NRM takes on FDC in race for Kamuli LC5
Mar 25, 2007
THIS will be a bloody battle,†LC5 candidate for Kamuli district and Forum For Democratic Change (FDC) vice-president Salaamu Musumba says. She could not be nearer the truth.
By Joshua Kato and Elizabeth Namazzi
THIS will be a bloody battle,†LC5 candidate for Kamuli district and Forum For Democratic Change (FDC) vice-president Salaamu Musumba says. She could not be nearer the truth.
Although Uganda has no mid-term elections, the coming by-elections in
Kamuli will serve as one. Musumba is pitted against NRM’s Stephen Mubiru and independent candidate, Paul Lubowa.
Kamuli district voted President Yoweri Museveni with around 65% of the votes cast. The activity prior to nominations showed the importance that NRM and FDC attach to these elections. Musumba drew almost the who-is-who of the FDC during her nomination on March 20.
These included Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu and Harry Kasigwa. The NRM candidate also drew key personalities in the districts. Notable among them was Isaac Musumba, the state minister for regional affairs, Asuman Kyafu, the LC5 chairman for Iganga and Henry Balikoowa, the MP for Budiope.
Both Mubiru and Musumba are strong candidates. Prior to the nominations, President Yoweri Museveni brokered a peace deal between the deputy Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga and out-going chairman Kaugu Kawoya.
If the President’s mediation was effective, NRM leaders will work as a team to defeat Musumba. Musumba lost her Bugabula MP seat in 2006 largely because of hard work done by NRM supporters, including her husband Isaac Musumba.
The same tactics are to be deployed again. Isaac is already mobilising residents to deny his wife the seat. Mubiru will not only benefit from district NRM officials’ support, but even from reinforcements elsewhere.
Among these is the persuasive language of Museveni, who is planning to visit Kamuli during the course of the campaigns.
Mubiru also banks on a powerful local council network. Most of the lower level LCs are NRM supporters. Their influence over local people is not doubtable.
On the other hand, Musumba will need the persuasive voice of her party president Col. Dr Kizza Besigye and other personalities. She lacks the local council support, yet there is no FDC MP from Kamuli district to help her mobilise residents.
The independent candidate, Paul Lubowa will most likely step down in favour of Mubiru.
Steven Mubiru
HE served as the district council speaker during Fred Bangu and Kawugu Kawooya’s terms of office. However, serving under Kawooya did not stop Mubiru from challenging his (Kawooya’s) academic papers in court.
Studying veterinary medicine was probably the best decision Mubiru made. Apart from putting money in his pockets, treating animals around Kamuli has improved his relations with the residents.
Because of his oratorial skills, the deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, appointed him chief campaigner during the 2006 parliamentary elections, which she won. Whether Mubiru will win the LC5 seat is yet to be seen.
One of his strengths is his flexibility, which has been a bonus for him given Kamuli’s complicated politics.
Outside politics, Mubiru is the coordinator of Solar Panel and the Dairy Association of Kamuli.
Proscovia Salaamu Musumba
BY her own admission, Proscovia Salaamu Musumba marvels at the person she is today. A politician, moreover an outspoken opposition politician? Definitely not the kind of person she had hoped to become! As a child, she was the quiet girl who always looked out for reserved people like her.
Musumba’s transformation started when she joined Namagunga Primary School and during her years at Mt. St. Mary’s Namagunga. “When I joined primary school, I met ministers’ children who were always showing off, yet I was the poor Namwendwa girl. But when we wore our school uniforms, we were at the same level.
That is when I learnt that it was possible for me to come out of a little village and be part of society. I knew I could break through,†She said. And so Salaamu started to dream.
But even then, her dream was not to go to Parliament one day, like she finally did, or to run for LC5 chairman, like she is doing now. Although she has achieved many things today, that childhood dream still drives her. It is the reason why she has made all the decisions that have made her who she is.
One of those decisions was to end her marriage to Isaac Musumba, the man she met when she was a Social Work and Social Administration student at Makerere University. Politics, among other things, is responsible for their separation.
