Best and worst of 2002
Dec 30, 2002
As the year ends, on this last day, it is the right moment to look back and ask, who were the best and worst in 2002. The New Vision readers have the answer.
As the year ends, on this last day, it is the right moment to look back and ask, who were the best and worst in 2002, writes David Mukholi. The New Vision readers have the answer. A total of 3364 responses were received from our readers voting for the best and worst. Each response was considered to be a vote. Therefore the principle of one-person -one vote was strictly observed. For this reason 511 responses were not tallied because they were detected to have voted more than once. Rigging: Some enthusiastic readers sent in more than one entry. Although the multiple entries were disqualified, they were later included in the draw for the lucky 10 winners to each recieve a sh50, 000 cash prize.
*****
Man of the year: President Yoweri Museveni is man of the year for his good leadership. 1807 voted President Museveni with accolades of his ability to rule Uganda democratically and constitutionally. But majority of readers based their votes on his determination to wipe out Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
Museveni’s decision to pitch camp in Gulu to coordinate the war against the LRA is cited as a commitment to end the war and the suffering of the Acholi. Other reasons for picking Museveni include peace, stability, security and economic development.
Museveni beat 85 other candidates for the position of man of the year. Among them was Col Elly Kayanja with 220 votes for fighting crime. Operation Wembley is unanimously hailed to merit Kayanja as man of the year but could not counter Museveni’s landslide edge.
According to the readers without Kayanja, Kampala would now be under the control of criminal armed gangs. Kayanja, the deputy director general of the Internal Security Organisation, was appointed to head the operation to fight armed gangs who had made it a habit to kill and rob in broad daylight. Over the weekend a panel of Sunday Vision voted him man of the year.
Museveni beat all the other candidates by a wide margin. Similarly Kayanja beat his runners up convincingly. He even beat his boss, Brig Henry Tumukunde, director general ISO.
Tumukunde comes third with 82 votes for steering ISO into an efficient and effective intelligence agency. The Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Mwenda Mutebi collected 63 voted for leading and giving Buganda its cultural identity placing him fourth in the race.
All the other candidates got under 20 votes each. Notable among them is the Prime Minister, Apolo Nsibambi with 17 votes for good leadership. 16 voted for former two-time president Dr Milton Obote for various reasons. Some said he deserved to be man of the year because he is the only man who can oppose the Museveni ‘dictatorship’. Others said he is the only one who has managed to expose the rot in the Movement. Three reasoned that his recent announcement that he had quit drinking and given up the ambition to rule Uganda for a third time makes him the man of the year.
The Woman of the year:
Out of 70 candidates Justice Julia Sebutinde emerges as the woman of the year for probing corruption. 964 voted her. They unanimously cited her performance as the chairperson of the Judicial Inquiry into corruption in Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and the probe into the UPDF junk helicopters. Several said her determination to fight corruption is articulated by the tough questions she asked during the probes. One simply described her as an “iron lady against corruption and thievesâ€. In tow is the First Lady Janet Museveni with 402 votes for her concern towards orphans, widows and street children. Some commended her for arranging prayers for peace in Gulu and others for the campaign against HIV/ AIDS among the youth.
The Vice President Dr Specioza Wandira Kazibwe with 350 votes takes the third position for development activities especially her recent campaign to revive the cooperative movement in Uganda. Some praised her for publicly revealing how her husband Engineer Charles Kazibwe used to batter her. The Nabagereka of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda comes fourth in the race. Several noted her effort in mobilising assistance for the helpless especially the children in northern Uganda.
Winnie Matsiko, Miria Matembe and Winnie Byanyima gathered 142, 76 and 55 votes respectively. Other contestants for this slot had less than 55 votes each.
Worst Woman:
The crown for the worst woman goes to Winnie Byanyima, Mbarara Municipality MP. Although 55 voted her for the best woman slot for fighting for democracy and against dictatorship the overwhelming 981 earned her the non-prestigious honour. Her alleged link with LRA rebels and anti-government crusade was cited as the main reason for her being voted the worst. There were 53 women in the race.
The Vice President, Specioza Wandira Kazibwe takes the second position with 222 votes. Most thought that her revelation about her husband beating her was a domestic affair that should have not been made public. In other words they were not sympathetic with her at all. Nevertheless, Dr Kazibwe had a significant figure picking her for the best woman but this did not stop those who looked at her differently to rest their case. For varied reasons 194 voted Cecilia Ogwal, Lira Municipality MP, as the worst. she comes third. Some said she is unreasonably critical of the Movement government. But ironically others reasoned that the decline of her vitriolic criticism and vigilance against the Movement system, corruption and abuse of office deserved her a place among the worst of 2002. One reader asked “why is she silent?†In the race for best woman Ogwal collected only 3 votes.
