By Our Reporters
On Thursday 15th March 2018, Jinja East voters will determine their next MP between FDC’s Paul Mwiru and NRM’s Igeme Nabeta who are leading the race that has attracted five other candidates (Monica Christine Abuze, Paul Mugaya, Francis Wakabi, Faizal Mayemba & Richard Nyanzi). The campaigning started almost a month ago and the following have been the key players from both the Mwiru and Igeme camps:
IGEME CAMP:
Kasule Lumumba: The NRM Secretary General has concentrated on reaching out to cadres who had previously become disgruntled largely because of government unfulfilled pledges. She has been explaining those are failures of government and not just Igeme personally. She has sometimes apologized on behalf of candidate Igeme. She has also penetrated the hard to reach fishing communities where she has been moving door to door. She has for long been understood not to be on good terms with Moses Balyeku, the leading NRM kingmaker in Jinja district. But for the good of the bigger picture, which is the victory for the party candidate, Lumumba ate a humble pie and sought reconciliation with wealthy Balyeku who is also MP Jinja Municipality West. Her presence has also given confidence to hitherto demoralized cadres to work harder because they are sure there is someone who will accurately report their sacrifice and contribution to the President. She has also been instrumental in meeting and wooing opposition youth and women groups. Lumumba was also instrumental in emboldening Igeme to seek re-election after he was said to be emotionally very broken and therefore unprepared for such a very exhaustive political contest. Her entry into the campaign encouraged Igeme campaigners who got the impression there is finally someone that will squeeze Museveni to release the logistics for the campaign and sources say so far Shs300m has come to the Igeme campaign with Lumumba being the conduit.
Moses Balyeku: The accountability with which he has acted so far has inspired many to sacrifice even more for the NRM candidate. Whereas other campaign officials were facilitated with hefty sums of money, Balyeku was only advanced Shs10m by the Party Chairman and he has been very accountable in spending this money. In fact many cadres retreat to his DAXI hotel where he generously facilitates them on daily basis. They are assured of accommodation, evening tea, free meals and transportation. Candidate Igeme is understood to have been facilitated with Shs100m which got finished like pocket changes in just days because he had many pending pledges he had made personally as a politician. This prompted Igeme hangers-on to resort to benching at Balyeku’s hotel and the money man hasn’t disappointed. Besides the logistical support, whereby the likes of NRM District Vice Chairman Majid Batambuze and his campaign squad continue to be facilitated to market the candidate, Balyeku has also unreservedly availed his media platforms to campaign for Igeme. Reliable sources say since the 8th February reconciliation meeting at Jinja Civil Service College, where the President tasked him with delivering the Igeme win, Balyeku feels a higher sense of obligation to deliver the knockout punch against Mwiru. This is why he is injecting personal cash as if this is his own campaign race. He is understood to have prevailed over his right hand man Majid Dhikusooka to unreservedly work for the candidate notwithstanding their political differences. Majid resents Igeme since the September 2015 NRM elections at Kakindu where he wasn’t Igeme’s choice for the post of NRM Vice Chairman Jinja district. Majid campaigned for Balyeku who lost to Igeme. Some of the guys pitching camp at DAXI hotel are renowned schemers who are like a bottomless pit when it comes to demanding for facilitation during the campaign period but Balyeku has willingly funded every proposal they come up with and he hasn’t complained to anyone. Balyeku’s Baba FM and 4 months’ old TV Channel (TV4) are openly campaigning for Igeme while blacking out anything positive news about Mwiru! He has also been actively meeting Boda-Bodas groups amongst whom Mwiru was initially very popular. Balyeku has also surprised many by genuinely reconciling with previous foes like Igeme, Lumumba and others.
Hassan Galiwango: He works with the NRM Secretariat where he is the Director for Finance & Administration. He has attended a couple of planning meetings and vowed to deliver every coin that will be entrusted to him by Chairman YK Museveni. During those meetings, Galiwango who has participated in many close to call by-elections since the days of JPAM as SG, has also given very useful ideas.
Osman Ahmed Noor: This business partner of Hajji Habib Kagimu is a Ugandan of Somali origin and was chosen by a faction of NRM cadres to head the campaign efforts during the President’s 8th February meeting at Jinja Civil Service College. He is wealthy, committed and a unifier because he isn’t associated with any of the antagonistic camps characterizing the NRM party in Jinja town. All cadres that feel too disgruntled and can’t work with either the Igeme or Balyeku group have comfortably played their role under Osman.
