By Mulengera Reporters
More than 50% of NRMs who intended to run as independents for MP Seat, following their acrimonious defeat in party primaries, on Wednesday bowed out and promised to rally behind flag bearers. This was celebrated as plausible because it increases the ruling party’s chances to achieve its set target of grabbing up to 80 out of the 105 Parliamentary seats available in Buganda.
The Wednesday post-Kololo convention for Buganda was convened by new NRM Vice Chairman for Buganda Haruna Kasolo who had the full backing of powerful AG Kiwanuka Kiryowa and the leadership at NRM Secretariat. Barely two weeks in office as NRM Vice Chairman for Buganda, Kasolo purposed the Wednesday meeting to be a platform for the different NRM flag bearers and those they defeated in different constituencies and districts, to come together and get to know each other better. Kasolo wants them to find common ground and be able to effectively counter NUP adversaries.
Naturally, those who lost flag bearer races are angry as winners celebrate and Kasolo intended to bring them together to find common ground as they prepare to confront the National Unity Platform (NUP) whose candidates floored President Museveni and other ruling party candidates in Buganda in 2021. Of the 105 MP Seats available, NRM only got 32.
Kasolo invited different stakeholders and gratefully, many of them came. These included Ministers and officials from the NRM Secretariat, led by Deputy Secretary General Rose Namayanja. Head mobilization Rose Sseninde was also present and characteristically cajoled many with her persuasive speech. Flag bearers, who won the respective races to carry the NRM flag, came as did those they defeated. It was a large hall yet Kasolo managed to fill it to capacity. Big ones like Kiwanuka Kiryowa, Namayanja, Ruth Nankabirwa etc stayed to the very end-past 8pm.
You had people who won flag bearer races sitting and coming face to face with those they defeated-and who are actually angry and accusing them of rigging them out. It was originally tense but de-escalation prevailed as the day moved on as those who were angry and vowing to stand as independents listened to testimonies from senior cadres who years ago acted angrily, stood as independents and in the process burnt their fingers and endured deprivation and stigma for the subsequent five years.
Godfrey Kiwanda shared his very compelling story. Having become MP as early as 2001 when he was just 23 years, Kiwanda has stood for the Mityana North MP Seat for six times and has only won thrice. This means he was unsuccessful 50% of the times he stood for the MP Seat.
He narrated how he joined Parliament very young but ended up being mentored by some of the best cadres NRM has ever had. He spoke about being part of the promoters who founded NRM in 2005. He recalled being number 35 on the list of NRM founders in 2005 when the political space was opened up and the Movement morphed into NRM party.
Yet that same year, Kiwanda, a proud founder listed in the NRM records, was unexpectedly defeated by Dr. Gordon Ssematiko in party primaries of that very year. Kiwanda stubbornly remained in the race as an Independent. He narrated how he lost badly, remained with debts and got shunned by people like Moses Kigongo whose love inside NRM he had always taken for granted.
He told those in the audience who were planning to stand as independents because they are too angry and determined to spoil the party for flag bearers who defeated them to think and reflect on his story. He recalled grassing to the extent of struggling to feed his family. He recalled being incited by people who he later on discovered were just self-seekers. That people who incited him to defy the party and stand as independent shunned him and even refused to publicly associate with him as he campaigned.
“They would say we are behind you and we shall vote for you but we can’t stand with you publicly because we fear to annoy party leaders.” Kiwanda recalled the rally at Mutetema trading centre where Kigongo came to campaign for flag bearer Ssematiko and behaved as if he didn’t know him (Kiwanda) yet he had all along been his mentor and godfather as a young MP.
Kiwanda recalled how he struggled to meet the President to ask for a job and no one would even give him audience and aid him meet H.E. “My chance only came years later when we were in Lyantonde by-elections campaigning for Hon Grace Namara and the President saw me from a distance and said eeh my son Kiwanda where did you go? I was broke and looking emaciated. I humbled myself and said your excellency I’m dying I need a job.”
Kiwanda advised it’s important to bow out early and rally behind the flag bearer as opposed to bowing out only days to polling day. He said Museveni will believe them more if they bow out early-and don’t even waste time getting nominated. Cissy Namujju, who was the MC, called this seeking out “the President when he can still be found.”
