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By Mulengera Reporters
During the President’s Saturday rally at Kabarole district’s St. Leo’s Colleges Kabura grounds, NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong introduced to the crowd two NUP MP Candidates namely secondary school teacher Ronald Muhumuza (for Burahya County) and ex-UPDF soldier Joseph Baguma (for Fort Portal City’s Central Division).
These were declared to be defectors from NUP with whom Gen Museveni was asked to be photographed. There were several other defectors who lined up to be recognized by the President-though they didn’t have that much name-recognition.
To a casual observer, the pulling out of Muhumuza and Baguma from their respective races was supposed to make NRM MP candidates Joseph Mugenyi (formerly of NWSC) and Alex Ruhunda sail through unopposed as Burahya and Fort Portal City’s Central Division MP candidates respectively.
However, the ruling NRM party hasn’t been able to declare them unopposed (and may never be able to do so) largely because there are NRM-leaning independents who have remained obstinate and have vowed not to quit.
In fact, Ruhunda (who has been MP for many terms) needs prayers because might actually lose or be defeated by Ronald Muhenda aka Omusoronia (who is NRM-leaning independent) and FDC’s Ajuna Daka. These two are powerful and are his most formidable challengers. One of them could defeat Ruhunda and send him into involuntary retirement come 15th January.
In Burahya, moneybags Mugenyi will win but still has to decisively defeat other opponents still in the race including Rwabuhinga (an NRM-leaning independent) and the ANT candidate who Gen Muntu’s party fronted. The duo is too assertive and have resisted pressure to bow out for him even when a lot of money has been dangled in their faces.
With NUP Presidential Candidate Robert Kyagulanyi expected to begin his Tooro campaigns this Tuesday, the local foot soldiers feel motivated as opposed to being cowed by the Museveni Saturday rally. They have resorted to propaganda, which has made the two defectors (Ronald Muhumuza and Joseph Baguma) to become cowed to the extent of going into hiding.
A rumour has been manufactured that they each received lots of money from the NRM camp for them to defect to betray the NUP cause and defect to the ruling party. Voters have been asked to confront them and demand for their share of the money.
Ordinarily, such defectors are supposed to be unleashed by Kyadondo to begin mobilizing support for Mzee while demoralizing hordes of young people left behind in the opposition. But this hasn’t happened so far in the case of Muhumuza and Baguma. On Sunday, they were invited for the 2-4pm political talk show on Life fm but they didn’t show up. This enabled NUP Tooro Coordinator David Rwamuhumbu to have a field day as he called on the public to massively turn up for Kyagulanyi’s rallies.
He got the listeners, many of whom are politically-fatigued young people, into believing that the duo merits being alienated as traitors because what they did (defecting to NRM) amounted to betraying not just Bobi Wine Kyagulanyi Ssentamu but the people of Tooro who had been supporting their respective MP races.
Led by Rwamuhumbu, the NUP supporters in Tooro, who are mainly young people who feel economically deprived, have resorted to blaming senior army officers Gen Muhanga Kayanja, Brig Nyarwa and Brig Kagoro as key Musevenists who coordinated the duo’s defection and stepping down from their respective MP races. Rwamuhumbu says the trio had a lot of money and mounted a lot of pressure onto several NUP flag bearers in Tooro imploring them to bow out of the race.
”We had a total of 158 candidates as NUP in the whole of Tooro and we are grateful that, even when there was a lot of pressure and money being dangled, less than 10 succumbed [including Muhumuza, Baguma and NUP Central Division Mayoral Candidate singer John K Kahwa & North Division Mayoral Candidate Fortunate Kwikiriza]. Majority resisted and stayed in the race even when the money and pressure was too much. This successful resistance was largely because the candidates knew the backlash they would face from the population and the ordinary people who are generally tired of Museveni’s politics of deprivation. The ordinary people know that the NRM is fake and whoever falls for their kiwaani has to be sanctioned by the ordinary people who will see you as a traitor. And I don’t know how my colleagues are going to continue living in Tooro side by side with the same ordinary people they have betrayed. I think they will require regime security besides the money they have got and the jobs they will be expecting after elections,” explained Rwamuhumbu who is now busy organizing for Kyagulanyi’s campaign tour.
“We are expecting mammoth crowds everywhere because our President is very popular in this region. His support remains undiminished and we shall be building on the votes he got in 2021 even when he never got the chance to tour the sub region because of COVID restrictions.”(For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
