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How politics of give-and-take shaped Kayunga LC5 election
Ms Harriet Nakweede of National Unity Platform (NUP) addresses the media . Photo/Michael Kakumirizi
What you need to know:
- The Kayunga by-election saw government big wigs campaign for the NRM candidate and entice voters with promises of service delivery.
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate, Mr Andrew Muwonge, was last Friday declared winner of the hotly-contested Kayunga LC 5 by-election.
In a tightly contested election, the Kayunga District Returning Officer, Ms Jennifer Kyobutungi, declared the 36-year- old winner after he garnered 31,830 votes while his closest rival, Ms Harriet Nakweede of National Unity Platform (NUP), got 31,380 votes.
Mr Magid Nyanzi (Independent) came third with 1,286 votes, Mr Boniface Bandikubi (Independent) got 470 votes, Mr Jamir Kamoga son of late Mohammed Ffeffekka Sserubogo, the incumbent district chairman, who died in office got 279 votes. Mr Anthony Waddimba of Democratic Party polled 158 votes.
The election results have been contested by NUP and some sections of society who claimed the poll was rigged.
Mr Lewis Rubongoya, the NUP secretary general, said they are yet to decide on the next course of action.
“All options are still on table,” Mr Rubongoya said.
Although the poll was marred by electoral irregularities that ranged from voter bribery, intimidation to ballot stuffing, which incidents could have influenced its outcome, political analysts say the “politics of give-and-take” too could have played a big role in influencing the voters.
Freehold titles
For instance, two days to the election, government announced it had delivered a total of 1,000 freehold titles to land tenants in Kayonza and Kitimbwa Sub-counties.
The freehold title project, which is meant to help tenants secure legal status on the public land, had dragged on for four years, with the government claiming it had no funds to process them.
However, two days to the election, Ms Judith Nabakooba, the Lands minister, handed over the titles to the President, who also handed them to the beneficiaries. A total of about 10,000 tenants are to benefit under the project.
Galilaya road
Also, during the entire campaign period, the Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja, who camped in Kayunga frequently reminded residents to vote for the NRM candidate as a pre-condition for tarmacking the strategic 79-Km Kayunga-Galilaaya road.
“Vote for Muwonge, if you want government to tarmac the Kayunga-Galilaaya road. Does NUP have a budget for constructing that road; is that budget in Magere (Bobi Wine’s residence)?” Ms Nabbanja asked during a campaign rally in Kayunga Town.
Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, is the leader of NUP.
The 79km, dusty and potholed Kayunga-Galilaaya road, is the major route to Kawongo landing site on Lake Kyoga. Before the fall of the Obote II government in 1985, there were plans to tarmac it to create a shorter route to northern Uganda.
Currently, because of the many heavy trucks that ferry sugarcane from Bbaale to sugar factories, the road becomes impassable soon after being renovated.
To prove the government’s commitment to tarmac the road, Ms Nabbanja during all the rallies, displayed a letter from President Museveni, written in May to Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) directing it to expedite works on the road in the coming financial year.
“Such letters written by the President are not meant to be revealed to the public, but I want to prove to you that plans to have it tarmacked have been finalised,” Ms Nabbanja said.
The government has for about eight years listed the Kayunga-Galilaaya road construction in the unfunded priorities in the national budget.
President Museveni during a campaign meeting at Kayonza Primary School, two days to the election, asked residents to vote for the NRM candidate “because it is NRM leaders who can remind me about projects that need to be worked on.
NRM candidate for the Kayunga LC5 by-election Andrew Muwonge is carried shoulder high after emerging winnerlast Friday. PHOTO/NRM
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Municipality status
Ms Nabbanja while campaigning in Kayunga Town, promised to “push” for the elevation of Kayunga Town Council to a municipality status if the electorate voted for Mr Muwonge.
“I think you know that I am the prime minister and I can push for the municipality you want and it can be given to you,” Ms Nabbanja said amid applause from residents.
The agitation for a municipality status by Kayunga District leaders had hit a dead end after government rejected the request on grounds that it did not meet the minimum requirements.
In another incident, the prime minister commissioned the construction of a Shs11b powerline project at Kibuzi Village, Busaana Sub-county that will connect 31 villages in Ntenjeru North Constituency on the power grid.
She also commissioned the construction of a Shs5b multi-purpose block at Peter’s Secondary School, Kibuzi.
Experts weigh in
Although, Mr Dennis Obbo, the Ministry of Lands spokesperson, claimed the freehold title project was delayed because of political interference, particularly after Ms Ida Nantaba, the Kayunga District Woman MP, told beneficiaries not to pay the Shs70,000 processing fee, political analysts dismiss the claims.
For instance, Gerald Walulya, a lecturer at the Department of Journalism and Communication at Makerere University, says the NRM government has been practicing politics of give-and-take over the years.
“Whenever there are elections, they (NRM government) promise things that voters are yearning for, although on many occasions they never come,” Walulya said. He explained that whenever there are elections, the government starts erecting electricity poles, commissioning construction of roads and when campaigns are over, such projects discontinue.
“It is a form of bribery, when you have to wait for an election to deliver a service you should ordinarily have provided,” he said.
Mr Siraje Nsanja, a political pundit and political science don at Kampala University, said the delivery of the freehold titles to tenants days to the election day, got the beneficiaries excited and they had to psychologically look their way.
“Voters could no longer appreciate what National Unity platform (NUP) or other candidates were telling them. They had to go with (NRM flag bearer) whose party had fulfilled the promise,” Mr Nsanja said.
Mr Nsanja said the move can be interpreted as a ploy to win (an election) using government projects.
Although the political science don faults NRM government for using such “tricks” to win elections, he questions the agenda NUP sold to people of Kayunga, which they did not buy.
“They (NUP) ran an excitement campaign. The NUP people were politically empty, they were only riding on the ills of government,” he said.
But, Mr Rogers Mulindwa, the senior manager in-charge of information and communication at the NRM Secretariat, rubbished the claims by political analysts that the promises made by NRM was a form of bribery.
“Government programmes have to go on whether there are campaigns or not. Should hospitals close in Kayunga because there is an election?” he asked.
Mr Mulindwa added that it was just a coincidence that the freehold titles were delivered during campaigns.
Mr Meddie Ssalongo, a resident of Tweyagalire Village in Kayonza Sub-county, who is one of the intended beneficiaries of the freehold title project, however claimed only 10 people have so far received the land titles.
He said one day to the election, the State minister for Planning, Mr Amos Lugoloobi, and the former Bbaale County Member of Parliament, Mr Sulaiman Madada, handed over the 10 titles to the beneficiaries and promised to deliver more.
“They just hoodwinked us and when some of us fell into the trap and voted for the NRM candidate, they went away,” Mr Tom Galiwango, another beneficiary in Nkokonjeru Village, said.
