MP Namaganda was passionate about self-reliance

By HENRY LUBULWA & MARTINS E. SSEKWEYAMA
Posted 


Monday, December 14  

2015 at 

14:01

The accident which claimed the life of Bukomansimbi Woman MP Susan Namaganda was as a result of reckless driving by a drunken taxi operator, according to police Spokesperson in charge of Katonga region, Mr Phillip Mukasa.

Mpanga forest is located at a sharp bend between Kalagala and Mpambire villages. It has claimed many lives, the late Namaganda’s inclusive. The 30-year old was married to DP vice President Fred Denis Mukasa Mbidde.

She has also been the pioneer Woman Member of Parliament for newly created Bukomansimbi District, carved out of Masaka in 2010.

A darling to the Masaka sub-region, Namaganda has usually been called bbeeyi ya birime (loosely translated as better produce prices) since her swearing-in at Parliament, because of her passion to strive for better prices of local agricultural produce.

Richard Matovu, a voter in Bukomansimbi, laments that their hope for the youthful MP to have another term in Parliament to sustain agricultural projects she started had been dashed by the painful sting of death.

He cited the orange-irish potatoes project the legislator started in the district in 2013, to fight hunger and poverty at household level.

“Let parents only struggle to raise schools fees and other scholastic materials but not food for the children,” the late MP told residents at meetings to mobilise them to be self-reliant.
Among other activities Namaganda was passionate about was the revival of coffee and banana plantations in the Masaka sub-region as she believed these were the crops the parents in the central region relied on for decades to raise families and educate generations of children.

Other projects initiated by the late MP include extension of clean water to remote villages in Bukomansimbi.
Bukomansimbi District youth Chairperson, Richard Kato, acknowledges that Namaganda’s legacy will glow forever.

“When we first approached her, we expected that she would behave like other MPs do but she was totally different. She looked at issues that emerged passionately and wanted the youth to develop. She has been the hope we all looked at to solve our issues,” said the grief-stricken youth leader.

Paddy Kiganda Ssenkungu, the Chairperson Buganda Youth Council, said Namaganda’s choice to encourage residents to boost agriculture produce other than making them depend on handouts showed she had a vision as a leader.

In her maiden public address, after her nomination to seek a second term in Parliament on 3rd this month, the staunch youthful DP legislator anticipated that her main area of focus in the next five years would be to improve the maternal health services in the district. She said she had obtained links with foreign friends that would help her realise the dream.

A Catholic priest in Bukomansimbi District intimated that the couple had told him of their planned wedding after the elections probably in April.

“She was poised to retain the seat in the coming elections. The DP has lost a fresh new talent, a bright star has gone out leaving a dark void. She was so full of life and determination coupled with an iron will.”
DP President norbert mao

“Susan Namaganda was lovely and friendly lady. Really connected to the generational interests and cause. She has been my personal friend and we got closer through Fred Mukasa Mbidde her husband, who is a professional colleague.”
chairperson nrm women league lydia wanyoto