Betty Kamya of the Reform Agenda earns herself the fourth place among the worst for belonging to an organisation headed by Col. Dr Kizza Besigye. Reform Agenda is an organisation that spear-headed Besigye’s 2001 presidential campaign against Museveni. Some picked on her for denying that Besigye is planning to wage war, yet he is, according to them.
Miria Matembe, Minister of Ethics and Integrity did not miss in the race for the worst. Her sin was alleging that some male MPs were demanding sex from their female colleagues. Interestingly it is this very revelation that earned her 76 votes to be among those considered the best. But 120 votes up contesting it and voted her among the worst all the same. Some said it was wrong for her to accuse MPs. Others pointed out that her failure to name the MPs was possibly a cover up act least expected of her as a minister responsible for ethics and integrity.
The other candidates in this slot got less than 70 votes each.
Worst Man:
No one other than Joseph Kony, LRA rebel leader could beat the 75 contestants. It had to be him according to 1,363 votes because of the atrocities he has committed against the people of northern Uganda. One reader described him as “Joseph Kony butcher of 2002â€. Others branded him a maniac and cannibal. Over and above, Kony’s rebellion unanimously places him top on the list of the worst men. One reader pointed out that the atrocities committed make Kony and his LRA to be Lucifer’s Resistance Army and not the Lord’s.
His runner up is Col. Dr Kizza Besigye with 632 voting him the worst for threatening to wage war against Uganda. Besigye who gave President Museveni a hard challenge in the 2001 presidential elections, poorly featured in the race for best man. With only 4 votes against Museveni’s 1807, Besigye this time was of no consequence in the race for the best man of 2002. But he manages to squeeze into second position for the worst of 2002.
Rubaga South MP, Ken Lukyamuzi with 107 votes takes the third position for opposing the Bujagali Power project and irresponsible opposition to the Movement. Some voted him as the worst because of his intransigent refusal to appreciate President Museveni’s contribution to national development.
The other candidates gathered under 60 votes.
Notable among them is Apuuli Waweru aka Black the armed gang leader who terrorised Kampala residents and also threatened to kill Col Kayanja. For his criminal business, 64 voted him the worst man but he could not beat Kony and Besigye in this contest.
Former Besigye aide James Opoka had 33 votes for his fraternity with Joseph Kony. But it is not only associates of Besigye, Kony and critics of Museveni that competed for the worst man slot. Even hard core Movementists were in the race like Ofwono Opondo, director of information and public relations in the Movement Secretariat. Twenty seven voted him for publicly alleging that MP’s were soliciting bribes from businesspersons. Some called him an alarmist and liar. However, Ofwono’s exposition of bribe taking MP’s earned him 10 votes in the race for the best man. But they could not save him from being among the worst.
President Museveni was also in the race for the worst. But he performed poorly in this one. He gathered as little as 20 votes for refusing to open up the political space — allowing political parties to operate freely. Some also thought he deserved to be the worst because of the war in the north. And others held him responsible for the corruption in government and poverty among the local population.
Former Electoral Commission chairman Aziz Kasujja gathered 27 votes in the race for the despicable position. He earned 27 for messing up the electoral body with scandals — voters register, digital cameras are among the reasons given.
Best Dressed Woman:
Out of 70 contestants the best-dressed woman is the Nabagereka of Buganda Sylvia Nagginda with 775 votes. The runner up is First Lady Janet Museveni voted by 694. And in the third position is Hon Winnie Byanyima with 116 votes. The rest of the contestants received less than 40 votes each.
Best Dressed Man:
The crown goes to Mike Mukula, minister of state for health, who topped 105 contestants with 547 votes. John Segawa comes second with 330 votes followed by President Museveni with 279 votes.
Other candidates got under 50 votes each; majority of them received 1-15 votes.
Worst Dressed Woman:
Cecilia Ogwal takes the title. She competed with 77 women and led with 568 votes. The runner up is the Vice President Dr Specioza Wandira Kazibwe with 181 votes. Number three is Miria Matembe.
Kazibwe and Matembe had some little favours in the race for the best dressed with 39 and 18 votes respectively but did better in the worst dressed.
Curiously, although Byanyima enjoyed the third position for the best dressed she takes the fourth among the worst dressed with 103 votes.
Worst Dressed Man:
They voted him to third position in the race for the worst man and then he features among the worst dressed he wins. This is Ken Lukyamuzi leading with 410 votes for being the worst dressed. It was a tough contest among 114 men.
