Museveni campaigns for Ssematimba

May 19, 2009

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni yesterday waded through a slum in Nateete campaigning for NRM candidate Pastor Peter Ssematimba in the Rubaga Division by-election. Museveni addressed rallies and made an impromptu visit to the swampy Nanfuka zone in Nateete, ahe

By Henry Mukasa

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni yesterday waded through a slum in Nateete campaigning for NRM candidate Pastor Peter Ssematimba in the Rubaga Division by-election.

Museveni addressed rallies and made an impromptu visit to the swampy Nanfuka zone in Nateete, ahead of the elections tomorrow.

He also campaigned for Faruk Luswata who wants to be elected district councillor. Ssematimba’s opponents are Moses Makumbi (DP), Joyce Ssebugwawo (FDC), Henry Lubowa (SDP), Justin Ssendikadiwa (Independent) and Caroline Kakembo (Independent).

Residents lined the narrow, potholed and water-logged corridor to cheer the President.
Many said it was unprecedented for a president to visit their humble dwelling.
Museveni, wearing a cream suit, black shoes and his trade-mark hat, abandoned his convoy at the tarmac road, about a kilometre away, to meet the voters.
The President, with Ssematimba in tow, was concerned about a channel full of sewage which emitted a pungent smell. He tracked it to a nearby swamp and asked the zone chairman, only identified as Kabuye, to explain.

Residents complained of flooding and the drowning of children in the channel. A woman said: “Baleese omusajja wano ekibadde tekisubirwa (it’s unbelievable the President has come to check on us).
“Twafa dda! Teri aba na mirembe ng’enkuba etonnye (It is unbearable here whenever it rains),” Sarah Nanfuka, an elderly woman, shouted.

On his way back to his open-roof car, Museveni waved at the residents and stopped briefly at Ssematimba's campaign office.

Museveni also campaigned for Ssematimba at another slum, Kiwuunya in Nakulabye. “I sympathise with you over the filth. The garbage here is surprising, the roads horrible. The medicine to that is Ssematimba,” he said.

“You have been electing bad leaders, which was like using a blocked straw to sip beer from a gourd. Don’t repeat that mistake.”
He said Ssematimba would liberate the division which he called an orphan. “Maybe we are about to see an end to blocked drainage channels,” a resident said.

Museveni and Ssematimba also addressed rallies at Nakulabye and Kibuye markets. The journey from Kibuye via Ndeeba to Nakulabye, a distance of 5km, took Museveni an hour as residents blocked him asking him to address them.

Museveni said what he saw in Nanfuka zone was unbelievable. “The years of suffering have been a lesson to you. If you commit suicide, you are not mourned,” he said.

He said Ssematimba had the advantage of connections with Government and a clean track record of service and wealth. “A snail had a trail! What do those standing against him have to show?” Museveni asked.

He appealed to residents not to ignore his plea like in the past and vote the opposition. “It’s not easy to fight Museveni because he went through a furnace,” Museveni asserted. “It is an unreasonable dog that backs at an elephant.”

He said the Government had set aside money to build markets in Wandegeya, Ntinda, Nakulabye, Busega and Kasubi.

At the main rally held at Natete sports-ground, Ssematimba warned the voters against gambling away their votes again. He said he had decided to work with the NRM government, which has money and power to save Rubaga from the “abyss”.

“It’s decision time; de-silting channels, building roads, improving sports and fighting poverty you need resources and power. I have come with the owner of all money and power in Uganda,” Ssematimba said, referring to Museveni. “Yes, we can,” he roared, echoing US President Barack Obama’s campaign slogan. He danced to the Bakisimba sounds of Mesach Semakula’s Njagala nyimbire omutanda,/i> (let me sing for the king). This sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Museveni also joined an elderly woman on the stage, danced briefly with her before embracing her.

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