8 Mayors Lose

AT least seven municipality mayors were trounced in the Thursday municipal and city division polls, according to provisional results yesterday.Vision Reporters write that the losers include Bob Kaganda of Fort Portal, Steven Bewayo Nsubuga of Jinja, Paul Sande Emolot of Tororo, Patrick Namawa of Mbale, Gulu’s Esau Langoya, Lira’s Symprosa Aporo and Mbarara’s Robert Rutehenda.The Entebbe incumbent, Steven Kabuye, Engineer Tibyasa Matovu of Masaka; Dr Pius Ruhemurana of Kabale; and George Egunyu of Soroti were returned. In Kampala, the multipartyists swept the polls in all the five Divisions. The stiffest race was in Kampala Central Division where a local DP official, Charles Musoke Sserunjogi, beat his Movement rival Moses Bbosa Kiyingi with a three-vote margin. Bbosa wants a vote recount.In Kawempe Division, multipartyist Nasser Takuba Kibirige who took over as chairperson last year after Richard Ssebuliba Mutumba was elected to Parliament, trounced his rivals with a big margin.He polled 27,094 votes while his closest rival, Moses Mutebi Nsubuga, got 10,759 votes. Bonny Kasujja won 3,174 votes and the former MP, Joy Ssenteza, got 1,501.Unofficial results for Makindye showed the incumbent Deo Kijjambu was heading for a landslide victory with 29,919 votes. His rival Willy Ochieng Ddambyo, was trailing with 14,850 votes.Acting Kampala Returning Officer James Ssegane said results for Lubaga Division and Makindye would be declared today. But unofficial results for Lubaga gave Ssendikadiwa a landslide victory taking 70% of the votes.In a surprise development, the Soroti mayor George Egunyu narrowly beat his sole rival Charles William Ekemu with a 20-vote margin.Ekemu’s supporters became riotous after his loss. The Police was called in to prevent violence. Ekemu is former campaign manager for Col. Besigye.The Mbale, incumbent Patrick Namawa, suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Richard Masaba. Namawa got 2,685 votes against 6,187 votes for Masaba who drew a lot of support from the multipartyists and Besigye fans. In Arua, Khalifan Thabit, a Ugandan of Asian descent, won the mayoral race after defeating Charles Asiki, a lecturer at the National Teachers’ College Muni. Khalifan got 6,017.The two other candidates, Adam Tipere and Juma Bakhit, pulled out at the last minute in favour of Khalifan. In Lira, UPC politician Peter Owiny, won 5,813 votes as opposed to 3,642 votes by Richard Omara and 2,491 votes for Aporo. Last minute efforts by Sam Engola to persuade Aporo to step down in favour of the Movement candidate, Omara, were unsuccessful.The Mbarara mayor Rutehenda, was trounced by his sole challenger Wilson Tumwine whose bid was boosted by the supporters of MP Winnie Byanyima. Tumwine got 9,900 votes and Rutehenda 6,771.The Masaka mayor, Tibyasa Matovu, got 8,480 votes while his rival and ex-mayor, Gerald Ssemwogerere, polled 5,082. Entebbe mayor Steven Kabuye was returned with 6,398 votes. His challenger Paul Kayanja polled 3,953.Dr Pius Ruhemurana, the Kabale mayor, survived narrowly with 6,487 votes against 5,603 votes polled by his sole rival Kaka Matama Swaran. A former campaign agent for Dr Besigye in Fort Portal, Asaba Ruyonga, defeated the incumbent mayor Bob Kaganda. Wakudumira trounced Jinja mayor Bewayo Nsubuga with a landslide victory. He polled 10,513 votes against Bewayo’s 3,288 and ex-mayor Joel Kafuko’s 292 votes. Wakudumira’s supporters, chanting ‘New Year, new mayor’, jammed the streets. Although Wakudumira denied connections with political parties, his supporters took to the streets, carrying Besigye, Winnie Byanyima and Kampala Mayor Ssebaana Kizito. Ends