Museveni assigned his Political Assistant Moses Byaruhanga to find a job for Kiwanda. “That’s how I ended up in Karamoja.” He served as RDC for Kaabong as he prepared to reclaim his seat in Mityana which he recaptured in 2011. He advised his audience to reflect on what he went through and think twice before going as independents at the time NRM and Museveni are struggling to recapture Buganda which it lost in 2021 largely because of multiple candidates as losers of flag bearer races insisted on running as independents.
Kiwanda ran through the statistics of 2021 and clearly demonstrated the extent to which the NRM defeat by NUP at Parliamentary level was largely a result of multiple candidates. He read out figures and names of NRM flag bearers who lost to NUP in 2021 because of multiple NRM-leaning candidates remaining in the race.
His figures moved many upon realizing how many NUP flag bearers won with less than 50% of the vote in many constituencies simply because NRM had many independents. He enumerated the 21 MP races NRM lost yet its cadres were the incumbents as of 2021. Currently, the party has only 32 MPs out of 105 legislators Buganda has.
Haruna Kasolo spoke equally well making it clear he will be working with everyone including NRM flag bearers and district chairpersons who didn’t support him for the CEC race. He called upon everyone to realize that NRM and Museveni is bigger than personal interests any individual cadres might be having. He urged primary losers to emulate what Kiwanda and Hakim Kyeswa did by bowing out of the CEC race for him-because they realized NRM was collectively bigger than each one of them.
Kiwanuka Kiryowa moved mountains with his speech and swayed many. Firstly, he assured them Kasolo was now the commander for the Buganda front and whatever he says is what the rest have to follow. He made it clear that even himself, much as he is a big man as AG, Kasolo along with NRM Buganda Parliamentary caucus Chairman Robert Nduggwa Migadde, is his boss when it comes to matters of “Buganda on Museveni” mobilization activities.
Kiryowa made everyone to realize that he had Museveni’s ear. He made it clear that he respects everyone in the audience because they go through a lot to win their electoral races unlike him who is occupying office merely because of one man’s vote-namely Gen YK Museveni. He said he occupies the powerful office of AG because he was voted to that office by Museveni and the day he loses confidence in him, he can’t be in that office anymore. He made it clear that should NRM gets floored once again by NUP in Buganda, each one of the leaders in the audience would lose out more than him.
Even before he spoke much, the audience seemed fully aware that he was the man who has the ear of the President. Leveraging on that, Kiryowa assured the NRM primary losers that whoever bows out in favour of the flag bearer would be recognized and deployed by the President because he leads a ruling party which controls all the groceries in Uganda. He made it clear that no one would bow out to serve the larger picture of NRM and Museveni and yet go unrewarded.
He even assured them there would be no need to see the President directly as long as he is available. Kiryowa made it clear that through him whoever bows out will get to hear from the President. He even promised to organize a meeting for them to meet the President and be personally thanked for their sacrifice and patriotism. Kiryowa made it clear there is no way Museveni wouldn’t be grateful to those who increase NRM’s winning chances by bowing out for flag bearers.
He spoke about the Friday meeting he and others will be having with the President at Entebbe State House. The meeting will be with all the 32 NRM MPs in Parliament and the ex-officios who basically are the 14 Ministers from Bugada who Gen Museveni put in Cabinet even without being MPs. Kiryowa said they would like to go with a list of primaries losers who are prepared to bow out in favour newly elected flag bearers.
Before Kiryowa could even finish his speech, the administrations issues’ desk, that was being coordinated by Lwengo MP Cissy Namujju and Hakim Kyeswa, was already crowded by primaries losers wanting to sign up. KK advised that they each indicate their respective constituencies, phone numbers and the flag bearers in whose favour they are stepping down.
An overwhelmed Kiryowa demanded they proceed to walk over to the podium where he was speaking from and take photos with the four CEC members who were present. They were also asked to take photos with those in whose favour they were stepping down. They were also given the microphone to speak and embrace the flag bearers in whose favour they are stepping down. Kasolo, the event convener, insisted that they declare that they hadn’t been coerced by anyone and also that they were prepared to campaign for all flag bearers from the President to the lowest.
At the end of the day, you had people embracing flag bearers from almost every district of Buganda, something which demonstrated leadership and a new chapter in NRM. Many called this turning a page in the way things are done inside NRM and thanked the new CEC representative for Buganda for hitting the ground running within just 10 days of taking office.
This type of thing, namely flag bearers and those they defeated being brought together to find common ground, had never happened under the reign of any of Kasolo’s CEC predecessors (namely Godfrey Kiwanda and Abdul Nadduli before him). (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