Ofwono Opondo and Hon Kibirige Sebunya come second and third with 243 and 137 votes respectively. The rest of the contestants polled fewer than 80 each with majority lying in the 1-10 score. Among them is Igara West MP, Tarsis Kabwegyere with 80 and President Museveni also features with 2 votes.
Best TV Presenter:
62 candidates ran for the position. And the title goes to Straka Mwenzi of WBS TV with 341 votes. Following her closely is UTV’s Owen Kibenge with 297 and Irene Kulabako with 149. Other contestant got under 45 votes each.
Best Radio Presenter:
The title goes to Alex Ndaula of Capital FM. He beats 96 contestants with 354 votes. Runner up is Charles (Siasa) Senkubuge of Simba FM who bags 246 votes. Next is CBS’ Meddie Nsereko Sebuliba with 146. The other radio presenters shared the remaining votes with each getting under 45, some got as low as 1 vote.
Best Radio News Reader:
Is the one and only Kaddu Mukasa of CBS. With 405 votes he beats 70 contestants. The runner up is Ddembe FM’s Aisha Sematiko picking up 194 and Radio Uganda’s Bbaale Francis with 120 votes.
Best TV News Reader:
There were only 39 competitors for the title. It was basically a one-man race. Bbaale Francis of UTV emerges as the titleholder with a landslide victory of 1059 beating all contestants by a wide margin. The runner up, also from UTV, Owen Kibenge is feebly honoured with 188 votes.
Best football player of the year:
47 players competed including foreigners but only local players were considered. And the winner is Hassan Mubiru of Express FC with 464 votes. It was an all-Express affair.
Andrew Fimbo Mukasa also of Express comes second polling 139.
Phillp Obwiny of SC Villa gets the third position with 77 votes.
Best Musician (International):
Songbird Celine Dione beats over 80 musicians with 381 votes. With 179 votes South African Lucky Dube is runner up.
Best Musician (Local):
It was a race that attracted over 55 musicians. The title goes to Paul Kafeero voted by 359 and in tow is Jose Chameleon with his 261 votes.
Best Business Person:
Hassan Bassajjabalaba is the best. 601 say so. There were 50 competitors among who were Gordon Wavamunno and James Mulwana taking second and third positions with 273 and 127 votes respectively.
Best Journalist:
Out of 119 journalists in the race The Monitor’s/ Daily Nation’s Charles Onyango Obbo emerges winner with 233 votes. Frank Nyakairu the author of the controversial gunship story that led to The week-long closure of The Monitor has not been forgotten. He comes second with 131 voting him.
The New Vision’s sports writer Joseph Kabuleta is third with 87 votes. The Monitor’s Andrew Mwenda follows with 59.
Newspaper Columnist:
The New Vision’s Paul Waibale Snr takes it with 321 for his column -the other side of the coin published every Monday. Runner up is Sunday Vision’s Dr Ian Clarke with 159 votes. The New Vision/ Sunday Vision swept all the top positions. There were 55 contestants.
Mary Karoro Okurut got 140 for her Sunday Vision column and John Nagenda follows with 105 for his column -the one man week published in The New Vision every Saturday.
Best Person in the Army:
There were 30 officers in the race. Col Nobel Mayombo takes the title with 915 votes. Runner up is Col. Elly Kayanja (who is also runner up for the best man title) with 469. The army commander Maj. Gen James Kazini comes third with 417 votes.
Best Person in the Police:
It is none other than the Police chief himself. With a majority vote of 2,179 Maj. Gen. Katumba Wamala takes the crown. There were 30 officers in the race. The runner up turns out to be the Police Spokesman Asumani Mugenyi with 234 votes. Followed by the CID boss Elizabeth Kutesa voted by 217.
Best Person in Arts:
Charles (Siasa) Senkubuge takes the title after being voted by 499. There were 30 in the race. Senkubuge is an actor with the Bakayimbira Dramactors. This category covered different aspects of art including actors, authors and fine artists.
Lt Gen Elly Tumwine secures a second position for his fine art skills with 470 votes.
Sam Bagenda commonly known as Dr. Sam Bossa of the Ebonies polls 437 votes coming third.
Best Person in Sports:
Out of 43 contestants Paul Hasule the Police FC and national coaches wins with 450 votes. Professional boxer Justin Juuko takes the second position with 230 votes. The motor rally ace Charlie Lubega follows with 104 votes.
Best Football Club:
Over 50 clubs were mentioned including foreign teams but only local teams were considered here. Mighty SC Villa takes the crown with majority 704 votes. In tow is Express FC carrying 401 votes followed by URA FC with 137.
