Two journalists face off in Buikwe North race

Several political actors in Buikwe North are plotting to oust Onyango Kakoba in 2016 John Semakula looks at their game plans


The Buikwe North parliamentary race will be tight in the 2016 general elections. As the elections draw closer, several politicians are queuing up for the post.

The aspirants include the incumbent, Onyango Kakoba and a New Vision scribe, Elvis Basudde Kyeyune and the Njeru town council mayor, Paul Musoke.

Kakoba has been in Parliament for three terms. He told Sunday Vision that since there are no term limits for MPs, he sees no reason why he should not seek reelection come 2016.

“I want to leave Parliament after ensuring that most of the youth in my constituency have received motorcycles to help them improve their livelihoods,” he said.

“I still have several projects I need to finish before allowing others to take over,” Kakoba said.

He added that some of the projects he is still working on include extending piped water to Nyenga and Wakisi Sub Counties.

Besides being in Parliament for three terms, Kakoba worked at New Vision as the bureau chief for eastern Uganda and later as the public relations manager for Picfare Group.

Although found in Buganda, Buikwe North has many non-Baganda, which favoured both Kakoba and Wagonda.
 

Onyango interacting with his constituents. He has been in Parliament for three terms

During the 2006 elections, Kakoba who stood on the NRM ticket defeated Wagonda. The party choice seems to have given Kakoba an edge.

Meanwhile, the Buikwe district community development officer, Sam Kiganda is also considering joining the race.

He told Sunday Vision that being a civil servant, he has a few issues to sort out before he can openly declare his candidature. Kiganda is a former councillor for Buikwe town council formerly under Mukono district.

He also worked as a journalist with New Vision and served as the district information officer for Mukono district.

Another of Kakoba’s rivals is the Njeru town council mayor, Paul Musoke. After winning the 2011 mayoral elections, Musoke announced that in 2016, he would target Kakoba’s seat.

Efforts to speak to Musoke about his political ambitions in 2016 were futile as he did not pick his calls or answer our messages.

But Kakoba said that Musoke has accountability issues to sort out with the Inspectorate of Government before he can consider him a formidable challenger in the race. Sunday Vision has also learnt that in his efforts to defeat Kakoba in 2016, Musoke has allied with the LC3 chairman of Nyenga sub-county, Yosiya Kyazze.
 

true
Musoke during his swearing in ceremony as the mayor of Njeru town council in 2011

Kyazze wants to replace Musoke as the mayor of Njeru town council. The two politicians have reportedly promised to support each other support come 2016.

Both are popular in their constituencies. Whereas Musoke enjoys a lot of support among the youth in Njeru, where he has been mayor for three terms, Kakoba is a darling of the rural voters in Nyenga and Wakisi sub-counties.

Besides spearheading several projects in the constituency, Kakoba has become popular among the voters because of his role in fighting land evictions.

The other contender, Basudde says he is a historical member of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), something which gives him an edge over his rivals.

“When NRM was in the bush, I lived in exile in Kenya for 12 years and I was a member of the NRM’s external wing Nairobi, where I acted as the secretary for the Dagoretti NRM ward. I was also part of the press unit of the NRM newsletter,” he said.

If elected, Basudde said he will focus on improving health in the constituency. He also promised ensure that the Government makes health a priority because people cannot engage in agriculture, the main economic activity in the country, if they are not healthy.

He is also looking to lobby the Government to install public toilets in every 40 kilometres on all the main roads in the constituency as a way of promoting good health.

Basudde said the public toilets will be manned by the community. He also plans to re-energise family planning programs to encourage responsible parenthood and provide free medication to pregnant mothers and children below five years.

He has so far been going around the constituency giving out coffee seedlings. One of his shortcomings however, is that he is new to elective politics so it is not clear whether he will outsmart his rivals. 


Basudde's profile
 

• born in Kiryowa village, Buikwe district in Njeru town council.

• a holder of a diploma and Bachelors degree in education from Kenyatta University.

• also holds a diploma in journalism from the Institute of Business and Media Studies (IIBMS), Kampala.

• he is the chairperson of the Positive Men’s Union Uganda, (POMU), where he is a board member for Central Region.
   
• Basudde is the current president of the Global Alliance of Positive Journalists (GAPJ), an international advocacy group for positive journalists representing Africa
   
• He is a member of the National Forum of PLHA Networks in Uganda an organisation for people living with HIV.