It is when she talks about her marriage to the Buzaaya County MP and State Minister for regional affairs that her true personality comes out. “I never stab people in the back,†she says of herself. Musumba stood for the 1996 parliamentary elections in Bugabula County south and won.
She became one of the most vibrant members of the sixth Parliament, which led to her appointment as the commissioner of Parliament from 1997 to 2001. When she returned to ask for another vote in 2001, she won again, despite her husband’s unflinching efforts to de-campaign her.
Musumba was a member of the Reform Agenda before the formation of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). When FDC gained ground, it was no surprise when she was elected as the party’s vice-president. The then exiled FDC president, Kiiza Besigye, delegated most of his powers to her.
As her popularity in FDC grew, it was almost taken for granted that she would win the 2006 Parliamentary elections yet again. Aware of her strengths in Bugabula South, her husband, backed by President Museveni, threw their weight behind the NRM candidate Asuman Kiyingi and Musumba lost her seat.
To many, her exit from Parliament marked the end of her political career. They were wrong. Another opportunity to serve her people came when the Kamuli LC5 chairman’s seat fell vacant after court nullified Kawugu Kawooya’s election for lack of academic qualifications.
Musumba was the first candidate to be nominated for the by-elections. She will face NRM’s Steven Mubiru and Paul Lubowa.
Paul Lubowa
LUBOWA, 45, is a former Constituent Assembly delegate, National Resistance Council (NRC) member (1989-1996), district councillor, secretary general of Busoga People’s Forum (1997-2000) and the representative of Budiope County in the seventh Parliament.
He is campaigning for the LC5 chairmanship as an independent candidate. One of his reasons for leaving the NRM camp is that he was not satisfied with the modality used to elect candidates. Lubowa tried his hand at teaching before joining politics.
He served as the district secretary for information in 1998, before becoming the district speaker from 1998 to 2001, under Kawugu’s first term in office. One of his promises to the people of Kamuli is that he will mobilise resources and engage the people in development activities.
He, however, confesses that he is willing to step down in favour of the official Movement candidate, Steven Mubiru, if the party’s leadership says so.
THIS will be a bloody battle,†LC5 candidate for Kamuli district and Forum For Democratic Change (FDC) vice-president Salaamu Musumba says. She could not be nearer the truth.
Although Uganda has no mid-term elections, the coming by-elections in
Kamuli will serve as one. Musumba is pitted against NRM’s Stephen Mubiru and independent candidate, Paul Lubowa.
Kamuli district voted President Yoweri Museveni with around 65% of the votes cast. The activity prior to nominations showed the importance that NRM and FDC attach to these elections. Musumba drew almost the who-is-who of the FDC during her nomination on March 20.
These included Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu and Harry Kasigwa. The NRM candidate also drew key personalities in the districts. Notable among them was Isaac Musumba, the state minister for regional affairs, Asuman Kyafu, the LC5 chairman for Iganga and Henry Balikoowa, the MP for Budiope.
Both Mubiru and Musumba are strong candidates. Prior to the nominations, President Yoweri Museveni brokered a peace deal between the deputy Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga and out-going chairman Kaugu Kawoya.
If the President’s mediation was effective, NRM leaders will work as a team to defeat Musumba. Musumba lost her Bugabula MP seat in 2006 largely because of hard work done by NRM supporters, including her husband Isaac Musumba.
The same tactics are to be deployed again. Isaac is already mobilising residents to deny his wife the seat. Mubiru will not only benefit from district NRM officials’ support, but even from reinforcements elsewhere.
Among these is the persuasive language of Museveni, who is planning to visit Kamuli during the course of the campaigns.
Mubiru also banks on a powerful local council network. Most of the lower level LCs are NRM supporters. Their influence over local people is not doubtable.
On the other hand, Musumba will need the persuasive voice of her party president Col. Dr Kizza Besigye and other personalities. She lacks the local council support, yet there is no FDC MP from Kamuli district to help her mobilise residents.
