Dombo, Hyuha locked in unending fight for Butaleja’s soul

During the campaigns, Nebanda who was backed by Bunyole East MP Emmanuel Dombo, described Ms Hyuha as a poor player who had failed to deliver services promised by government to the people of Butaleja.

Death would later cut short what was looking like a promising career in politics when Nebanda died only a year into her term under mysterious circumstances.

Mr Dombo again campaigned for the family in the subsequent by-election which was won by Ms Florence Andiru Nebanda, a younger sister to the late Cerinah Nebanda.
It seems that the rivalry between the Dombos and Hyuhas is very much alive.

There have been fights, sharp exchanges and all sorts of mischief between the two. In 2016, this rivalry could hurt the ruling party which now appears split down the middle between supporters of either politician. Here is how.

As relations have deteriorated between Mr Dombo and Ms Hyuha (who was not available to be interviewed for this article) so has the gap between NRM supporters who support the opposing camps in Butaleja.

On two occasions, President Museveni has tried to mediate between the two but his efforts have yielded nothing in the last 10 years.

In 2010, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, who is also the NRM secretary general, was also unsuccessful in ending the political feud.

After losing the Butaleja district Woman MP seat to the late Nebanda in 2011 general elections, President Museveni appointed Ms Hyuha Uganda’s envoy to Tanzania. This foreign posting, however, has done nothing to keep her away from local politics. She remains a common figure here, attending several public functions in Bunyole West.

New interests
Ahead of the 2016 general elections, Ms Hyuha appears to have shifted her political intentions to Bunyole West, her home constituency, in a bid to unseat Mr Jacob Wangolo. And her old nemesis, Mr Dombo, seems determined to have a say in the outcome of this contest too.

Mr Rajab Wabwire, an ardent NRM supporter and LC2 chairperson of Budumba parish in Budumba Sub-county, says Mr Dombo has started holding night meetings in the area. It is suspected that these meetings hold no goodwill for Ms Hyuha.

“For me, this is uncalled for; you can’t fight your friend and keep following her wherever she goes. I think this must end. Mr Dombo is the longest serving legislator who is supposed to give advice to new entrants in politics, but if he is fighting Ms Hyuha, then he is dividing the NRM party in the district,” said Mr Wabwire.

Another local agrees with Mr Wabwire’s opinion.
“I think this must end and we must unite as NRM,” Mr Johnson Damba told Saturday Monitor. “How does Mr Wangolo’s wound pain Mr Dombo? This lady is good and by shifting to Bunyole West, she is running away from Mr Dombo, she does not want fights. Let us leave this lady to contest in a constituency of her choice.”

Mr Damba said the infighting in the NRM has stifled service delivery in the district, a view shared by the incumbent in Bunyole West.

“We are just living in rumours and I want to promise that I am going to work hand in hand with our religious leaders, opinion leaders and stakeholders to sort out the conflicts between Mr Dombo and Ms Hyuha. We need to work as a team for the development of our district,” said Mr Wangolo. He said although Ms Hyuha wants to unseat him, he is not bothered.

“I have not met her but I know that she has declared her intention. I am ready for the race come 2016. I want to show that my people are still supporting me and want me back in Parliament,” said Mr Wangolo.

A senior NRM official, Mr Joseph Muyonjo, is a worried man. With his and other party leaders’ failure to reconcile the two despite repeated efforts, the chairperson sees trouble ahead.
“We have had several leaders in NRM intervene in this political rivalry between Ms Hyuha and Mr Dombo but the meetings have not yielded anything. I think now we need religious leaders to intervene,” said Mr Muyonjo.
It may well be left to the NRM primaries to determine the best candidate for the race.

“I know the NRM primaries are likely to be tense for the Bunyole West MP seat, although Ms Hyuha commands a big support among the youth and middle aged. Mr Wangolo also commands support from the elderly who think he has delivered,” said Mr Kemba Higenyi, an NRM supporter.

Mr Muyonjo and his district council think meetings aimed at creating harmony ahead of the 2016 could be the way forward for creating unity within the party supporters because Ms Hyuha has big support and Mr Dombo also has a big following.
Both the woman MP, Ms Nebanda, and the ruling party’s chairperson for Butaleja, Mr Imran Muluga, also thinks it’s time to end the rivalry.

