By Our Reporters
The effort to isolate Dr. Abed Bwanika among opposition ranks has intensified with more leaders denouncing his controversial political approach. First was DP VP Mukasa Mbidde who told reporters in Masaka that the party’s disciplinary committee and NEC will urgently sit and reprimand party reunion coordinators who are using Bwanika to demonize fellow leaders. Only hours later Mukono Municipality MP and DP Buganda region VP Betty Nambooze also weighed in. Nambooze, who Bwanika has been demonizing including during the Friday Masaka rally, says the PDP leader must clearly declare whether he has now joined and become a DP member or is still leading his obscure political party. In a long social media missive, Nambooze wonders where Abed gets guts to invite her to come “and join us” in DP, a party which she joined many years ago and has a life time membership. Nambooze says instead of wasting time inviting more senior leaders to join DP to which they already belong, Bwanika should instead concentrate on bringing PDP members (if he indeed has any) to come and join DP. She says as a newly converted DP member (she says his conduct implies he recently became one), Abed should invest sufficient time in orientation in order to understand how genuine DP members behave. She says much as Mukasa Mbidde has his own issues, and he is someone she has publicly clashed with before, Bwanika was very unfair in the way he treated him in Masaka where he incited the crowd to denounce him yet he is the DP VP. She adds that she has a stronger political bond with Mathias Mpuuga (who Mbidde wants to oust) than Bwanika who is a recent entrant in Masaka politics. She says it’s possible for Bwanika to show his support and mobilize for Mpuuga without escalating tensions in the opposition ranks. She says her absence from such party activities is for two reasons including the fact that she remains a suspended party member. The other reason she says is because she has been bedridden having been attacked by security forces during the age limit fracas last year in Parliament. She wonders why Bwanika, a whole pastor who should be using platforms like the Masaka rally to pray for her recovery, is instead using such gatherings to incite people against her and other leaders. She wonders why Bwanika doesn’t emulate Bobi Wine whom he claims to work for and stop being antagonistic towards other opposition actors.
LUKWAGO SPOKE EARLIER;
Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago spoke out earlier denouncing Bwanika’s polarizing approach during the burial of police officer Mohammed Kirumira in Mpigi. On social media platforms, Ugandans seem to be unanimous in their condemnation of Bwanika’s controversial political utterances that specialize on demonizing Kizza Besigye, Erias Lukwago, Betty Nambooze and now Mukasa Mbidde.
MBABALI/MAKUMBI BITTER;
Yet there are other leaders that are increasingly becoming uncomfortable with Abed Bwanika who doesn’t seem to fear crossing the red line going by the derogatory remarks he made about DP godfather PK Semogerere. Discussing the manner in which the Masaka crowd tackled Semogerere during the Friday rally, Bwanika said the truth is such young people want to listen to only Bobi Wine and couldn’t tolerate less appealing speeches delivered by elderly politicians like PK Semogerere. He said because they have seen PK’s unpopularity with the Bobi Wine crowd, as reunion organizers, they are going to ensure Semogerere speaks real early in the day when the young people in the crowd are still patient to listen to such less appealing messages. Otherwise Bwanika says they have realized there is no way the reunion crowd can listen to such veteran politicians the moment Bobi Wine and other People Power celebrities like Sam Lubega Mukaku have arrived at the rally venue. This strange characterization of PK Semogerere by Dr. Bwanika has evidently irked many DP diehards on social media.
JUDE MBABALI RANTS;
Masaka LC5 Chairman Jude Mbabali, suspected to be another Mbidde man, has already showed his displeasure using the social media. He says Bwanika and Kalungu West MP Joseph Sewungu ordered for his political humiliation during the Masaka rally. Mbabali says even when he is the dully elected LC5 Chairman for Masaka, Bwanika disrespectfully directed his protégés Moses Katabu and John Sebuwufu, who were the MCs, to demystify him before his electors. Mbabali says he sat through the function for more than three hours but was never given a chance to say anything at the rally yet he is the elected governor of the entire Masaka district that was hosting the event. Mbabali says he requested to be allowed to just say hello to his voters and “this fell on deaf ears” because the MCs had strictly been directed to sideline him. “But because Sewungu and Bwanika are big people and powerful, I respected their illegal order,” says Mbabali who had to abandon the Makerere Appointments Board meeting at 1pm to quickly drive to Masaka to attend the reunion. This was a big sacrifice on his part given that Masaka road isn’t an easy place to travel along sometimes. Bwanika says Mbabali was disrespectful because he came late. However, this news website has separately learnt that the reunion organizers plotted to fix Mbabali after getting annoyed with his indifference towards their preparatory meetings. “He is the leader of Masaka and therefore the host but in all the preparatory meetings we had, he never turned up. Neither did he carry out any mobilization yet he has a lot of resources being the district chairman. He didn’t make a single phone call or even give us any financial contribution,” said a source close to Florence Namayanja who chaired the organizing committee. The other person who faced the Bwanika wrath and has since reacted angrily is Imam Makumbi, the DP Vice President for Western region. He was manhandled by the event security as he arrived for the reunion event.
MUKASA MBIDDE’S 2M;
Sources say organizers were uncomfortable with Imam Makumbi because of his closeness to Mbidde. Mbidde’s supporters are angry that their man contributed Shs1.75m towards the event but wasn’t treated courteously as in the end he got molested. Bwanika says Mbidde deserved this because he provocatively came late and insisted on accessing the VIP tent with his mob of rowdy supporters. The young men escorting Mbidde wore T-shirt with words “Mbidde: People Power.” Speaking moments after Mbidde, Bwanika told off the EALA MP and warned him to stop showing off “because you think you have some small money; we have seen people who have serious money but that’s now how they behave.” Bwanika, who the reunion guns now trust like nothing else because of his fearless character, assured Mbidde that they have the necessary political infrastructure to neutralize his group. Mbidde’s financial contribution came through MP Maria Kabanda, Deo Kiyingi and Masaka Total manager Charles Kirumira who wants to oust Kyotera MP Haruna Kasolo. The trio sent Lawrence Mukasa of Bukomansimbi who picked the unconditional cash from Mbidde. Mathias Mpuuga, who did much of the mobilization, also worked with Veronica Nanyondo to handle the protocol of the event. Tensions escalated when Katwe-Butego chairman Dennis Majwala (Mbidde diehard) was sidelined in favor of Nakku Musana of Nyendo Senyange Division who is Mpuuga diehard supporter. Bwanika has previously used his Saturday CBS political show to liken Mbidde to cold war-era leader Mihkail Gobachev whose treachery enabled western powers to overcome the communist bloc which his Russia led. In all this Bwanika is understood to be having his eyes on Mohammed Muyanja Mbabali’s Bukoto South MP Seat. For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755.
