By Mulengera Reporters
Knowledgeable sources inside NRM offices at Kyadondo say that Museveni diehard supporter Hajji Abdul Kiyimba is convinced that he will soon become the MP for Busiro East constituency in Wakiso district in circumstances not very different from what happened after 2016 elections when NRM’s Robert Kasule Sebunya, who had been number three in the preceding general elections, but still became the Nansana Municipality MP without going through elections.
There is growing enthusiasm inside the NRM camp that Kiyimba, one of Wakiso’s most populist politicians, can circumvent the popular vote and become the new legislator and represent the Busiro East voters in the 12th Parliament for the next five years up to 2031. Even when he had been number three, Kasule was made MP after convincing Court to nullify Wakayima Musoke Nsereko’s election victory.
Online videos have lately portrayed both Mathias Walukagga and Emmanuel Magoola, a NUP-leaning independent, as corroborating claims that money in hundreds of millions exchanged hands prior to the outgoing Kyengera town council Mayor declaring support for the real estate dealer who in return was able to ride on the singer’s popularity to emerge victorious during the Thursday 15th January elections.
Walukagga had weeks earlier been disqualified from being the NUP candidate in the Busiro race over discrepancies in his academic qualifications. But because it had become clear he was very popular, Magoola reached out and obtained the singer’s endorsement, which enabled him to comfortably win against Medard Ssegona and Abdul Kiyimba etc.
The video-recorded admission of all this political deal-making being motivated by money has left both of them exposed to extreme political vulnerability that could result into Magoola’s victory being nullified and both of them banned from running for any electoral political office for not less than 7 years. Voter bribery, which is a political offence, was the ground upon which Faizal Ssali Kikulukunyu’s 2011 victory as Butambala County MP was nullified, paving way for the 2012 by-election which brought the now politically-cracked Muwanga Kivumbi to Parliament for the first time.
In one of the online videos, Walukagga, unsophisticated as always, is depicted as casually bragging how there was nothing wrong with him being paid hundreds of millions of shillings by Magoola, a real estate tycoon, because he personally had invested a lot of time and financial resources to accumulate the political capital and popularity which enabled his endorsement to translate into victory.
Now strategists inside NRM believe that Hajji Abdul Kiyimba can be facilitated and logistically supported to file a court case in which it will be argued that the transaction the two accomplices have been bragging to have entered into actually amounted to committing bribery, which is an electoral offence. Walukagga doesn’t only claim to have received the money which motivated him to influence the final outcome through his endorsement but he is also a voter in the same Busiro East constituency (being a resident of Nabingo).
There is optimism inside NRM that a good case can be made before a friendly and regime-aligned judge, resulting into Magoola’s victory being nullified over commission of bribery, which is an electoral offence and both of them subsequently being banned from participating in electoral politics or standing for any elective position for as much as 10 years. Once that happens, Magoola won’t only lose his Seat but will also be prohibited from being nominated to compete for the same in 2031, along with his comrade-in-crime Mathias Walukagga.
As all that befalls the two Kavule-leaning politicians, Abdul Kiyimba gets declared the next MP for Busiro East who doesn’t have to be subjected to any by-election exactly as it happened in the case of Robert Kasule barely 10 years ago when then DCJ Steven Kavuma decreed his swearing in and taking over of office and reigned as Nansana Municipality MP up to 2021.
Strategists inside NRM headquarters at Kyadondo see Kiyimba’s impending ascendance to office as fait accompli and one that is much easier to morally justify because, unlike Robert Kasule who had been number three in the 2016 Nansana race, he finished in the second position behind Emmanuel Magoola during the Thursday 15th January polling for Busiro East. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
