Former MP Nabwiso keeps Kagoma County guessing as Gume enters the fray

Along with Butembe, Jinja Municipality East, and Jinja Municipality West, Kagoma is the fourth constituency in the district. Unlike others, it has carved out a name for what might as well be termed as having a high legislator mortality rate. It has had the highest turnover of legislators since the NRM shot its way into power in 1986.

Save for the 2011 elections when Fred Nkayi Mbagadhi became the first incumbent to retain his seat, incumbents always turned out to be men marked for loss in the next elections.

The defeats of Wogwawabi Gwaivu by Godfrey Musobya (March 1994 Constituent Assembly election); defeat of Musobya by Wogwawabi Gwavu (1996); defeat of Taire Idhwege (2001); and the defeat of Dr Frank Nabwiso (2006), attest to that fact.

The constituency which had 85,974 registered voters at the time of the last elections has always attracted a mob of candidates and 2016 is not expected to be any different. It is not clear whether FDC luminary, Dr Nabwiso, who was one of the most vocal members of the 7th Parliament, will be returning.

Dr Nabwiso, who has been working as the Dean of Graduate Studies at Busoga University in Iganga since the Court of Appeal overturned Justice Lameka Mukasa’s ruling that the Electoral Commission had failed to conduct the 2011 parliamentary polls in Kagoma in accordance with the electoral and parliamentary laws, is playing his cards very close to his chest. “We shall cross the bridge when we get to it,” he says when asked about his plans for 2016.

It is not clear why Dr Nabwiso has chosen to sit on the fence as the incumbent Fred Nkayi Mbagadhi; Jinja LC5 Chairman Fred Ngobi Gume; Alex Brandon Kintu, FDC’s new “kid on the block” Timothy Lusaala Batuwa; Moses Walyomu, and Moses Batwala, scramble for the political heart of the most populous county in Jinja.

Well, in the absence of Dr Nabwiso, for now, the race is looking like a three-horse affair that will evolve around Mr Batuwa and NRM honchos Mbagadhi and Gume. Mr Gume has been around the politics of the district since around 1998 when he, together with the current Executive Director of the Uganda Planning Authority, Dr David Muvawala, came up to back Dr Nabwiso’s bid to kick policeman Taire Idhwege out of the area MP’s seat.

Following the retirement of Mr Sam Muwumba from politics, Mr Gume won the 2001 race for the Jinja LC5 Chairman’s seat, but his bid to retain that office in 2006 ended in defeat at the hands of Lt Hannington Basakana.

Lt Basakana’s campaign message laid emphasis on stamping out corrupt individuals who he termed as “Baise Kulya” (Clan of Eaters). Though Mr Gume had never been held directly responsible for any acts of corruption, the phrase “clan of eaters” was soon interpreted to suggest that it was in reference to him and his cronies.

During the construction of the Bujagali Power Station, Mr Gume was the Public Relations Manager of Salini Costruttori, before beating UPC’s Mr Robert Kanusu in a drama-filled election that saw the latter disrupt polling on February 23, 2011.

Mr Kanusu assaulted polling officials and shattered a ballot box at Kayunga Zone polling station before he later that same evening marched to the tally centre and disconnected cables of the EC’s computers and a fax machine to protest alleged bias by EC staff in favour of Mr Gume.

Though he had always had an eye on the seat, it was not until June 21 this year during celebrations to mark the jubilee anniversary of the Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery, that Mr Gume declared that he would contest in the constituency.

Mr Gume blamed his omission from the list of speakers at the function which was presided over by President Museveni on Jinja West MP Moses Balyeku who he accused of undermining him. He said the decision to contest was his way of hitting back at Mr Balyeku.

“Let me also go and contest for Kagoma County and reach Parliament such that I show these MPs that local leaders are also a power and not people to play with,” he told journalists last week.

District battle
Gume is currently embroiled in a bitter contest with his council over a decision to transfer the district’s offices to Kagoma Sub-county. His plan is viewed by sections of the council as part of his efforts to up the campaign bill against Mr Mbagadhi who he considers to be the only threat to his ambitions.

