By Mulengera Reporters
Several intelligence reports to the President have signalled the possibility of both Minister Haruna Kasolo and lawyer Justine Namere losing their respective parliamentary races in Greater Masaka.
Whereas Kasolo is seeking to reclaim Kyotera County MP Seat (which he held for 10 years 2011-2021) from DP’s John Paul Lukwago Mpalanyi who grabbed it in 2021, Namere is battling to become the new Woman MP for Masaka City for which NUP has fronted Rose Nalubowa Musajjakawa.
They both stand high chances of winning because of a divided opposition (in Namere’s case) and voter disappointment in Kasolo’s case. However, one major thing is standing in their way and that is intrigue.
Kasolo and Namere haven’t reconciled since the conclusion of the CEC vote at Kololo last month. Namere backed Moses Karangwa who Kasolo defeated-and she wasn’t alone. She had the likes of youth winger Rogers Buregyeya, who is also the newly elected NRM Chairman for Masaka City. Her father Vincent Sempijja, the former Minister for Defence and a very senior cadre of the NRM in greater Masaka, is also understood not to see eye to eye with Kasolo.
Besides being the outgoing youth councillor for Masaka City, Buregyeya is also a real estate dealer in Masaka City and is a very good ally of the re-instated Masaka City RCC Ahmed Washakie. He is an influential actor and a rising political actor in the sub region.
The Buregyeya/Namere camp’s activities and omissions could overstretch Kasolo and diminish his chances of beating Mpalanyi who has since left DP and defected to NUP which has fronted him along with Kyotera Woman MP Fortunate Nantongo.
Equally true, the endless wrangling with Kasolo is already overstretching Namere and luring her away from concentrating on the goal, which ought to be leveraging on the wrangling between Kavule-backed Nalubowa and Mathias Mpuuga’s DF-fronted Juliet Kakande who is the incumbent Woman MP for Masaka City. Whereas the Nameres have proxies in Kyotera, rich man Kasolo actually has even more allies in Masaka City.
Intelligence reports to the President have indicated that NRM stands very high chances to cruise to victory both in Masaka City and Kyotera once there is de-escalation so that the uneasiness between the Kasolo and Namere camps is brought to an end. “Both Namere and Kasolo are naturally proud people with a lot of ego. None of them wants to be the first one to blink and this is going to cost the NRM the once in a life-time chance to ride on the growing divisions in the opposition camp to rout out NUP and neutralize the Kyagulanyi wave. There is need for the two groups to work together and galvanise support to deliver victory for Kasolo and Namere because they are both good candidates,” says a concerned NRM strategist in greater Masaka who fully agrees with the contents of the intel reports the big man from Rwakitura has been receiving.
Namere was spokesperson for the Moses Karangwa camp and up to this day has maintained that Karangwa’s win was merely hijacked, a claim the NRM elections disputes tribunal investigated and found to be untrue. Even the thumping of Full Figure had a lot to do with the unfinished business between Namere and Kasolo for whom the loud-mouthed Presidential Advisor (Jeniffer Nakangubi) was a diehard supporter.
Namere is also suspected to be a proxy of some sort working in concert with some national leaders inside NRM who have always been uncomfortable with Hajji Haruna Kasolo. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