The independent candidate, Paul Lubowa will most likely step down in favour of Mubiru.
Steven Mubiru
HE served as the district council speaker during Fred Bangu and Kawugu Kawooya’s terms of office. However, serving under Kawooya did not stop Mubiru from challenging his (Kawooya’s) academic papers in court.
Studying veterinary medicine was probably the best decision Mubiru made. Apart from putting money in his pockets, treating animals around Kamuli has improved his relations with the residents.
Because of his oratorial skills, the deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, appointed him chief campaigner during the 2006 parliamentary elections, which she won. Whether Mubiru will win the LC5 seat is yet to be seen.
One of his strengths is his flexibility, which has been a bonus for him given Kamuli’s complicated politics.
Outside politics, Mubiru is the coordinator of Solar Panel and the Dairy Association of Kamuli.
Proscovia Salaamu Musumba
BY her own admission, Proscovia Salaamu Musumba marvels at the person she is today. A politician, moreover an outspoken opposition politician? Definitely not the kind of person she had hoped to become! As a child, she was the quiet girl who always looked out for reserved people like her.
Musumba’s transformation started when she joined Namagunga Primary School and during her years at Mt. St. Mary’s Namagunga. “When I joined primary school, I met ministers’ children who were always showing off, yet I was the poor Namwendwa girl. But when we wore our school uniforms, we were at the same level.
That is when I learnt that it was possible for me to come out of a little village and be part of society. I knew I could break through,†She said. And so Salaamu started to dream.
But even then, her dream was not to go to Parliament one day, like she finally did, or to run for LC5 chairman, like she is doing now. Although she has achieved many things today, that childhood dream still drives her. It is the reason why she has made all the decisions that have made her who she is.
One of those decisions was to end her marriage to Isaac Musumba, the man she met when she was a Social Work and Social Administration student at Makerere University. Politics, among other things, is responsible for their separation.
It is when she talks about her marriage to the Buzaaya County MP and State Minister for regional affairs that her true personality comes out. “I never stab people in the back,†she says of herself. Musumba stood for the 1996 parliamentary elections in Bugabula County south and won.
She became one of the most vibrant members of the sixth Parliament, which led to her appointment as the commissioner of Parliament from 1997 to 2001. When she returned to ask for another vote in 2001, she won again, despite her husband’s unflinching efforts to de-campaign her.
Musumba was a member of the Reform Agenda before the formation of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). When FDC gained ground, it was no surprise when she was elected as the party’s vice-president. The then exiled FDC president, Kiiza Besigye, delegated most of his powers to her.
As her popularity in FDC grew, it was almost taken for granted that she would win the 2006 Parliamentary elections yet again. Aware of her strengths in Bugabula South, her husband, backed by President Museveni, threw their weight behind the NRM candidate Asuman Kiyingi and Musumba lost her seat.
To many, her exit from Parliament marked the end of her political career. They were wrong. Another opportunity to serve her people came when the Kamuli LC5 chairman’s seat fell vacant after court nullified Kawugu Kawooya’s election for lack of academic qualifications.
Musumba was the first candidate to be nominated for the by-elections. She will face NRM’s Steven Mubiru and Paul Lubowa.
Paul Lubowa
LUBOWA, 45, is a former Constituent Assembly delegate, National Resistance Council (NRC) member (1989-1996), district councillor, secretary general of Busoga People’s Forum (1997-2000) and the representative of Budiope County in the seventh Parliament.
He is campaigning for the LC5 chairmanship as an independent candidate. One of his reasons for leaving the NRM camp is that he was not satisfied with the modality used to elect candidates. Lubowa tried his hand at teaching before joining politics.
He served as the district secretary for information in 1998, before becoming the district speaker from 1998 to 2001, under Kawugu’s first term in office. One of his promises to the people of Kamuli is that he will mobilise resources and engage the people in development activities.
He, however, confesses that he is willing to step down in favour of the official Movement candidate, Steven Mubiru, if the party’s leadership says so.