WHY NRM WON IN BUDIOPE
Jan 27, 2010
There has been chanting and dancing in Budiope County, Busoga Region, for the past few weeks. It was not a concert, but campaign rallies organised by candidates seeking to fill the area Member of Parliament position which fell vacant at the demise of Henry Balikoowa in November last year.
By Joshua Kato
There has been chanting and dancing in Budiope County, Busoga Region, for the past few weeks. It was not a concert, but campaign rallies organised by candidates seeking to fill the area Member of Parliament position which fell vacant at the demise of Henry Balikoowa in November last year.
As the candidates traversed the county, it became clear the major race was between the ruling party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and opposition party Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
On Monday when voters went to the polls, as the election results showed, NRM’s Sulaiman Kirunda Balyejusa tallied 26,000 votes with FDC’s Dominic Wakabi following with 6,000 votes and Democratic Party’s Moses Bigirwa getting 800 votes. The other candidates were Mustafa Kalwaza, who pulled out of the race later and Ahmed Shaban, both independents.
In a way, the elections were a test for both the NRM and the FDC. Those in the NRM camp argue that the results manifest the strong support the party still enjoys in Busoga, dismissing claims that FDC has won over the hearts of the voters in the region.
This was the fourth by-election in Busoga since 2006. In the previous three, the NRM won the Kamuli (LC5) seat but lost in Bugweri, where Abdul Katuntu defeated Kirunda Kivejinja. NRM’s Bakka Mugabi also won in Bukholi North, in Bugiri.
Going by the 2006 elections, Busoga is predominantly NRM. Among the 27 MPs from the region, only two, Abdul Katuntu and Harry Kasigwa, are from the opposition.
With Balyejusa’s win, the opposition has a lesson to learn. In the week to the elections, FDC leader Col. Kizza Besigye talked about ‘smoking’ the NRM out of the villages where they are stronger. However, the Budiope results prove that the opposition still has a lot to do if they are to get meaningful results in these areas come 2011.
Nature of population
Budiope is one of the not-so-rich areas of Busoga, with people surviving on mainly subsistence agriculture and fishing. No wonder every candidate soliciting for votes promises heaven on earth.
But all the same, the locals have not fully utilised Lake Kyoga, River Nile and other smaller rivers from which the locals can fish. “Most people here live one day at a time,†says Hamza Kiyingi, a supporter of Balyejusa.
So when the NRM government brought an ice packaging facility, a new ferry for transport on the lake and a new power line, they scored. “We see these things as development. It will be betrayal if we do not vote for the Government that brought them,†Kiyingi says. It is on some of these successes that Balyejusa rode to victory.
The population is the type every politician wishes to campaign among because they have so many needs that any promise may excite them.
There is no single tarmac road in Budiope. Each candidate must have promised to bring better roads. Until recently, transport on the lake was a very big challenge. However, a ferry will soon start operating to ease transportation and the NRM politician claimed to have helped bring the ferry.
Sulaiman Kirunda Balyejusa Although his name Balyejusa means ‘they will regret’ in Luganda, Balyejusa has no regrets for joining the NRM. This is because his win was purely not out of his hardwork, but because he chose to belong to the NRM, the biggest party in Uganda. A former supervisor at the Uganda Revenue Authority, Balyejjusa joined politics like a storm. He beat his contestants in the primaries with a big margin, before turning his guns to the opposition.
When he was picked as the party’s flag bearer, he attracted the attention of Kamuli’s NRM bigwigs, including Rebecca Kadaga, the deputy speaker of Parliament and Moses Kizige, the senior presidential adviser, who campaigned for him.
Balyejusa had other contributing factors. For example, the NRM has carried out significant infrastructure development work in the area like the fish and ice plants at Bukungu Landing Site. The site also got an electricity grid and a pier where the new ferry will dock.
“The people voted for continuity of development,†Balyejusa says. “I will lobby my friends to bring development here.â€
Dominic Wakabi
He had the potential but several factors affected his ability to turn this potential into a reality. For starters, he has to be applauded for thinking he could win in an area that has, for many years, been dominated by the NRM.
He managed to bring FDC top leaders like Wafula Oguttu to the county. Much earlier, Salaamu Musumba, among others, had done a good job trying to garner support for Wakabi.
However, he was fighting a losing battle. “They won because there was massive rigging before and on election day,†he says. However, does this rigging account for the over 20,000 vote difference? One wonders. Even the mention of over 3,000 voters who were scrapped from the voters register does not add much credence to the allegations of rigging.
Badru Kiggundu, the Electoral Commission chairman, says those scrapped off the register were the dead and the people who had shifted.
Moses Bigirwa
He was seen in the company of Kampala mayor, Nasser Sebaggala (Seya), during his campaigns. It was, therefore, not surprising that his campaign was similar to Seya’s although the formula did not work for him.
Garnering less than 1,000 votes, was not a sign for a party that is viewing state power. According to sources, Bigirwa did not receive the necessary support from party headquarters which contributed to his loss. “We did not have enough money to run a basic campaign,†one of his campaigners laments.
Bigirwa came to the limelight when he contested for the post of the DP deputy secretary for youth in Kamuli district. He earned more fame when he clashed with the resident district commissioner, Haji Asadu Lutale, during a candidates’ meeting at Buyende County headquarters over the latter’s comments which were seen to favour Balyejusa.
