By Mulengera ReportersIn his weekly popular newspaper column this week, former government spokesman Ofwono Opondo (not known to be among plunderers who become rich over night) reveals how he has been able to campaign and reach all the potential voters that have to be reached in just under 5 months, and without having a lot of money at his disposal.
Opondo says that, because of his good reputation and name-recognition built in the last 39 years of distinguished service to NRM, he has been able to receive voluntary modest contributions from old friends and well wishers, mostly people in government-the civil service and security.
Some have given him good will contributions by way of fuel, which has been handy in enabling him travel to the 40 districts, seven municipalities and six city divisions comprising the Eastern region which he wants to represent as MP for older persons, in the 12th Parliament (2026-2031). That, because they know him pretty well and what he stands for, Opondo implies that the potential voters in all these areas have received him enthusiasm, and his message too.
The reception has been so good to the extent that in some cases, delegates and older persons coming for his meetings have only received refreshments (a drink) yet this hasn’t stopped them from candidly sharing ideas and thoughts regarding things he must prioritize once he becomes their MP.
Opondo says that its now clear to him that many older persons (his potential voters) are displeased over the fact that their outgoing MP has been dull, quiet, non-consultative and generally not outspoken about their issues. That, excited at their immediate alternative being an outspoken and public-spirited individual like Ofwono Opondo, the former Uganda Media Center boss says many older persons have willingly offered to host him in their own homes, and totally at their own costs.
That all he has been required to do is to create time and signal his host about the most appropriate time, depending on his schedule and availability. Then once that time is created, Opondo visits, stays in the home for the whole day listening to feedback and ideas on what older persons expect their ideal MP to perform like.
Such host families equally provide meals, something which Opondo seems not to have expected given the extent to which Uganda’s politics has lately become extortionist and transactional. He confesses that these engagements and town hall meetings he has had have been very enriching experiences, from which he has learnt a lot.
Opondo also thanks God for the many years he has been on public media defending the NRM narrative. He realizes this has sold him well to the extent that wherever he goes campaigning, he has been motivated to find a lot of people who know him pretty well.
To many potential delegates and voters, the relentlessness and consistency with which Opondo has always defended the NRM has turned out to be a big qualification for the MP job he is seeking, as opposed to being a disqualification.
He observes that Teso sub region has remarkably been very receptive and complementary of his MP bid partly because many in the region now see him as their own, given his conspicuous farming activities in Kapelebyong.
All said and done, Opondo is optimistic for a landslide win during the NRM delegates conference slated for from Friday 22 to Thursday 28 August. This will be at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala and many other NRM leadership positions will be filled, not just Opondo’s.
Opondo says that the older persons face a lot of post-active service challenges which many of them are hopeful he will be able to effectively publicize in the National Assembly in Kampala and thereby setting a standard against which future older persons’ MPs will be measured.
His potential voters are also hopeful that Ofwono Opondo, being a forceful speaker, will strengthen and amplify the NRM cause in Parliament by taking positions that are pro-people as opposed to merely being a sycophant of the powerful.
Opondo is also expected to serve in a way that will portray the fact that such Special Interest Group positions are platforms to impact service delivery and amplify the ordinary people’s voices as opposed to merely being welfare-access platforms for the individuals holding such positions.
In his newspaper missive, Ofwono Opondo also reflects on the need to use the platform of being the older persons MP to demonstrate to the younger holders of public office the need to be more considerate of the older persons’ needs because the truth is that each one of us will age and become physically exhausted and thereby become part of the older persons one day.
CAMPAIGN FINANCING:
In the same piece, Ofwono Opondo reveals how he has been getting money to facilitate his campaign-related movements, feeding and accommodation in the 40 districts, and that of his staff too. He doesn’t have that much personal money because there is no record of him being a plunderer of public resources.
In any case, even if he was a plunderer, Ofwono Opondo has never held a position in the Movement, which exposed him to looting opportunities. He headed communications at NRM headquarters Kyaddondo at the time the party was broke and when there was barely anything for anyone to steal.
His experience at Uganda Media Center was more less the same because he served as ED for all those years at the time when the Center was starved of operational funds and there was barely anything beyond staff salaries.
At some point, a Committee of Parliament had to debate the circumstances under which the situation at UMC had become so helpless to the extent that basics like toilet paper couldn’t be purchased, and utilities requirements like water and electricity bills could equally not be promptly responded to.
In the weekend article, Opondo reveals how his modest campaign financing has been sourced. Shs5m from a UPDF General who called and contributed immediately after the declaration of interest in the older persons MP job was proclaimed. Opondo says that was his very first contribution in his campaign kitty.
Next was another Shs3m donated by a senior Minister whose identity isn’t disclosed for obvious reasons. Like the General, the Minister reached out and voluntarily contributed without being asked.
Another senior Minister rang and offered 500 liters of fuel, which Opondo says has helped a lot with his movements in the field. All these came within the first three months after Opondo made a public declaration of interest in the older persons’ MP job.
He is also grateful to MPs and other Minister friends who keep making small contributions, which he says have enabled him campaign and meet delegates in the entire Eastern region. Gratefully, he hasn’t yet encountered situations of potential voters or electoral college members asking him for financial gratifications in order for them to look at him favorably as a contestant.
Opondo is specifically grateful to MPs and Ministers who have been able to give him something, however little, even when they themselves are competing elsewhere and are having their own campaign races to fund.
He is also grateful to a senior Police officer who he says gave him a donation of Shs5m plus 100 liters of fuel during the last week of July. He says most of his expenditures have related to transport, accommodation and meals for himself and his campaign staff members.
Inevitably, he has also had to spend on buying refreshments for people coming for his town hall meetings, and also on running media announcements to publicize his upcoming meetings.
Ofwono Opondo’s experience illustrates the fact that value-based voters do still exist out there and it’s possible to run an effective campaign without being excessively loaded.
We can all be sure that, should he win as he most likely is going to, Ofwono Opondo will be out loudly castigating younger politicians who have deliberately chosen the path of commercializing Uganda’s politics especially inside his own NRM party.
