By Mulengera Reporters
Since 1994, Anifa Kawooya Bangirana hasn’t done any other job apart from being a Parliamentary representative of her people. A blue-eyed girl of Mawogola kingmaker Sam Kahamba Kutesa, Kawooya has dominated area politics since the days of CA in 1994 (when it was still part of larger Masaka district).
Having served as woman representative for all these years, Kawooya has now turned her eyes on Mawogola South which is the most urbane part of Sembabule district given its proximity to opposition-dominated Masaka. She is also giving way to Kutesa’s daughter, Mrs. Musherure, who NRM supporters say is the one coming for woman MP post. She is fully in Sembabule managing her dad’s Mbabule fm as she reaches out to the community. Mulengera News understands when time comes and he finally exits the political stage, she is the one Kutesa (MP now for 40 years counting from 1980) wants to gradually take his position in the politics of Uganda and carry on the family legacy.
For starters, the Kutesa family has politically been very active much earlier before even Museveni became President as SK himself was among those DP legislators Milton Obote wouldn’t afford ignoring as early as 1980. Word on the grapevine is that as he prepared for elections in 1986, SK was number one on the list of those DP diehards Milton Obote had vowed to woo over to his UPC.
But Kawooya’s relocation from harder Woman MP Seat to “easier” Mawogola South is bound to boomerang because the incumbent Joseph Sekabito Kitayimba (fellow NRM) isn’t easily letting go and has prepared to go down fighting as opposed to just giving way to Kawooya who claims to be more senior.
The other even bigger hurdle Kawooya must surmount is the advent of People Power Movement which has created a tornado-like wave in the constituency leveraging on its peri-urban character. Former Makerere students leader Faizal Muyiga Kisiki, the area PP coordinator recently led a large delegation to Magere political command center where Bobi Wine commissioned and urged them to go and work even harder.
They returned with photos and videos which reenergized those who weren’t lucky to travel to Kampala. The resultant mobilization made political space for Kawooya shrink in the constituency and she has since resorted to blaming other leaders in the district for not doing enough to constrain the growth of the PP cancer in what has always been an NRM stronghold.
One of the victims of this blame game was the area RDC Mathias Kintu Musoke whose supporters say was maliciously transferred after Kawooya considered him unsuitable for the job for not being hard enough on PP adherents. Upon overcoming Kintu, considered by her camp to be a saboteur, Kawooya now opted to do the job ousting PP herself. Consequently, some of those that had initially embraced PP developed cold feet having seen how a whole RDC was overcome so easily for Kawooya’s appeasement. Her supporters went as far as threatening they have police and majje to deal with any PP adherents that dare cause any trouble by standing in her way to ensure NRM retains Mawogola South. Knowledgeable sources say the RDC, who Kawooya blamed for not doing enough, tried his best but couldn’t go far because PP is an amorphous thing whose political nucleus in any geographical locality is very hard to trace.
KAWOOYA GOES BAREKNUCKLES
On Friday 28th June 2019, Kawooya (said to be among Uganda’s wealthiest female MPs) flamboyantly attended prayers at Kyabajanja mosque where she roared like never before. She warned residents and the Muslim flock not to dare associate with PP because it’s a group of mere lumpens out to waste people’s time. Saying unless they stand up and actively reject PP area residents were headed for big political trouble, Kawooya specifically targeted PP’s Zaitun Babikola who wants to replace her as Sembabule woman MP in 2021. The way she roared scared the girl’s parents who even feared to sleep in their house that day. They scattered and fled the village for a full week fearing the majje would come for them. Some young men stood up to her demanding to know why she was commencing early overt campaigning despite the EC’s earlier warning prohibiting such conduct.
Some of her diehard supporters have threatened PP supporters with jail and death adding that Muyiga on whom they are counting as the PP Coordinator is a nobody compared to Anifa Kawooya who is a renowned political lioness in the entire greater Masaka.
Saying he won’t be intimidated, Muyiga has since abandoned his Kampala restaurant businesses and pitched camp in Sembabule where he has vowed to make debate on Anifa Kawooya’s disputed academic qualifications a campaign issue.
Overlooking threats from the new overzealous RDC Nickson Kabuye, Muyiga has continued using his Kisiki Foundation to mobilize residents into groups to mobilize for charity, sports and development initiatives as they wait for 2021 when he intends to run for Mawogola South MP Seat which Kawooya too is eyeing. Among other things, the Foundation is also offering free legal services, water and sanitation projects for the much-deprived community in the constituency.
To evade harassment by the majje, much of the anti-Kawooya effort is being coordinated electronically using a Facebook page going by the names of Ssembabule News Blog. It’s here that 1000s of Sembabule youths virtually converge to scrutinize Kawooya’s past track record as MP for the last 25 years. The most hilarious post recently was by a defector from Kawooya’s camp whose missive focused on the 14 reasons why the long-serving Hajjat isn’t electable anymore. In the free discussion that followed some went as far as branding her the political dynaso urging her not to dare seek reelection. In the alternative they urged her to at least get one of her children, if she has any, to come and stand for the MP Seat and not herself.
Some of the reasons diminishing Kawooya’s electability include the Mitete Tailoring School that collapsed; Mitete Maize Mill business that collapsed and the premises became NRM office. One of the commentators listed projects in which Kawooya injected money during public functions in day time only for some people claiming to be her supporters to return at night to forcefully take away the money. They also reflected on some young people who have taken her to court after failing to graduate at her Nursing school.
NIFA Royal Motel (NRM), Nasaam Nursing School, Vocational School at Muganga’s place in Rwebitakuri, the Coffee seedlings project in Ntete and Ntete wielding business were given as some of the examples of the badly flopped community initiatives Kawooya started.
Others are Ntete High School and Kenziga High School. In what is clearly aimed at disorganizing her emotionally and push her into making political blunders including fighting her own inner circle, the PP boys are also claiming to be spying on Kawooya through some of her own disgruntled maids now working as proxies to bring her down. That they have recordings of some of her former maids exposing her best kept dirty secrets as a person. Muyiga also claims to have a one Lubega from whom Kawooya bought a building sometime back at Shs8m but kept a balance of Shs3m. All said and done, Mawogola South is one part of Sembabule which even President Museveni can’t take for granted because even in 2016, Col Kizza Besigye floored him at many polling stations. This was actually unprecedented and its something that must make NRM strategists nervous given the new momentum Mr. Wine’s PP has ignited. (For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755 or email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).