Football Match:
Like in the case of the club and player of the year foreign matches were not considered although they were voted for. This decision greatly affected this slot leaving only a few matches in the race. The second round league match between SC Villa and Express takes the lead with 49 votes. This is followed by the Kakungulu Cup Final with 68 votes.
Best Radio Station:
Capital FM takes the title with 484 votes. 42 radio stations were in the race. The runner up is Simba FM with 386 votes. Third is CBS with 316 votes.
Best TV Station:
Of the six TV station that competed WBS comes first with 1063 votes, UTV follows with 424 and TV Africa polls 195. The others: LTV and Top TV received 152 and 139 respectively.
Best Radio Programme:
47 programmes competed in this slot. Capital Gang on Capital FM takes the title of the best with 302 votes. Runner up is Bisangawano on Simba FM with 283 votes.
Best TV Programme:
41 programmes were candidates. And Omubaala on WBS takes the prize with 245 votes. While That is Life Mwattu on UTV comes second with 215 votes.
Best Drama Group:
25 competed for the title, which goes to the Ebonies voted by 627. Bakayimbira Dramactors take the second place with 359 votes.
Best Song (Local):
The song is Kampala Mukooti by Paul Kafeero with 209 votes. Over 80 songs competed. The second best is Dorotia by Chameleon with 146 votes.
Best Song (International):
Out of over 150 songs I am Alive by Celine Dione take number one position with 116 votes. It is closely followed by Dilemma by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland 97 votes.
Best Performing Minister:
From the 44 ministers mentioned it’s the Minister of Health, Brig. Jim Muhwezi picked by 448 as the best. Second best is Minister of Defence, Amama Mbabazi with 251. The Prime Minister, Apolo Nsibambi comes third in the race with 222 votes. Local government minister, Jabel Bidandi Ssali follows with 149 votes.
Worst Performing Minister:
32 were on the worst performing list. Even though cited among the best performers surprisingly Bidandi Ssali takes the demeaning title, leading with 134 votes. Defence Minister, Amama Mbabazi is also lowered into the worst performers taking the second position with 83 votes. Kibirige Sebunya, state minister of agriculture takes the third position with 75 votes.
Best Performing MP:
Over 153 MPs were on the line up. Being the third in the race for the worst man did not lower his chances for being the best MP. He belongs to the two worlds. Ken Lukyamuzi becomes the best performing MP with 152 votes. However, it was a narrow win because Hon Gilbert Bukenya, Busiro North MP is the second best with 151 votes. He is also minister of state for the presidency. Mike Mukula, Soroti Municipality MP takes the third place with 98 votes.
Worst Performing MP:
Ken Lukyamuzi is an all round man. He is unstoppable. Although he carries the crown of the best performing MP he also snatches the award of the worst performing. 503 say that he deserves the title. It is as if they were challenging those who voted him the best.
There were 73 contestants for this slot. Tom Kayongo of Rubaga North follows his Rubaga South counterpart as second worst performing MP with 106 votes, 91 voted workers MP, Dr Sam Lyomoki as worst while 76 pointed at Winnie Byanyima.
Government Blunder:
Seventy seven blunders were cited. But the majority felt that the closure of The Monitor was biggest government blunder of the year. 292 votes indicate that Monitor newspaper closure was a blunder. The second government blunder is restriction of political parties by passing the Political Organisation’s Act with 263 votes.
One hundred and seventy voted endless wars as government blunder and 168 picked Uganda’s involvement in the DR Congo.
Government Achievement:
Of the 84 lined as achievement it’s the Universal Primary Education (UPE) that is ranked as the best achievement that 200 said so. there were 171 think it is the National Housing and Population Census, while 168 voted Operation Wembley.
National Shame:
If one thought that Ugandans are oblivious of shame, think again. They listed 96 shames and corruption ranks high with 243 votes. One hundred and three voted the unending war in northern Uganda, which becomes the second rated shame.
National Achievement:
Eighty five were listed. Leading is UPE with 353 votes. Second achievement is the fight against HIV/AIDS with 188 votes.
The New Vision’s Best and Worst 2002 result tallies were done by Ben Epajjar, Francis Musasizi, Muhammad Tamale, Edith Kimuli, Catherine Ntabadde, Edris Kisambira, Cathy Dedeya, Jude Etyang, Steven Candia, Alex Balimwikungu, Godfrey Malime and Florence Nakaayi
Congratulations!
Each of the following lucky respondents wins shs50,000
Christopher Okello-Mukasa, Patera Motel P. O. Box 364 Lira.
Geofrey Odong Makmot , Alliance College, Gulu.
