You need not be smart to ride in Wasieba’s vehicle
Jan 17, 2005
I will be back...I will be back...†is what Sylvester Wanjusi Wasieba kept assuring his supporters when he was thrown out of the 2001 parliamentary elections on the grounds that he lacked the required academic qualifications. The 58-year-old politician was right.<br>Following the death of former
By Fred Nangoli
I will be back...I will be back...†is what Sylvester Wanjusi Wasieba kept assuring his supporters when he was thrown out of the 2001 parliamentary elections on the grounds that he lacked the required academic qualifications. The 58-year-old politician was right.
Following the death of former foreign affairs minister and second deputy prime minister, James Wapakhabulo in 2004, Wasieba’s fortunes rose.
A down-to-earth man, Wasieba joined the race and won the support of ordinary people in Mbale to bag the municipality seat. He had assured his supporters that once elected to parliament, he would capture the president’s eye for yet another ministerial post. And so he did on Thursday.
For the fact that his predictions took long to come true, his supporters were beginning to be jittery.
But in the midst of their uneasiness, President Yoweri Museveni appointed Wasieba state minister for fisheries. Wasieba says the appointment is a big challenge to him, and assures Ugandans he will perform to their satisfaction.
“For now, I am still studying the situation, but I will not go wrong in the new ministry,†says an overwhelmingly excited Wasieba. He says as a minister, he will continue to changing the face of Mbale.
“For the ministry, I will encourage everybody’s participation and will take advice and questions seriously. As for Mbale, I will continue implementing my programmes. I will work on the road networks, sewerage and water systems, light up the streets and expand the town’s boundaries,†he explains. “People are after services and I am back to serve them.â€
Wasieba, often dressed in striped shirts and black shoes, always takes trouble to listen to what even the most voiceless has to say.
“You do not need to be smart to stop him for a ride in his car,†says Ivan Masaba of Namatala, a Mbale slum. “Whenever two or three are gathered, Wasieba will be there in their midst to crack a joke or two,†he adds.
Right from the time he joined politics in the early 1990s, Wasieba has never been a favourite of the educated and the elite, but has always easily won the support of the ordinary people.
As a little known man, Wasieba took on Prof Timothy Wangusa for the Bubulo West CA delegate seat and won the race. He also contested for parliamentary seat and defeated the then MP Edward Wesonga. But 2001, a day after his nomination for another parliamentary term, Wasieba was dropped from the race because of his inadequate academic qualifications. He accused his rivals of political sabotage and disappeared from the political limelight, but not for long.
Following the death of Wapakhabulo last year, Wasieba bounced back with a vengeance. “I was preparing to contest for Mbale Municipality seat in 2006, but since it is now vacant, I am taking it. I am coming to stay,†he said.
With Masindi RDC Hassan Galiwango and former chief justice George Masika in the race, Wasieba was not the favourite.
He joined the race at the last minute as a moderate politician. But within a matter of days, he had garnered enough support to see him through.
“I am a terrific mobiliser. I have always mobilised support for the Movement in Mbale and done it successfully,†says Wasieba, who boasts of putting the movement in competitive positions in Mbale.
As state minister for works, Wasieba was quick in winning the admiration of the ordinary folk in Mbale.
He led Museveni on a tour of Mbale, giving the local people a chance to meet their head of state. He also led the vice-president and a couple of ministers on a number of tours in Mbale before he embarked on constructing roads and bridges in the greater Mbale. “It is these developments that make Wasieba popular among the Bagisu,†says Richard Masaba, a businessman in Mbale.
Wasswa Masokoyi, the Mbale district deputy LC5 chairman, says Wasieba is simply a man of the people and a good mobiliser. Their family lived in Kakira, where young Wasieba’s father worked as a storekeeper at the sugar factory. The family later settled in Kyebando in Mayuge district.
At the age of 10, Wasieba started going to schoo. The politician from the foothills of Mt Elgon, is now left with one task: to satisfy the President and be appointed second deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs as his Gisu supporters like it to be. That way, he will have fully stepped into James Wapakhabulo’s shoes.
But for now, he will have to make sure the fish in Uganda’s lakes and rivers are protected and their exports boosted, especially the disappearing Nile Perch.
PROFILE
- Born on June 12, 1946 at Sikusi village in Sibanga, Bubulo county to Batulamayo Wasieba and Irene Kibon Wasieba.
- Started studies in Kakira Primary School in 1956 and later joined Jinja College for his junior secondary education.
- Joined politics in the early 1990’s
- Became a CA delegate for Bubulo west in 1994.
- Appointed state minister for works in 1994
- Elected Member of Parliament for Bubulo west constituency in 1996.
- Dropped from race for Parliament in 2001 for lack of academic pre-requisite qualification.
