By Mulengera Reporters
After leading the National Women Council as Chairperson for an eternity, Faridah Kiboowa’s reign as NWC Chairperson was earlier this week brought to an end.
She was defeated by amiable and vibe-filled Anna Ruyondo, a close associate of the first family who is also the wife to NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong.
Even after clearly reaching her political menopause stage, Kiboowa still wanted the position and had no intentions of ever bowing out voluntarily. Hence the decision by voters to force her out through the primary elections that was held at the NRM EC offices along Kyadondo Road in Nakasero, earlier this week.
Kiboowa, as can be expected, didn’t take the defeat lightly. She spent the whole night sleepless and shed buckets of tears but that didn’t help change anything. Her fate had been sealed.
She resorted to claiming that she had been discriminated because she is Faridah Kiboowa. That didn’t save her and it won’t save her even going forward. The truth is that she was already past her sale by date in the politics of the Ugandan Women Movement. Voters were tired of an endless tenure.
On Friday morning, the vanquished Kiboowa took her tears to Kabaka’s CBS Radio whose senior news manager Alex Katabalwa Nsubuga interviewed her under “Nze Nga Bwendaba” segment. She vented out a lot of anger and claimed that she had been treated unfairly because (in her own words) the Odoi Tanga-organized electoral process at the NRM offices was rigged in favor of Ann Ruyondo.
Kiboowa, who serves as NWC Chairperson for Kayunga district, accused Richard Todwong of using his supervisory authority over the party’s EC and personal friendship with Tanga Odoi to secure a fraudulent win for his wife Anna Ruyondo.
She claimed that Todwong’s wife collected all the delegates for the NRM primaries and hid them in a hotel at Bwebajja. That she was denied access to the delegates and was therefore unable to campaign among them. That they were delivered in buses to vote for Todwong’s wife as Kiboowa trailed with mere 27 votes.
Kiboowa claimed that she complained demanding to be allowed access to the delegates but the party top leadership disregarded her. She says that’s how she ended up being humiliated by Anna Ruyondo, who is actually young enough to be her daughter.
She accused Ruyondo of greed reasoning that being national treasurer for NRM Women League should have been enough to satisfy her since she is still young.
Kiboowa claimed that, all along Ruyondo had no interest in the NWC headship position but only considered going for it after Kiboowa’s recent public presentation in which she revealed how a lot of money was finally going to be coming to the Council, which had always been choking on financial problems. “Those people are so unfair. How can they chase me away after I have lobbied and brought a lot of money for the organization?”
Kiboowa said there was no way a financially greedy person like Ruyondo would have been interested in heading the cash-strapped NWC without learning of the billions which will be coming to the Council coffers very soon.
Kiboowa explained that she personally is the one who lobbied for that money through President Museveni, who ironically happens to be one of the godfathers who raised and brought up Anna Ruyondo after the death of her dad Cde Ruyondo Lumumba, the NRA bush war fighter, who died more than 30 years ago.
Those who know the background quickly dismissed Kiboowa’s claim that Ruyondo is a greedy person.
“This is like a kettle calling a pot black. She too wanted to become the Chairperson of NRM Women League while heading the NWC at the same time. She was at war with Lydia Wanyoto for all that time simply because she wanted her position of NRM women league. Wasn’t that greed? Ruyondo may not be an angel, I don’t know her that much, but Faridah Kiboowa has no moral authority to brand anyone greedy. She has always exhibited greed for positions, which is why she didn’t want to let go of the position even after holding it for such a long time,” said one NWC member after listening to Kiboowa’s CBS interview.
The interviewer squeezed Kiboowa to explain what more she intended to do with the position if Ruyondo hadn’t removed her. “You know I have had my Hajji for 26 years and we are happily married with even children. I wanted to work with women councils at village level to sensitize women on successful marriage and motherhood. I’m 26 years in marriage and still counting,” Kiboowa casually said sending the interviewer Alex Nsubuga into sarcastic laughter. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
