Ms betty Nambooze addresses supporters after her nomination recently. Photo by Jessica Sabano
By MERCY NALUGO &JESSICA SABANO
Posted
Thursday, January 28
2016 at
23:00
In Summary
Doubted. Although many still support Ms Nambooze and see her as the right person to represent the constituency in Parliament, a good number of people are now doubting her loyalty and see her opponents as genuine contenders
It’s campaign time everywhere in the country but it is far from business as usual in the Mukono Municipality MP race this time round. The incumbent, Ms Betty Nambooze, is being given a run for her money by four opponents.
Ruling National Resistance Movement party flag bearer Fatumah Ndisaba, Forum for Democratic Change’s Moses Bakubi Lukubira, an engineer at Family Radio in Kitintale, Kampala, and Independents Prof Muhamed Bogere and Samuel Muyomba are all out to get her seat.
Ms Nambooze’s campaign is a bit different from what she may have become accustomed to in the past. If she wins, it will not have come on a silver platter like has been the case with the previous elections. Unlike previously, Opposition ranks are driven by differences over loyalty in the municipality.
The Amama Mbabazi versus Kizza Besigye factor is playing to Ms Nambooze’s disadvantage after she is believed to have endorsed the former for president. This factor could be a major determinant in deciding how voters choose in this municipality whether the Opposition presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye of the FDC, is more popular.
Already, some FDC supporters are doing their best to embarrass her. They accuse Ms Nambooze of abandoning Dr Besigye, a man who stood by her side in the 2011 elections.
Mukono Municipality is one of the biggest municipalities in the country, covering about 200 square miles. and with about 200,000 people. Ms Nambooze, the Democratic Party vice president in charge of Buganda region, is seeking a third term to represent the people here.
Confident
Against the above odds, she still speaks with confidence and a determination that she will be in charge of the constituency now and beyond 2016.
Ms Nambooze is an influential voice on the Parliamentary Committee on Local Government and has done well during her time on the Opposition benches in Parliament as a voice for accountable government.
“I am the right person to lead Mukono Municipality because I know what my people want and I can ably articulate their issues in Parliament like I have always done,” she says.
Ms Nambooze first served as Mukono North MP following an acrimonious 2010 contest in which she beat the Rev Peter Bakaluba Mukasa of NRM. The Supreme Court found the Rev guilty of having rigged the 2006 polls and annulled his election.
She later shifted to the then newly created Mukono Municipality where she emerged winner.
Able debater
Since then, Ms Nambooze has used her parliamentary platform to advance the cause of Buganda Kingdom’s demand for its properties and a federal system of governance.
She is acknowledged by a significant portion of the public as an able debater and an informed politician. Her political stature grew from 2007 when she was appointed to chair Buganda’s civic education committee to speak about the controversial Land Bill, since enacted into law.
Her base is to be found among traders and low income earners whose rights to operate in the municipality she has always defended. Her other cause is the fight to ensure that neighbouring Kampala Capital City Authority does not extend its reach to Mukono as is being contemplated under the ‘Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area’ plan.
Ms Nambooze tested the consequences of her latest political choices recently during a rally organised for Dr Besigye at Mukono Ssaza Grounds. A cluster of rowdy youth roughed her up, accusing her of deserting Dr Besigye and, therefore, not worthy of attending the event.
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