Julius Mutenga, Arapai Agriculture College, P.O.Box 203 Soroti
Elly Kiyingi Tel 075 513040
Chantal Mbabazi , P.O.Box 5319 Kampala
Robert William Suubi P.O Box 5 Jinja
Goretti Nagawa P.O Box 7178 Kampala
Mercy Kesiime, Kampala e-mail kesiime@dwd.co.ug
Cathy Nasozi, P.O.Box 93 Ntinda, Kampala
Christopher Bamwebaza, P. O.Box 7163 Kampala. Tel. 077853858.
Prizes will be handed out on Tuesday, January 7, 2003 at 3.00pm at The New Vision Head Office on 3rd Street Industrial Area, Kampala. Please come with proper identification. See you then.
Happy New Year!
*****
Man of the year: President Yoweri Museveni is man of the year for his good leadership. 1807 voted President Museveni with accolades of his ability to rule Uganda democratically and constitutionally. But majority of readers based their votes on his determination to wipe out Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
Museveni’s decision to pitch camp in Gulu to coordinate the war against the LRA is cited as a commitment to end the war and the suffering of the Acholi. Other reasons for picking Museveni include peace, stability, security and economic development.
Museveni beat 85 other candidates for the position of man of the year. Among them was Col Elly Kayanja with 220 votes for fighting crime. Operation Wembley is unanimously hailed to merit Kayanja as man of the year but could not counter Museveni’s landslide edge.
According to the readers without Kayanja, Kampala would now be under the control of criminal armed gangs. Kayanja, the deputy director general of the Internal Security Organisation, was appointed to head the operation to fight armed gangs who had made it a habit to kill and rob in broad daylight. Over the weekend a panel of Sunday Vision voted him man of the year.
Museveni beat all the other candidates by a wide margin. Similarly Kayanja beat his runners up convincingly. He even beat his boss, Brig Henry Tumukunde, director general ISO.
Tumukunde comes third with 82 votes for steering ISO into an efficient and effective intelligence agency. The Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Mwenda Mutebi collected 63 voted for leading and giving Buganda its cultural identity placing him fourth in the race.
All the other candidates got under 20 votes each. Notable among them is the Prime Minister, Apolo Nsibambi with 17 votes for good leadership. 16 voted for former two-time president Dr Milton Obote for various reasons. Some said he deserved to be man of the year because he is the only man who can oppose the Museveni ‘dictatorship’. Others said he is the only one who has managed to expose the rot in the Movement. Three reasoned that his recent announcement that he had quit drinking and given up the ambition to rule Uganda for a third time makes him the man of the year.
The Woman of the year:
Out of 70 candidates Justice Julia Sebutinde emerges as the woman of the year for probing corruption. 964 voted her. They unanimously cited her performance as the chairperson of the Judicial Inquiry into corruption in Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and the probe into the UPDF junk helicopters. Several said her determination to fight corruption is articulated by the tough questions she asked during the probes. One simply described her as an “iron lady against corruption and thievesâ€. In tow is the First Lady Janet Museveni with 402 votes for her concern towards orphans, widows and street children. Some commended her for arranging prayers for peace in Gulu and others for the campaign against HIV/ AIDS among the youth.
The Vice President Dr Specioza Wandira Kazibwe with 350 votes takes the third position for development activities especially her recent campaign to revive the cooperative movement in Uganda. Some praised her for publicly revealing how her husband Engineer Charles Kazibwe used to batter her. The Nabagereka of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda comes fourth in the race. Several noted her effort in mobilising assistance for the helpless especially the children in northern Uganda.
Winnie Matsiko, Miria Matembe and Winnie Byanyima gathered 142, 76 and 55 votes respectively. Other contestants for this slot had less than 55 votes each.
Worst Woman:
The crown for the worst woman goes to Winnie Byanyima, Mbarara Municipality MP. Although 55 voted her for the best woman slot for fighting for democracy and against dictatorship the overwhelming 981 earned her the non-prestigious honour. Her alleged link with LRA rebels and anti-government crusade was cited as the main reason for her being voted the worst. There were 53 women in the race.
The Vice President, Specioza Wandira Kazibwe takes the second position with 222 votes. Most thought that her revelation about her husband beating her was a domestic affair that should have not been made public. In other words they were not sympathetic with her at all. Nevertheless, Dr Kazibwe had a significant figure picking her for the best woman but this did not stop those who looked at her differently to rest their case. For varied reasons 194 voted Cecilia Ogwal, Lira Municipality MP, as the worst. she comes third. Some said she is unreasonably critical of the Movement government. But ironically others reasoned that the decline of her vitriolic criticism and vigilance against the Movement system, corruption and abuse of office deserved her a place among the worst of 2002. One reader asked “why is she silent?†In the race for best woman Ogwal collected only 3 votes.
