leaders, a lot of this anger is misplaced. He singled out Moses Kigongo saying there is a lot of history justifying why he has stayed put in that position of national Vice Chairman for the Movement since the NRA bush days.
Nuwabine says that Kigongo is a humble approachable leader and has always used that position to identify and nurture cadres for the NRM revolution many of whom end up being deployed by the President in Cabinet, government, security, foreign service and the party.
He says the other thing making Kigongo exceptional is the fact that he has never exhibited greed which is why he sticks to that one position unlike other CEC members who use the Central Executive Committee of the party as a platform to keep accessing the President to beg for other positions in government. Nuwabine says many party cadres are angry to see people who are already CEC members fighting hard to displace others for government positions at Parliament, in Cabinet and elsewhere in government.
He says people should emulate Kigongo or even Mike Mukula and be dedicated to serving at CEC level so that the party national chairman is able to consider other cadres for deployment in other positions. Nuwabine says that time has come for people seeking top level CEC positions to first understand what a good CEC member should function like as opposed to being mere fortune-hunters.
He says there is a lot of anger and resentment towards CEC members who still want other positions as opposed to being contended and leaving room for others to serve elsewhere. He says the party has many capable cadres who are way much more knowledgeable, more experienced and wiser than those seeking to dominate everything. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