- In 2004, he became the MP for Mbale Municipality.
- Graduated with a Diploma in Political Science in 200
- In January 2005, he was appointed state minister for fisheries.
I will be back...I will be back...†is what Sylvester Wanjusi Wasieba kept assuring his supporters when he was thrown out of the 2001 parliamentary elections on the grounds that he lacked the required academic qualifications. The 58-year-old politician was right.
Following the death of former foreign affairs minister and second deputy prime minister, James Wapakhabulo in 2004, Wasieba’s fortunes rose.
A down-to-earth man, Wasieba joined the race and won the support of ordinary people in Mbale to bag the municipality seat. He had assured his supporters that once elected to parliament, he would capture the president’s eye for yet another ministerial post. And so he did on Thursday.
For the fact that his predictions took long to come true, his supporters were beginning to be jittery.
But in the midst of their uneasiness, President Yoweri Museveni appointed Wasieba state minister for fisheries. Wasieba says the appointment is a big challenge to him, and assures Ugandans he will perform to their satisfaction.
“For now, I am still studying the situation, but I will not go wrong in the new ministry,†says an overwhelmingly excited Wasieba. He says as a minister, he will continue to changing the face of Mbale.
“For the ministry, I will encourage everybody’s participation and will take advice and questions seriously. As for Mbale, I will continue implementing my programmes. I will work on the road networks, sewerage and water systems, light up the streets and expand the town’s boundaries,†he explains. “People are after services and I am back to serve them.â€
Wasieba, often dressed in striped shirts and black shoes, always takes trouble to listen to what even the most voiceless has to say.
“You do not need to be smart to stop him for a ride in his car,†says Ivan Masaba of Namatala, a Mbale slum. “Whenever two or three are gathered, Wasieba will be there in their midst to crack a joke or two,†he adds.
Right from the time he joined politics in the early 1990s, Wasieba has never been a favourite of the educated and the elite, but has always easily won the support of the ordinary people.
As a little known man, Wasieba took on Prof Timothy Wangusa for the Bubulo West CA delegate seat and won the race. He also contested for parliamentary seat and defeated the then MP Edward Wesonga. But 2001, a day after his nomination for another parliamentary term, Wasieba was dropped from the race because of his inadequate academic qualifications. He accused his rivals of political sabotage and disappeared from the political limelight, but not for long.
Following the death of Wapakhabulo last year, Wasieba bounced back with a vengeance. “I was preparing to contest for Mbale Municipality seat in 2006, but since it is now vacant, I am taking it. I am coming to stay,†he said.
With Masindi RDC Hassan Galiwango and former chief justice George Masika in the race, Wasieba was not the favourite.
He joined the race at the last minute as a moderate politician. But within a matter of days, he had garnered enough support to see him through.
“I am a terrific mobiliser. I have always mobilised support for the Movement in Mbale and done it successfully,†says Wasieba, who boasts of putting the movement in competitive positions in Mbale.
As state minister for works, Wasieba was quick in winning the admiration of the ordinary folk in Mbale.
He led Museveni on a tour of Mbale, giving the local people a chance to meet their head of state. He also led the vice-president and a couple of ministers on a number of tours in Mbale before he embarked on constructing roads and bridges in the greater Mbale. “It is these developments that make Wasieba popular among the Bagisu,†says Richard Masaba, a businessman in Mbale.
Wasswa Masokoyi, the Mbale district deputy LC5 chairman, says Wasieba is simply a man of the people and a good mobiliser. Their family lived in Kakira, where young Wasieba’s father worked as a storekeeper at the sugar factory. The family later settled in Kyebando in Mayuge district.
At the age of 10, Wasieba started going to schoo. The politician from the foothills of Mt Elgon, is now left with one task: to satisfy the President and be appointed second deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs as his Gisu supporters like it to be. That way, he will have fully stepped into James Wapakhabulo’s shoes.
But for now, he will have to make sure the fish in Uganda’s lakes and rivers are protected and their exports boosted, especially the disappearing Nile Perch.
PROFILE
- Born on June 12, 1946 at Sikusi village in Sibanga, Bubulo county to Batulamayo Wasieba and Irene Kibon Wasieba.
- Started studies in Kakira Primary School in 1956 and later joined Jinja College for his junior secondary education.
- Joined politics in the early 1990’s
- Became a CA delegate for Bubulo west in 1994.
- Appointed state minister for works in 1994
- Elected Member of Parliament for Bubulo west constituency in 1996.
- Dropped from race for Parliament in 2001 for lack of academic pre-requisite qualification.
- In 2004, he became the MP for Mbale Municipality.
- Graduated with a Diploma in Political Science in 200
- In January 2005, he was appointed state minister for fisheries.