Mbabazi Unopposed
Jan 15, 2003
THE Kinkizi West parliamentary bye-election saga has ended with defence minister Amama Mbabazi snatching back the seat declared vacant by the Court of Appeal recently.
By Grace Matsiko
in Kanungu
THE Kinkizi West parliamentary bye-election saga has ended with defence minister Amama Mbabazi snatching back the seat declared vacant by the Court of Appeal recently.
Mbabazi was declared unopposed by the Kanungu district returning officer Moses Kanyarutokye, at 5:05pm yesterday after his sole opponent James Garuga Musinguzi pulled out over alleged security fears.
“It is now over,†a jubilant Mbabazi said on phone.
He said his biggest task was to reconcile the people of Kinkizi who he said had been torn between the mainstream camp and multi-party and Reform Agenda activists. He said, however, that the Movement was still very strong.
“For someone to lend weight to a political exercise he or she must have political weight. Musinguzi did not have the weight. That is why he pulled out. He is a non-entity,†Mbabazi told a press conference yesterday.
Mbabazi supporters, who had jammed the district hall in anxiety, burst into cheers and ululation after Kanyarutokye announced the results.
The Electoral Commission chairman, Badru Kiggundu, commissioners Joseph Biribonwa and Jany Okello witnessed the exercise.
Kiggundu declared the exercise a success. “Mbabazi should reconcile the constituents so that they remain united,†he said.
Kihihi, the main town in Kinkizi, was swarmed by Mbabazi’s supporters while most Musinguzi sympathisers retreated quietly to their homes. A few of them camped at the Garuga Football Club, Kihihi.
After the nomination on Tuesday Mbabazi bought 10 crates of soda for each of his parish support groups who attended the ceremony.
He later hosted the National Political Commissar, Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, lands, water and mineral resources minister Ruhakana Rugunda, labour minister Henry Obbo, and about 20 MPs to a dinner at his residence near Kihihi.
Meanwhile, Ben Mugisha reports that Mbabazi has sued Musinguzi for allegedly character-assassinating and defaming him.
He told a press conference at his Kinkizi residence that he had directed his lawyers, Dr. Byamugisha of Byamugisha and Co. Advocates, to file the case.
“I am suing Musinguzi not as a defence minister nor as a UPDF representative or a person in government but as Mbabazi an individual and as a Ugandan,†he said.
“Musinguzi has been calling me names, abusing me in public and yet my reputation is known in Uganda and abroad. This must stop,†he said. Mbabazi said he was ready to foot all Musinguzi’s court bills as long as the registrar reached a correct figure.
“The High Court and the Court of Appeal cleared me of any wrong-doing and since Mr. Musinguzi had taken me and the Electoral Commission to the courts of law, I hope I will pay less than what the commission will,†he said.
Mbabazi accused some judges of being unprofessional but hastened to say he had respect for the Judiciary as an institution. His daughter attended the press conference.
Ends
in Kanungu
THE Kinkizi West parliamentary bye-election saga has ended with defence minister Amama Mbabazi snatching back the seat declared vacant by the Court of Appeal recently.
Mbabazi was declared unopposed by the Kanungu district returning officer Moses Kanyarutokye, at 5:05pm yesterday after his sole opponent James Garuga Musinguzi pulled out over alleged security fears.
“It is now over,†a jubilant Mbabazi said on phone.
He said his biggest task was to reconcile the people of Kinkizi who he said had been torn between the mainstream camp and multi-party and Reform Agenda activists. He said, however, that the Movement was still very strong.
“For someone to lend weight to a political exercise he or she must have political weight. Musinguzi did not have the weight. That is why he pulled out. He is a non-entity,†Mbabazi told a press conference yesterday.
Mbabazi supporters, who had jammed the district hall in anxiety, burst into cheers and ululation after Kanyarutokye announced the results.
The Electoral Commission chairman, Badru Kiggundu, commissioners Joseph Biribonwa and Jany Okello witnessed the exercise.
Kiggundu declared the exercise a success. “Mbabazi should reconcile the constituents so that they remain united,†he said.
Kihihi, the main town in Kinkizi, was swarmed by Mbabazi’s supporters while most Musinguzi sympathisers retreated quietly to their homes. A few of them camped at the Garuga Football Club, Kihihi.
After the nomination on Tuesday Mbabazi bought 10 crates of soda for each of his parish support groups who attended the ceremony.
He later hosted the National Political Commissar, Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, lands, water and mineral resources minister Ruhakana Rugunda, labour minister Henry Obbo, and about 20 MPs to a dinner at his residence near Kihihi.
Meanwhile, Ben Mugisha reports that Mbabazi has sued Musinguzi for allegedly character-assassinating and defaming him.
He told a press conference at his Kinkizi residence that he had directed his lawyers, Dr. Byamugisha of Byamugisha and Co. Advocates, to file the case.
“I am suing Musinguzi not as a defence minister nor as a UPDF representative or a person in government but as Mbabazi an individual and as a Ugandan,†he said.
“Musinguzi has been calling me names, abusing me in public and yet my reputation is known in Uganda and abroad. This must stop,†he said. Mbabazi said he was ready to foot all Musinguzi’s court bills as long as the registrar reached a correct figure.
“The High Court and the Court of Appeal cleared me of any wrong-doing and since Mr. Musinguzi had taken me and the Electoral Commission to the courts of law, I hope I will pay less than what the commission will,†he said.
Mbabazi accused some judges of being unprofessional but hastened to say he had respect for the Judiciary as an institution. His daughter attended the press conference.
Ends