By Our Reporters
All isn’t well for Nansana Municipality MP Robert Kasule Sebunya who got the seat only a few months ago after Justice Stephen Kavuma’s Court of Appeal (then) controversially kicked out DP’s Wakayima Nsereko and ordered for Sebunya’s swearing in ceremony. Sebunya had been area MP (as Kyaddondo North) since the death of his father Dr. Israel Kibirige Sebunya in 2008. He came through a by-election and later went on to win the 2011 elections. In 2016, the area was elevated to a municipality and those wishing Sebunya well unsuccessfully tried to get Museveni endorse the creation of two constituencies whereby the two rural sub counties of Busukuma and Gombe would remain as Kyaddondo North co-existing with Nansana municipality as another constituency. However, the NRM giants in Wakiso district, who rightly feared that a re-elected Kasule in 10th Parliament would increase competition for Ministerial positions when it comes to sharing Museveni’s political bread, worked hard to ensure the two pro-Kasule rural Sub Counties remained part of populous Nansana and Nabweru to make one constituency. Kasule would have been sure of a win if a situation similar to Kyaddondo East had prevailed. In Kyaddondo East, whose MP was Semujju Nganda, two constituencies were created namely Kiira Municipality and Kyaddondo East now of Bobi Wine. In the 2016 general elections, Kasule who as before faced multiple opposition candidates lost to Wakayima whose victory he successfully challenged in Court. Kasule’s supporters claimed that his adversaries within NRM worked with the Wakiso Returning Officer to ensure he doesn’t return to Parliament.
NEW BATTLE FRONT
Even after being brought back by the court, it appears Kasule’s adversaries in NRM won’t let him be. Some of those fighting him confess to be supporters of Minister Rose Seninde and others to be supporters of Denis Galabuzi the MP Busiro North. Like Seninde, Galabuzi is a minister also and the duo’s supporters consider Sebunya to be a threat to the two bosses’ continued stay in Cabinet. “They know very well that even when he is more experienced than Galabuzi, Sebunya can’t catch Museveni’s eye as long as he remains troubled with endless court appearances and that shields both Seninde and Galabuzi. It clearly works as we saw in Sematimba’s case. You can be sure if he didn’t have those endless court cases filed by the DPs, Sematimba would be a minister today. There is no way Seninde and Galabuzi would have been considered ahead of Sematimba but Sekigozi’s court case discredited him before Mzee,” said a long serving Wakiso councilor. “They are already riding on the Wakayima camp to create an impression that Sebunya is an MP made by Justice Kavuma and that he isn’t on the ground and thereby making him a liability to Mzee. The supporters of Galabuzi and Seninde are right to be excited because even when they know its a hard case, those guys behind that petition are just doing politics just to embarrass Kasule and sub due him.” We are reliably informed that even ex-VP Gilbert Bukenya is actively against Kasule Sebunya against whom a fresh case has been filed in Constitutional Court by a group calling themselves concerned voters. As he prepares to face these voter’s wrath in the Constitutional court, Sebunya’s tormenters are also crafting a political front. A group of NRM leaders, including renowned supporters of Rose Seninde from places like Nansana, Nabweru and Gombe, have prepared a petition to the NRM Party SG Kasule Lumumba collectively arguing “we don’t want Kasule; Wakayima is better even though he is DP.” The draft petition is ready and this news website has even seen a copy. The plan is to match to NRM offices with placards denouncing Kasule. The funding is being handled by a renowned city tycoon who is NRM-leaning and has close connections to State House. The sickly tycoon is also renowned admirer of Seninde’s politics. This same tycoon is understood to have recently met Museveni and explained why NRM was better off having Wakayima in Nansana “than risk bloodshed because people can’t accept this man.” The tycoon told Museveni that the party risks becoming discredited because many of Wakayima supporters are actually NRM supporters and grass root leaders. “This young man is getting a lot of sympathy from voters which we can only manage as NRM by keeping away from Kasule because he is too discredited,” the anti-Kasule tycoon reportedly told Museveni. We couldn’t readily establish why this NRM-leaning Muslim tycoon passionately hates Kasule. The tycoon had even offered to deliver Wakayima to Museveni but the opposition diehard flatly declined saying he was DP 311. The plan of the anti-Kasule NRM cadres is to raid Entebbe State House demanding to meet Museveni and make a case against Kasule. Many of the cadres ready for this State House match confess to be diehard supporters of Rose Seninde, Dennis Ssozi Galabuzi, Ian Kyeyune and Gilbert Bukenya. Whereas Galabuzi supporters are looking at consolidation, Seninde supporters believe she stands a chance to be elevated to full cabinet minister in a future reshuffle and to such people the better if NRM remains with fewer MPs in Wakiso district. There is a lady called Nava, a renowned Seninde and Bukenya supporter. She lives in Nansana where she is a leading NRM mobilizer whose influence goes as far as Nabweru. She is actively involved in ensuring that Wakayima regains his seat as Nansana MP. Ian Kyeyune believes he can lead NRM diehards better as area MP than Kasule. There is also the Gombe Division Mayor who is also an active Wakayima admirer even when he is NRM. Wakayima is very popular in Gombe, because of his generosity, and the area Mayor fears the risk associated with actively resisting Wakayima. Recently even after ceasing to be MP, Wakayima used money from his school and bought food supplies for hundreds of families that were affected by hail stones which washed away their gardens. It cost him Shs20m in total and its such generosity that explains voters love for him. At the Gombe Mayor’s home was a graduation party which Kasule attended when he had just got back his seat from Wakayima. With active support of voters, including NRM ones, Wakayima insists he is the “MP of the People.” He is actually organizing a marathon in which some NRM MPs are expected to participate. Organizers say they are expecting NRM MPs like Muyanja Senyonga of Mukono South & Lydia Mirembe the Butambala woman MP. Mirembe has always been very supportive of Wakayima to the extent that she is always the guest of honor at functions held at his Little Diamonds Jr School in Nansana. Muyanja is chairman for Buganda caucus and his expected participation in the marathon is calculated to symbolize how negatively the caucus leadership thinks of Kasule. The upcoming marathon is to be used as a platform for the Nansana voters to raise money for Wakayima to be able to pay Kasule’s court costs. There are also fears that some of the Constitutional Court Justices may be excited seeing the anti-Kasule Constitutional petition succeed as that would be opportunity to humiliate Steven Kavuma who was Court of Appeal head at the time Kasule won the case against Wakayima. At EC, there are officials who would have preferred a by-election in Nansana as opposed to the petitioner just taking the seat on a silver platter like Kasule did. Skipping a by-election deprives some EC officials of an opportunity to engage in very lucrative procurements and field operations that come with a by-election. To such people, the Kasule precedence is one that must be worked against. 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