Rogers Mulindwa: The NRM Communications Officer has also been very active in ensuring the candidate is communicated. He has harnessed unity by equally publicizing political activities of the different officials whereby he communicates Balyeku the way he communicates Kasule Lumumba who actually ferried him into the campaign. Rogers Mulindwa is friendly and very engaging to especially common people/the urban poor who are the majority in Jinja. He is a veteran on communication errands having started out as a bureau chief for Monitor newspaper.
Abubaker Walubi: The NRM Chairman Iganga has been available to give campaign ideas to candidate Igeme and has demonstrated unrivalled commitment to the campaign.
Majid Batambuze: The Jinja Mayor has also been active in the Igeme campaign except that he is too busy organizing an international meeting of Municipality Mayors that will be a weeklong event to be hosted by his very city of Jinja. Whenever he gets the microphone, he speaks well and creates enthusiasm in the camp but he hasn’t been consistently available.
Medi Dhakaba: This semi-illiterate is a talk show presenter on NBS radio and his shows (including the Sunday panel) are very popular. Having been connected to the President directly by Lumumba who ensured he upgrades to a brand new Harrier and posh house, Dhakaba rightly feels this is payback time to show his appreciation to the NRM party. He is openly marketing Igeme who actually is his boss at NBS which is the 2nd biggest radio in Jinja after Balyeku’s Baba fm. His outspokenness has neutralized the damage emanating from Mwiru’s Busoga1 FM which has been on air now for two years.
Loy Katale: She is the Jinja woman MP and naturally a diehard Igeme supporter. She was instructed by voters to vote in a certain way on the Magyezi bill and they are happy she complied with their instructions. This has, since December 2017, given her clout that she continues to use to market Igeme. Her only problem is being a relentless hater of Balyeku who backed her opponent Agnes Nabirye.
MWIRU’S CAMP:
Moses Bizitu: He is the Speaker Jinja Municipal Council and he belongs to the FDC party. He has been on many radio talk shows defending candidate Mwiru. He has no problem accepting invitation to talk shows even on radios that are clearly hostile to his candidate. And beyond radio talks, Bizitu has also been coordinating other media personalities in Jinja insisting his candidate shouldn’t be misunderstood. He is moderate in his approach which is why even NRM people listen to him with respect. He has effectively countered FDC-leaning independent Christine Abuze who has been telling voters Mwiru is an intriguer who fought FDC councilors in 2016 elections.
Mubarak Kirunda: He is the Chairman Jinja Central Division and he belongs to FDC. He is very popular amongst the ordinary people who fondly refer to him as Political Engineer. He is comical, rudimentary and crude in his approach just like Mohammed Segirinya aka Edoboozi lye Kyebando. The NRM camp is so disturbed by Kirunda’s rhetoric that they are understood to have recently incited ex-Town Clerk David Bashakara to enforce the defamation judgment she secured against Kirunda who must now pay Shs80m or risk jail. It’s feared he might be jailed in the last remaining days leading to the polling day.
Racheal Kalulu: She is the FDC women league chairperson for eastern region and she is a councilor in Jinja Municipality. She is a former food vendor and very good at morale boosting and noise-making at the rallies. She also easily mixes with the ordinary people on the street. She is very daring and can do anything including publicly undressing just to make her point if necessary.
MANY MORE:
Others include Municipality councilor Bernard Mbayo, Salaam Musumba who is said to have future political ambitions in the Municipality, LoP Winnie Kiiza, FDC Party President Patrick Amuriat, Norbert Mao, Nandala Mafabi, Bobi Wine, Semujju Nganda, Mugisha Muntu, Erias Lukwago, Betty Nambooze, Abdul Katuntu, Muwanga Kivumbi, Moses Kasibante, Sam Lubega and musicians Ronald Mayinja and Geoffrey Lutaaya among others. There is also Moses Kyemba who is a brother to Igeme Nabeta but has been campaigning for Mwiru and thereby creating a very big contradiction that has remained very difficult to detoxicate by the Igeme campaign machinery. Kyemba accuses Igeme of selfishly mismanaging their late father’s vast estate including forging documents to sideline other siblings who number 34 in total. For comments, call/text/whatsapp us on 0703164755!