Betty Kamya of the Reform Agenda earns herself the fourth place among the worst for belonging to an organisation headed by Col. Dr Kizza Besigye. Reform Agenda is an organisation that spear-headed Besigye’s 2001 presidential campaign against Museveni. Some picked on her for denying that Besigye is planning to wage war, yet he is, according to them.
Miria Matembe, Minister of Ethics and Integrity did not miss in the race for the worst. Her sin was alleging that some male MPs were demanding sex from their female colleagues. Interestingly it is this very revelation that earned her 76 votes to be among those considered the best. But 120 votes up contesting it and voted her among the worst all the same. Some said it was wrong for her to accuse MPs. Others pointed out that her failure to name the MPs was possibly a cover up act least expected of her as a minister responsible for ethics and integrity.
The other candidates in this slot got less than 70 votes each.
Worst Man:
No one other than Joseph Kony, LRA rebel leader could beat the 75 contestants. It had to be him according to 1,363 votes because of the atrocities he has committed against the people of northern Uganda. One reader described him as “Joseph Kony butcher of 2002â€. Others branded him a maniac and cannibal. Over and above, Kony’s rebellion unanimously places him top on the list of the worst men. One reader pointed out that the atrocities committed make Kony and his LRA to be Lucifer’s Resistance Army and not the Lord’s.
His runner up is Col. Dr Kizza Besigye with 632 voting him the worst for threatening to wage war against Uganda. Besigye who gave President Museveni a hard challenge in the 2001 presidential elections, poorly featured in the race for best man. With only 4 votes against Museveni’s 1807, Besigye this time was of no consequence in the race for the best man of 2002. But he manages to squeeze into second position for the worst of 2002.
Rubaga South MP, Ken Lukyamuzi with 107 votes takes the third position for opposing the Bujagali Power project and irresponsible opposition to the Movement. Some voted him as the worst because of his intransigent refusal to appreciate President Museveni’s contribution to national development.
The other candidates gathered under 60 votes.
Notable among them is Apuuli Waweru aka Black the armed gang leader who terrorised Kampala residents and also threatened to kill Col Kayanja. For his criminal business, 64 voted him the worst man but he could not beat Kony and Besigye in this contest.
Former Besigye aide James Opoka had 33 votes for his fraternity with Joseph Kony. But it is not only associates of Besigye, Kony and critics of Museveni that competed for the worst man slot. Even hard core Movementists were in the race like Ofwono Opondo, director of information and public relations in the Movement Secretariat. Twenty seven voted him for publicly alleging that MP’s were soliciting bribes from businesspersons. Some called him an alarmist and liar. However, Ofwono’s exposition of bribe taking MP’s earned him 10 votes in the race for the best man. But they could not save him from being among the worst.
President Museveni was also in the race for the worst. But he performed poorly in this one. He gathered as little as 20 votes for refusing to open up the political space — allowing political parties to operate freely. Some also thought he deserved to be the worst because of the war in the north. And others held him responsible for the corruption in government and poverty among the local population.
Former Electoral Commission chairman Aziz Kasujja gathered 27 votes in the race for the despicable position. He earned 27 for messing up the electoral body with scandals — voters register, digital cameras are among the reasons given.
Best Dressed Woman:
Out of 70 contestants the best-dressed woman is the Nabagereka of Buganda Sylvia Nagginda with 775 votes. The runner up is First Lady Janet Museveni voted by 694. And in the third position is Hon Winnie Byanyima with 116 votes. The rest of the contestants received less than 40 votes each.
Best Dressed Man:
The crown goes to Mike Mukula, minister of state for health, who topped 105 contestants with 547 votes. John Segawa comes second with 330 votes followed by President Museveni with 279 votes.
Other candidates got under 50 votes each; majority of them received 1-15 votes.
Worst Dressed Woman:
Cecilia Ogwal takes the title. She competed with 77 women and led with 568 votes. The runner up is the Vice President Dr Specioza Wandira Kazibwe with 181 votes. Number three is Miria Matembe.
Kazibwe and Matembe had some little favours in the race for the best dressed with 39 and 18 votes respectively but did better in the worst dressed.
Curiously, although Byanyima enjoyed the third position for the best dressed she takes the fourth among the worst dressed with 103 votes.
Worst Dressed Man:
They voted him to third position in the race for the worst man and then he features among the worst dressed he wins. This is Ken Lukyamuzi leading with 410 votes for being the worst dressed. It was a tough contest among 114 men.