“Mr Gume is more mindful of his interests than those of the people. He has political ambitions in Kagoma in 2016 that is why he is pushing us to endorse this project (shifting of district offices to Kagoma). He wants to use it as a political campaign tool,” argues LC5 councillor Monica Abuze. However, it would appear that the incumbent will not be a push over on account of a record of tangible actions in the constituency.

First of all, there is an argument that Mr Gume had been placed at the Bujagali project in order to help the youth get jobs, but that those jobs never materialised. It is a charge that he denies. “We had 11 buses that used to ferry workers, but seven of them used to go to Kagoma. That means that the majority of jobs at the project went to them,” he argues.

That aside, during his tenure, Mr Mbagadhi has distributed thousands of essential primary school textbooks to 130 primary schools, distributed PLE past papers to over 100 primary schools and partly aided the construction of buildings at Hidaya Islamic Kamwokya, Moonlight and Mpungwe primary schools.

Who is Mbagadhi?

Mr Mbagadhi, who holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Commerce and a Masters’ Degree in Public Sector Management, also pays school fees for a sizeable number of orphans and vulnerable children. He has also helped build some teachers’ houses.

The man, who has served on the Parliamentary Committees on Defence and Internal Affairs and that on the National Economy and was recently appointed Treasurer of the Parliamentary Forum on Youth Affairs, has also contributed to the building of Muwangi and Nakajjo health centres and donated blankets and mosquito nets there.

However, his critics accuse him of having recently distributed fake maize seeds, a charge which he denies. “I grew up here and I appreciate the role that agriculture plays in the lives of our people. How could I be the one to distribute fake seeds?” he asks.

However, while the NRM honchos are busy gnawing away at each other, Mr Batuwa is hoping to take advantage of the likely fall-out that could follow the NRM primaries which will pit Mr Gume against Mr Mbagadhi. He hopes to use that window to expand the support he already enjoys in his native Butagaya Sub-county, which has 21,348 registered voters and usually votes as a block.

Having been one of the organisers of the recent celebrations to mark the 9th anniversary of the existence of FDC, Mr Batuwa, a businessman and Indian trained pharmacist, is being touted as Dr Nabwiso’s successor in the politics of Kagoma. He is not as gifted with words as Dr Nabwiso, but what he lacks in oratory, he makes up for with calculated actions.

Batuwa’s contribution
In the last one year, Mr Batuwa is credited with renovating over 120 boreholes, helping over 60 women’s groups to register and become eligible for government funding.

He is said to have helped with the construction of teachers houses at Kabembe Primary School, helped organise a series of fundraisings in churches, mosques and schools and donated coffee seedlings worth more than Shs40m to various farmer groups.

Batuwa has helped organise more than four health camps, donated culverts during community initiated road maintenance exercises, donated blood pressure testing kits to 30 villages and distributed vegetable seeds to 1,500 farmers.

He also donated iron sheets, food items and seedlings to victims of a recent famine that ravaged parts of Buwenge, distributed over 300 footballs and renovated football fields in Buwera, Budiima and Iwololo.

As they say, two weeks can be a very long time in politics. If two weeks can be such a long time, then the more than a year we have to go to the ballot can as well be looked at like a century and things could turn in favour of the youthful Alex Brandon Kintu, Moses Walyomu or Moses Batwala, but for now, they appear like the bridesmaids in this campaign.

Possible contenders for the 2016 elections
Fred Nkayi Mbagadhi. is an NRM MP serving his second term in the constituency and hopes to contest for a third term. The treasurer of the Parliamentary Forum on Youth Affairs has served on Parliamentary committees on Defence and Internal Affairs and that on the National Economy.

Fred Ngobi Gume. The Jinja LC5 chairperson is an NRM member . He was public relations Manager of Salini Costruttori, the company behind the construction of the Bujagali power station.

Alex Brandon Kintu. The youthful FDC member is a new face on the political scene. Time will tell if he will be able to beat the veterans at their game.

Timothy batuwa. The FDC politician is a pharmacist and businessman. He is said to have renovated more than 120 boreholes, helping more than 60 women’s groups register for government funding.

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