Bugabula South MP Kibalya plots 2031 comeback

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This week has been hard, especially coming on the heels of an election that saw several political heavyweights shockingly floored at the polls.

Parliament, long considered home by many, has been largely deserted by the losers, save for Wednesday (January 21, 2026), when the House convened to pay tribute to the late Ngora Woman MP Stella Apolot Isodo (FDC). Those who do turn up have to bear with whispers or, in some cases, explain themselves to colleagues and journalist friends.

For many, the reality of defeat is yet to sink in. Some insist they were rigged out, others are unable to comprehend what went wrong, while a few have quietly conceded.

Yet for incumbents like Bugabula South’s Maurice Kibalya, who read the signs early and bowed out, the mood is markedly different.

Kibalya, a former Makerere University Guild President on the Democratic Party (DP) ticket, currently serving his second term in Parliament, withdrew from the race after losing to Matayo Bazaanya in last year’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) primaries.

Despite reportedly being close to First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs Rebecca Kadaga during her time as Speaker and being in the good books of the House’s current leadership.

This week, while colleagues nursed political wounds, Kibalya appeared visibly stress-free. And he did not hide it on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, while chairing the House Committee on Physical Infrastructure during a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT), led by Gen. Katumba Wamala.

“General, you know very well, I didn’t stand. When I saw the environment unfriendly, I decided to withdraw. And said, let me go aside for five years, tactically, as Generals say. I let them try, and I know in 2031, we shall be back on board after people experiencing what they are trying,” he said.

“So, as I didn’t stand, it doesn’t mean that the friendship ended there, General. If I knock on someone’s door or make a call, let people not say, ah, ono yavaamu, takyaali relevant (This one left politics and is no longer relevant). Kindly, we remain friends and brothers. If I make a call or knock on your door, my ED Uganda Airlines, let’s remain friends. I just wanted to have that on a personal note,” Kibalya said.

Sarcastically, as Kibalya plots a comeback, the fate of a few of his comrades, such as Kibanda North’s Linos Ngompek, who was present during the meeting, is still hanging in the balance.

“Electoral Commission has not yet conducted the exercise in my constituency, so I don’t know my state yet,” Ngompek told the committee, triggering laughter.

The meeting ended on a comic note. After it adjourned, a works ministry commissioner Kibalya had earlier on stung for being mean with money, exchanged pleasantries with a senior female lawmaker from eastern Uganda as he left the meeting. The official was in the company of Kasilo County MP Elijah Okupa, who was also defeated.

“Congratulations,” he said.

Only for Okupa to signal otherwise, prompting him to make fresh inquiries.

“But she won,” he probed.

Only for the female lawmaker to quickly interject.

“I won, then they changed,” the female MP clarified.