Bigirwa said: “The statement is an indicator of intimidation. This is favouritism and denies voters a chance to elect a person of their choice,†Bigirwa said.
Additional reporting by Tom Gwebayanga
There has been chanting and dancing in Budiope County, Busoga Region, for the past few weeks. It was not a concert, but campaign rallies organised by candidates seeking to fill the area Member of Parliament position which fell vacant at the demise of Henry Balikoowa in November last year.
As the candidates traversed the county, it became clear the major race was between the ruling party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and opposition party Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
On Monday when voters went to the polls, as the election results showed, NRM’s Sulaiman Kirunda Balyejusa tallied 26,000 votes with FDC’s Dominic Wakabi following with 6,000 votes and Democratic Party’s Moses Bigirwa getting 800 votes. The other candidates were Mustafa Kalwaza, who pulled out of the race later and Ahmed Shaban, both independents.
In a way, the elections were a test for both the NRM and the FDC. Those in the NRM camp argue that the results manifest the strong support the party still enjoys in Busoga, dismissing claims that FDC has won over the hearts of the voters in the region.
This was the fourth by-election in Busoga since 2006. In the previous three, the NRM won the Kamuli (LC5) seat but lost in Bugweri, where Abdul Katuntu defeated Kirunda Kivejinja. NRM’s Bakka Mugabi also won in Bukholi North, in Bugiri.
Going by the 2006 elections, Busoga is predominantly NRM. Among the 27 MPs from the region, only two, Abdul Katuntu and Harry Kasigwa, are from the opposition.
With Balyejusa’s win, the opposition has a lesson to learn. In the week to the elections, FDC leader Col. Kizza Besigye talked about ‘smoking’ the NRM out of the villages where they are stronger. However, the Budiope results prove that the opposition still has a lot to do if they are to get meaningful results in these areas come 2011.
Nature of population
Budiope is one of the not-so-rich areas of Busoga, with people surviving on mainly subsistence agriculture and fishing. No wonder every candidate soliciting for votes promises heaven on earth.
But all the same, the locals have not fully utilised Lake Kyoga, River Nile and other smaller rivers from which the locals can fish. “Most people here live one day at a time,†says Hamza Kiyingi, a supporter of Balyejusa.
So when the NRM government brought an ice packaging facility, a new ferry for transport on the lake and a new power line, they scored. “We see these things as development. It will be betrayal if we do not vote for the Government that brought them,†Kiyingi says. It is on some of these successes that Balyejusa rode to victory.
The population is the type every politician wishes to campaign among because they have so many needs that any promise may excite them.
There is no single tarmac road in Budiope. Each candidate must have promised to bring better roads. Until recently, transport on the lake was a very big challenge. However, a ferry will soon start operating to ease transportation and the NRM politician claimed to have helped bring the ferry.
Sulaiman Kirunda Balyejusa Although his name Balyejusa means ‘they will regret’ in Luganda, Balyejusa has no regrets for joining the NRM. This is because his win was purely not out of his hardwork, but because he chose to belong to the NRM, the biggest party in Uganda. A former supervisor at the Uganda Revenue Authority, Balyejjusa joined politics like a storm. He beat his contestants in the primaries with a big margin, before turning his guns to the opposition.
When he was picked as the party’s flag bearer, he attracted the attention of Kamuli’s NRM bigwigs, including Rebecca Kadaga, the deputy speaker of Parliament and Moses Kizige, the senior presidential adviser, who campaigned for him.
Balyejusa had other contributing factors. For example, the NRM has carried out significant infrastructure development work in the area like the fish and ice plants at Bukungu Landing Site. The site also got an electricity grid and a pier where the new ferry will dock.
“The people voted for continuity of development,†Balyejusa says. “I will lobby my friends to bring development here.â€
Dominic Wakabi
He had the potential but several factors affected his ability to turn this potential into a reality. For starters, he has to be applauded for thinking he could win in an area that has, for many years, been dominated by the NRM.
He managed to bring FDC top leaders like Wafula Oguttu to the county. Much earlier, Salaamu Musumba, among others, had done a good job trying to garner support for Wakabi.
However, he was fighting a losing battle. “They won because there was massive rigging before and on election day,†he says. However, does this rigging account for the over 20,000 vote difference? One wonders. Even the mention of over 3,000 voters who were scrapped from the voters register does not add much credence to the allegations of rigging.
Badru Kiggundu, the Electoral Commission chairman, says those scrapped off the register were the dead and the people who had shifted.
Moses Bigirwa
He was seen in the company of Kampala mayor, Nasser Sebaggala (Seya), during his campaigns. It was, therefore, not surprising that his campaign was similar to Seya’s although the formula did not work for him.
Garnering less than 1,000 votes, was not a sign for a party that is viewing state power. According to sources, Bigirwa did not receive the necessary support from party headquarters which contributed to his loss. “We did not have enough money to run a basic campaign,†one of his campaigners laments.
Bigirwa came to the limelight when he contested for the post of the DP deputy secretary for youth in Kamuli district. He earned more fame when he clashed with the resident district commissioner, Haji Asadu Lutale, during a candidates’ meeting at Buyende County headquarters over the latter’s comments which were seen to favour Balyejusa.
Bigirwa said: “The statement is an indicator of intimidation. This is favouritism and denies voters a chance to elect a person of their choice,†Bigirwa said.
Additional reporting by Tom Gwebayanga