By Kassim Ssematimba
On Wednesday, Muwanga Kivumbi appeared on CBS FM’s 89.2 Emanduso where he was required to clarify on his earlier declaration giving an ultimatum of 30 days to so-called rebel MPs inside NUP. Within that period, they are supposed to own up to their mistakes, including being 5th columnists, and apologize to the party in order to be considered for flag bearership in 2026.
During the 7-9pm CBS program, Moses Kasibante a diehard supporter of chief renegade Mathias Mpuuga branded Muwanga a dictator and a traitor who had opportunistically sacrificed decades of friendship with Mpuuga in order to get favors from Bobi Wine. Kasibante wondered how Muwanga, with whom Mpuuga sacrificed the little he had those days and invested in his Butambala campaigns of 2012 at the time he had nothing on himself, could pay back by joining Bobi Wine to stab the Oweekitiibwa in the back.
Kasibante, a wordsmith of some sort, accused Muwanga of betraying the Ssuubi spirit which as of 2011, at the pressure group’s inception, was about identifying credible young political leaders for Buganda region. “We felt Buganda was becoming a laughing stock for lack of credible leaders and this is the mischief we set out to cure. We were tired of admiring leaders from other regions and we started Ssuubi to set a standard to inspire the younger ones in Buganda. Yet as of now, Hon Muwanga seems to have diverted from that ideal and he is busy paving way for the Rubongoyas to take up places even in Kampala Central where we have well-groomed leaders like Moses Katabu,” Kasibante asserted.
“But now I’m surprised to see my brother Muwanga Kivumbi, who I have always known to be a very intelligent politician, turning against Mpuuga. He wants him destroyed out of this politics yet Kampala Central, which is in Buganda where he is Deputy President, is being ring-fenced for a Rubongoya who in his own words says he can win even in Mbarara or Kashari.”
Kasibante demanded that Muwanga, who hails from Butambala like him, begins to act strategically by encouraging Rubongoya to go stand in Mbarara in order to increase NUP’s reach as opposed to clinging on Kampala Central which is in Buganda which was already liberated.
Muwanga pushed back and denied claims of being ungrateful to Mpuuga. He said “yes Mpuuga might have contributed something to my political beginnings but I too contributed to his and that is a record he can’t deny.” Muwanga didn’t give details of his contribution unlike Kasibante who went into details of how Semujju Nganda, who had never been DP but was FDC, spearheaded the Ssuubi level fundraising for Muwanga Kivumbi’s Butambala by-elections of 2012 when he first became an MP.
As part of his pushing back, Muwanga Kivumbi said even if it were true that Mathias Mpuuga was ever his political brother in the struggle and a fellow Muganda, he doesn’t feel bound to always be there and loyally defend him even when he willingly engages himself in personal conduct that is ‘scandalous.’ He added that there was nothing wrong with him backing Rubongoya as long as he was well intentioned and capable of executing the task at hand.
Muwanga went on to say that non-Bagandas had always been tolerated in Buganda and gave the example of Captain Francis Babu who was Kampala Central MP for an eternity without belonging to any clan in Buganda and Ojok Muloozi who DP used to front in Nakawa. He also referred to Nyombi Thembo who he said was a KCC Councilor from Rubaga North even when he was Mukonjo and not a Muganda.
Kasibante said all this was okay because even himself he isn’t against anyone simply because they aren’t Baganda like him. He said his best friend is Joseph Sewungu who was even his best man yet he isn’t a Muganda.
“But in the case of Rubongoya you people are just imposing him on the NUP people in Kampala Central without even going through any process of primaries yet there is our brother Lord Councilor Moses Katabu who is NUP too and has showed interest in the seat. Can you tell us about the criterion you are using in NUP to determine Rubongoya as the flag bearer for Kampala Central? I put it to you Hon Muwanga that what you are doing is dictatorship and you are making Ugandans realize that NRM is more democratic and more transparent than the opposition.” He added this could be a deliberate move by insiders like Rubongoya to indirectly do PR for the NRM to seem more acceptable than the opposition.
Kasibante also seemed to imply that Muwanga Kivumbi, who is the Deputy President Buganda for NUP and also Chairman Buganda Caucus in Parliament, should use his clout inside NUP to shield old pals like Mpuuga against having to face Bobi Wine-fronted candidates in their respective constituencies. Muwanga Kivumbi said there is no way he can shield people who have clearly left NUP and established their own political vehicle called Democratic Alliance (DA) whose founding he equated to a divorce by Mpuuga & Co from one political formation to another. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