“We want to create harmony in NRM to get Butaleja development, not to keep in war. I want to request Ms Hyuha and Mr Dombo to forgive each other. Both of these people are important to Butaleja, we need them and the NRM party needs them,” said Ms Nebanda.

Mr Muluga says he also wants party unity. “As an NRM leader, I want unity in the district for NRM even when I have failed on several occasions, I will try again and I believe that with the help of the President, unity will be there between the two camps for the good of the party,” he said.

The fights
It will not be easy finding a common position in this district where the ruling party has enjoyed favourable public opinion. On January 2, Mr Dombo attended a fund-raising drive for Busaba Anglican Church in Mazimasa Sub-county. When he attempted to address the congregation, a group of youth hurled insults at him and dragged him out of the church by his coattails.

It took the intervention of the priest, the Rev Samuel Kirya, and an offer of 20 bags of cement to calm them. Although Mr Dombo accused Ms Hyuha, who was in the congregation then, of hiring the youth and paying them to beat him up, Ms Hyuha maintains that she did not have any hand in the issue.
It will be recalled that violence between the rival camps is common.

Not too long ago, Mr Dombo was reported to have apologised to the President in Rwakitura after his supporters beat up Ms Hyuha’s people.

Weeks ago, at Kangalaba Secondary School, during an NRM meeting to piopularise the Kyankwanzi resolution for President Museveni’s sole candidature, Ms Hyuha declared her intentions to stand in for Bunyole West, drawing a bitter exchange with Mr Dombo.

Ms Hyuha has since camped in Mr Wangolo’s constituency, attending funerals, fundraisings and organising sports activities among the youths.

In Butaleja there is talk that with Mr Dombo backing Mr Wangolo, Ms Hyuha may be the force behind Mr Yusuf Mutembuli, a lawyer based in Mbale, who appears set to go for Mr Dombo’s Bunyole East in 2016.

Operation ‘stop Kutesa UN job’ countered

First came a petition to urge the American Secretary of State, John Kerry, to ban Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa from the United States of America and block his bid to become president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Thousands signed on to it. It seemed like the targeted 10,000 signatures were in sight.

Then, almost out of the blue, came a counter petition, this time by Ugandan journalist and PR practitioner Muhereza Kyamutetera. Mr Kyamutetera argued that Mr Kutesa had been “wrongly” accused in the petition of fomenting anti-gay sentiments in Uganda through the recently passed anti-homosexuality law.

Mr Kutesa, Mr Kyamuteera argued, had not gone on record expressing anti-gay views and that the law was passed by Parliament and assented to by the President, with Mr Kutesa’s role not clearly visible.

Museveni touted on Luweero at the State-of-the-Nation address

Opposition members of Parliament had just registered a fresh victory against the ruling party and President Museveni in the recently concluded Luweero Woman MP by-election – which was won by Brenda Nabukenya - when Museveni turned up to deliver the State-of-the-Nation address on Thursday.

He couldn’t, as is the tradition, have expected not to be touted on it by the braggart Opposition legislators.
And they duly did tout him. He responded with cleverly cut quips throughout the speech, which did not really deliver much as far as breaking new ground is concerned.

But on Luweero, Museveni made this promise: “You will hear more about Luweero in the coming weeks.”

The jibes aside, the President delivered his arguably short address to an otherwise relatively attentive house and was treated to a standing ovation by his party’s MPs after the speech.

The politics of Martyrs Day
Is it more attractive for Christians, even those of other denominations, to pray at the Catholic Shrine at Namugongo on June 3, the day of celebrating the Uganda Martyrs? If so, why? These are questions for which we don’t have answers, but on Martyrs Day, we saw the three top politicians in the executive – President Museveni, Vice President Edward Sekandi and Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi – all pray at the Catholic Shrine, at the same time. Someone even whispered on whether it was not a security risk. What was so attractive at the shrine, given the fact that prayers were also going on at the Anglican shrine about a kilometre away?

And, at least as far as we have come to know, President Museveni is Anglican and would therefore more suitably have prayed at the Anglican Shrine. Is there something we still have to discover about the Catholic Shrine at Namugongo?

Compiled by Eriasa S. Mukiibi

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