Ofwono Opondo and Hon Kibirige Sebunya come second and third with 243 and 137 votes respectively. The rest of the contestants polled fewer than 80 each with majority lying in the 1-10 score. Among them is Igara West MP, Tarsis Kabwegyere with 80 and President Museveni also features with 2 votes.
Best TV Presenter:
62 candidates ran for the position. And the title goes to Straka Mwenzi of WBS TV with 341 votes. Following her closely is UTV’s Owen Kibenge with 297 and Irene Kulabako with 149. Other contestant got under 45 votes each.
Best Radio Presenter:
The title goes to Alex Ndaula of Capital FM. He beats 96 contestants with 354 votes. Runner up is Charles (Siasa) Senkubuge of Simba FM who bags 246 votes. Next is CBS’ Meddie Nsereko Sebuliba with 146. The other radio presenters shared the remaining votes with each getting under 45, some got as low as 1 vote.
Best Radio News Reader:
Is the one and only Kaddu Mukasa of CBS. With 405 votes he beats 70 contestants. The runner up is Ddembe FM’s Aisha Sematiko picking up 194 and Radio Uganda’s Bbaale Francis with 120 votes.
Best TV News Reader:
There were only 39 competitors for the title. It was basically a one-man race. Bbaale Francis of UTV emerges as the titleholder with a landslide victory of 1059 beating all contestants by a wide margin. The runner up, also from UTV, Owen Kibenge is feebly honoured with 188 votes.
Best football player of the year:
47 players competed including foreigners but only local players were considered. And the winner is Hassan Mubiru of Express FC with 464 votes. It was an all-Express affair.
Andrew Fimbo Mukasa also of Express comes second polling 139.
Phillp Obwiny of SC Villa gets the third position with 77 votes.
Best Musician (International):
Songbird Celine Dione beats over 80 musicians with 381 votes. With 179 votes South African Lucky Dube is runner up.
Best Musician (Local):
It was a race that attracted over 55 musicians. The title goes to Paul Kafeero voted by 359 and in tow is Jose Chameleon with his 261 votes.
Best Business Person:
Hassan Bassajjabalaba is the best. 601 say so. There were 50 competitors among who were Gordon Wavamunno and James Mulwana taking second and third positions with 273 and 127 votes respectively.
Best Journalist:
Out of 119 journalists in the race The Monitor’s/ Daily Nation’s Charles Onyango Obbo emerges winner with 233 votes. Frank Nyakairu the author of the controversial gunship story that led to The week-long closure of The Monitor has not been forgotten. He comes second with 131 voting him.
The New Vision’s sports writer Joseph Kabuleta is third with 87 votes. The Monitor’s Andrew Mwenda follows with 59.
Newspaper Columnist:
The New Vision’s Paul Waibale Snr takes it with 321 for his column -the other side of the coin published every Monday. Runner up is Sunday Vision’s Dr Ian Clarke with 159 votes. The New Vision/ Sunday Vision swept all the top positions. There were 55 contestants.
Mary Karoro Okurut got 140 for her Sunday Vision column and John Nagenda follows with 105 for his column -the one man week published in The New Vision every Saturday.
Best Person in the Army:
There were 30 officers in the race. Col Nobel Mayombo takes the title with 915 votes. Runner up is Col. Elly Kayanja (who is also runner up for the best man title) with 469. The army commander Maj. Gen James Kazini comes third with 417 votes.
Best Person in the Police:
It is none other than the Police chief himself. With a majority vote of 2,179 Maj. Gen. Katumba Wamala takes the crown. There were 30 officers in the race. The runner up turns out to be the Police Spokesman Asumani Mugenyi with 234 votes. Followed by the CID boss Elizabeth Kutesa voted by 217.
Best Person in Arts:
Charles (Siasa) Senkubuge takes the title after being voted by 499. There were 30 in the race. Senkubuge is an actor with the Bakayimbira Dramactors. This category covered different aspects of art including actors, authors and fine artists.
Lt Gen Elly Tumwine secures a second position for his fine art skills with 470 votes.
Sam Bagenda commonly known as Dr. Sam Bossa of the Ebonies polls 437 votes coming third.
Best Person in Sports:
Out of 43 contestants Paul Hasule the Police FC and national coaches wins with 450 votes. Professional boxer Justin Juuko takes the second position with 230 votes. The motor rally ace Charlie Lubega follows with 104 votes.
Best Football Club:
Over 50 clubs were mentioned including foreign teams but only local teams were considered here. Mighty SC Villa takes the crown with majority 704 votes. In tow is Express FC carrying 401 votes followed by URA FC with 137.
