By Mulengera Reporters
Nakawa Mayor Eng Ronald Balimwezo, who is also a founding member of Social Democratic Party (SDP), has disputed the circumstances under which his party president Mike Mabikke declared that SDP was no more and returned to DP. Speaking to reporters today Wednesday in Kampala, Balimwezo said he was surprised that, despite being a senior party member, Mabikke and SDP Secretary General Henry Lubowa didn’t bother informing or consulting him about their public defection at DP headquarters during the party’s weekly Tuesday press conference. “I’m not opposed to opposition unity but we demand to be respected as party members because in my case, I’m a big man. I was elected in Nakawa and I hold office but I was surprised to learn about the defection of my party president and Secretary General on social media. In fact at first I thought it was fake news and upto now I haven’t had the opportunity to speak to them,” Balimwezo later explained to this news website. The outspoken Nakawa Mayor said the two SDP leaders recently raised his profile in the party when they appointed him the overall SDP coordinator for the entire Kampala to replace Mubarak Kawooya who quit protesting lack of progress and returned to DP. “That’s the last time I spoke to them as my party leaders. I have only heard unofficially that they are going to call a meeting to get our views which is not the right procedure. The best should be the bottom up approach so that we move with everybody because the party is at the grass roots and not at the national level. The ordinary party members are very key in the struggle we are in,” said Balimwezo. “Any effort that leaves out the lower level members can’t succeed at uniting the opposition.” He said there are currently two most important actors in the opposition namely Bobi Wine and Kizza Besigye who everyone should aim at working with as opposed to being antagonistic to them. “Any united opposition efforts that leave out those two influential figures are just a waste of time. We must have both of them in any united opposition efforts otherwise it will be a waste of time.” He also said that ensuring that elected opposition leaders like himself who hold public office perform to voters’ expectation was more important than wasting time announcing and celebrating the return of Mabikke and Abed Bwanika to DP. “It’s about being relevant and we shouldn’t waste much time celebrating people who aren’t relevant to the struggle,” he said. Balimwezo added that more time should be spent on uniting and reconcilling people like Mathias Mpuuga and Mukasa Mbidde whose differences in Masaka could cost the opposition the Municipality Seat in 2021. “We have potential to have many such feuds which will cost us alot. Why should Balimwezo say he is opposition and insist on remaining in Nakawa to fight with Kenneth Kakande and Mike Kabaziguruka for the same seat instead of returning to Sese where he hails from? Those are the areas where we need effort as opposed to going to DP headquarters to celebrate the return of so & so.” Besides co-founding SDP, Balimwezo served in the 2011′ IPC where he was Secretary General to the IPC Electoral Commission which was chaired by Rubaramira Ruranga. He says he also worked with Abed Bwanika but abandoned him for SDP when he realized he wasn’t enthusiastic about a united opposition. Speaking on CBS radio this Wednesday evening, Butambala County MP Muwanga Kivumbi too downplayed the defection of Bwanika and Mabikke saying there wasn’t much to celebrate because what people want is the removal of President Museveni and NRM as opposed to the return of “people who are just looking for political relevance and how to win political seats in 2021.” He advised Mabikke and Bwanika to concetrate on having a meeting of minds with ordinary Ugandans whom he said have waited for change for more than 3 decades. He said it’s the people who matter and will always lead the way regarding which leader they want to unite under “like they have done for the last 20 years under Dr. Kizza Besigye.” He recalled that in 2016 leaders chose to unite under JPAM but the ordinary voters chose to unite under KB. For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755.
