By Mulengera Reporters
The victory of long-serving Makerere University Governing Council member Bruce Balaaba Kabasa has understandably created unprecedented euphoria among the voters and residents of Rubanda County West who have very high expectations in him. First of all, the residents expect that Kabasa will be vibrant and outspoken in Parliament in Kampala and thereby raising the profile of their constituency.
He is naturally eloquent and it’s expected that his outspokenness will create plenty of publicity for the constituency to the levels Henry Banyenzaki had put it, if not more. After the defeat of Banyenzaki in 2016 came Eng Dennis Sabiiti who didn’t do much to keep the Banyenzaki-era candle burning and keep Rubanda West famous, beyond just voting against the scrapping of term limits during the Togikwatako vote in December 2017.
Then in 2021, Moses M Kamuntu floored Eng Sabiiti and became MP but he too was lukewarm and obscure in his representation of the people. So, the just-ended NRM primaries found a populace that was frustrated and disgusted with poor representation.
Four leaders competed for the NRM flag for Rubanda West this time round. And these were Moses Kamuntu, Bruce Balaaba Kabasa, Gracious Tuukacugurwa and Oscar Nkotanyi. By the time the last vote was counted, Kabasa had emerged victorious with 26,302 votes (amounting to 51.48%). In the second position was Kamuntu who polled 24,576 votes (equalling 48.09% of the vote).
According to the results proclaimed by area NRM EC Returning Officer Monday Aggrey, the other two trailed with 165 votes (0.34%) and 51 votes (0.09%) respectively. A total of 51,094 residents voted and Rubanda West being an NRM stronghold, Kabasa’s victory in party primaries simply means he will be the next MP for Rubanda West. The constituency is largely rural and NRM has the unchallenged political domination there as is the case in much of rural Uganda.
Euphoric about Kabasa’s victory, the residents are hoping that their incoming MP will leverage his connections to improve service delivery, excel in Parliament, generally represent them well in Kampala and thereby setting a stand against which future Rubanda West MPs will be measured. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