Football Match:
Like in the case of the club and player of the year foreign matches were not considered although they were voted for. This decision greatly affected this slot leaving only a few matches in the race. The second round league match between SC Villa and Express takes the lead with 49 votes. This is followed by the Kakungulu Cup Final with 68 votes.
Best Radio Station:
Capital FM takes the title with 484 votes. 42 radio stations were in the race. The runner up is Simba FM with 386 votes. Third is CBS with 316 votes.
Best TV Station:
Of the six TV station that competed WBS comes first with 1063 votes, UTV follows with 424 and TV Africa polls 195. The others: LTV and Top TV received 152 and 139 respectively.
Best Radio Programme:
47 programmes competed in this slot. Capital Gang on Capital FM takes the title of the best with 302 votes. Runner up is Bisangawano on Simba FM with 283 votes.
Best TV Programme:
41 programmes were candidates. And Omubaala on WBS takes the prize with 245 votes. While That is Life Mwattu on UTV comes second with 215 votes.
Best Drama Group:
25 competed for the title, which goes to the Ebonies voted by 627. Bakayimbira Dramactors take the second place with 359 votes.
Best Song (Local):
The song is Kampala Mukooti by Paul Kafeero with 209 votes. Over 80 songs competed. The second best is Dorotia by Chameleon with 146 votes.
Best Song (International):
Out of over 150 songs I am Alive by Celine Dione take number one position with 116 votes. It is closely followed by Dilemma by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland 97 votes.
Best Performing Minister:
From the 44 ministers mentioned it’s the Minister of Health, Brig. Jim Muhwezi picked by 448 as the best. Second best is Minister of Defence, Amama Mbabazi with 251. The Prime Minister, Apolo Nsibambi comes third in the race with 222 votes. Local government minister, Jabel Bidandi Ssali follows with 149 votes.
Worst Performing Minister:
32 were on the worst performing list. Even though cited among the best performers surprisingly Bidandi Ssali takes the demeaning title, leading with 134 votes. Defence Minister, Amama Mbabazi is also lowered into the worst performers taking the second position with 83 votes. Kibirige Sebunya, state minister of agriculture takes the third position with 75 votes.
Best Performing MP:
Over 153 MPs were on the line up. Being the third in the race for the worst man did not lower his chances for being the best MP. He belongs to the two worlds. Ken Lukyamuzi becomes the best performing MP with 152 votes. However, it was a narrow win because Hon Gilbert Bukenya, Busiro North MP is the second best with 151 votes. He is also minister of state for the presidency. Mike Mukula, Soroti Municipality MP takes the third place with 98 votes.
Worst Performing MP:
Ken Lukyamuzi is an all round man. He is unstoppable. Although he carries the crown of the best performing MP he also snatches the award of the worst performing. 503 say that he deserves the title. It is as if they were challenging those who voted him the best.
There were 73 contestants for this slot. Tom Kayongo of Rubaga North follows his Rubaga South counterpart as second worst performing MP with 106 votes, 91 voted workers MP, Dr Sam Lyomoki as worst while 76 pointed at Winnie Byanyima.
Government Blunder:
Seventy seven blunders were cited. But the majority felt that the closure of The Monitor was biggest government blunder of the year. 292 votes indicate that Monitor newspaper closure was a blunder. The second government blunder is restriction of political parties by passing the Political Organisation’s Act with 263 votes.
One hundred and seventy voted endless wars as government blunder and 168 picked Uganda’s involvement in the DR Congo.
Government Achievement:
Of the 84 lined as achievement it’s the Universal Primary Education (UPE) that is ranked as the best achievement that 200 said so. there were 171 think it is the National Housing and Population Census, while 168 voted Operation Wembley.
National Shame:
If one thought that Ugandans are oblivious of shame, think again. They listed 96 shames and corruption ranks high with 243 votes. One hundred and three voted the unending war in northern Uganda, which becomes the second rated shame.
National Achievement:
Eighty five were listed. Leading is UPE with 353 votes. Second achievement is the fight against HIV/AIDS with 188 votes.
The New Vision’s Best and Worst 2002 result tallies were done by Ben Epajjar, Francis Musasizi, Muhammad Tamale, Edith Kimuli, Catherine Ntabadde, Edris Kisambira, Cathy Dedeya, Jude Etyang, Steven Candia, Alex Balimwikungu, Godfrey Malime and Florence Nakaayi
Congratulations!
Each of the following lucky respondents wins shs50,000
Prizes will be handed out on Tuesday, January 7, 2003 at 3.00pm at The New Vision Head Office on 3rd Street Industrial Area, Kampala. Please come with proper identification. See you then.
Happy New Year!