By Otim Nape
Outgoing Fort Portal City treasury officer Annet Pamela Kirungi, who for a long time has been a very good personal friend of Local Government Minister Raphael Magezi, is now the new Woman MP for Kabarole district (2026-2031) and she is only waiting to be sworn in. She became unopposed after Lillian Kobugabe, who Robert Kyagulanyi’s NUP had fronted for the position became lukewarm and lost interest.
Kobugabe started by controversially announcing she was vying on the independent ticket and not NUP. And this was at a time it was too late for Kavule to get someone else.
After passing off as independent for weeks, Kobugabe eventually pulled out of the race totally, a thing that enabled Kirungi, who in party primaries had defeated Minister Victoria Rusoke, to sail through unopposed.
That’s why she is only waiting to be sworn in and begin eating things up to 2031. She actually stands high chances of being made a Minister (in case Museveni wins) and replace long-serving Rusoke who has repeatedly been rejected by the people and lost elections even when she has the clout that comes with being a Minister.
THE UNTOLD STORY:
But how did Annet Pamela Kirungi manage to become unopposed so easily even when seemingly stronger NRM cadres elsewhere continue to struggle with opposition opponents?
It had to do with the extent to which moneybags Aloysius Mukasa (of FACCO) became disgruntled with Bobi Wine and the NUP party on whose behalf he has been serving as Rubaga South MP, having benefited from the Kyagulanyi wave that swept through Buganda in 2021.
A special friend to Kyagulanyi’s own sister Catherine Namuleme, Mukasa was rejected for 2026 and the NUP flag was given to the beautiful Euginia Nassolo, who previously stood on the DP ticket.
Mukasa refused to bow out of the race and instead declared media war on NUP and its Principal besides declaring his bid to seek re-election as NUP-leaning independent. At some point, he demonized Nassolo claiming to have paid her hundreds of millions of shillings in 2021 in order for her to controversially withdraw the election petition she had put in Court challenging his 2021 victory.
Earlier on, Mukasa, whose contact at Kavule all along had been Fred Nyanzi, had gone on CBS and BBS TV where he controversially claimed to have only qualified for the Rubaga South ticket in 2021 because he parted with lots of money. All this diminished his acceptability among key decision makers at Kavule.
In the end, he was disregarded in favour of Nassolo. Being a well-monied incumbent, Mukasa had many more other cards to unleash to undermine and antagonize the NUP especially after Mr. Wine banned independents like him from associating themselves with the NUP or even People Power brand anywhere. Kyagulanyi, aided by Muwanga Kivumbi, began telling voters to treat such independents (he called them traitors) with similar hostility they treat NRM operatives.
One of the cards Mukasa fatally played, to lethal effect denting the NUP brand, was to direct Kabarole’s Lillian Kobugabe (who happens to be his wife in Kampala) to sever links with the same NUP party. And gratefully, she had already been given the NUP flag for Kabarole Woman MP race.
He directed her to abandon the NUP ticket as a condition for her to continue qualifying for campaign funding from him. That’s how Lillian Kobugabe denounced NUP and indicated to the EC that she was staying in the race on the independent ticket.
Eventually, she totally pulled out of the race saying she lacked money to keep battling a well facilitated ruling NM candidate like Annet Pamela Kirungi. And that’s how the NRM candidate became the new Kabarole Woman MP on a silver platter, without having to compete with anyone.
And this is something for which Bobi Wine, Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya and the entire Ssentamu establishment got so angry with Aloysius Mukasa and knowledgeable sources close to them say, they will never forgive him for the rest of their lives.
The Kabarole babe pull out gave a lot of bad publicity to the NUP brand and fermented many similar defections in other parts of Uganda where NUP had fronted what Bobi thought were strong candidates against NRM ones.
As for Mukasa, he continues campaigning for re-election in Rubaga, where he continues investing heavily in having Kyagulanyi posters everywhere in the hope that such will one day cause him to be forgiven and re-admitted into the Kavule establishment.
Yet remarkably, Euginia Nassolo has turned out harder brand to sell than many originally thought but she will still win because of the fact that people’s love for the umbrella remains profound in that part of Kampala. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
