Nambooze to join IPC

By John Semakula and Brian Mayanja
Mukono North MP Betty Nambooze has declared that she will join the Inter-Party Coalition (IPC) with or without the Democratic Party (DP).

Nambooze said she would campaign for the DP leader Norbert Mao to be the joint opposition candidate, but if DP did not join, she would be forced to support any other candidate who represents IPC. “I support IPC and can not shy away from it,” she said.

The party recently announced that it would not join IPC. Instead, they will front their own candidate, Norbert Mao, for the presidential elections.

But Nambooze says the position taken by the DP leaders does not represent the views of most members. “I challenge other DP supporters under Mao to reconsider their stand and join the coalition,” she said.

But DP’s deputy secretary general, Kenneth Paul Kakande, warned that Nambooze would be subjected to disciplinary action if she decided to work with the IPC.

“Nambooze has two alternatives: either to support DP’s flag bearer or to crossover to IPC,” he said, adding, “she has her right to cross over to IPC.”

But Nambooze scoffed at Kakande’s remarks, calling them an empty threat which “cannot work in the modern political era and setting.”

“I can not be herded by anyone and that is why I am in the opposition. If Kakande thinks that he will herd me, then he doesn’t know me,” she said.

The IPC spokesperson, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, said Nambooze’s move implies Mao’s team has to reconsider its earlier decision and join IPC.

In the absence of Mao, the most likely IPC flag bearer would be Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) leader Kizza Besigye, who has been a close ally to Nambooze.

Besigye and the Kabaka sponsored Nambooze for medical treatment in South Africa last year.

Last month, when Nambooze won the court case that paved way for the by-election she won, Besigye congratulated her and attended her victory party. Earlier, he had partly sponsored her election campaign.

Besigye convinced the FDC candidate to stand down in favour of Nambooze and many FDC bigwigs rushed to Mukono to campaign for her.

During the last days of the campaigns, Besigye led a team of IPC officials to Mukono to campaign for Nambooze and on the voting day, FDC officials camped in the constituency to monitor the exercise.

Many wondered why FDC, the most potent party in the IPC, threw its weight behind a candidate of a party that refused to join them in the coalition. It can only be assumed that they were supporting Nambooze as an individual and not DP.

On the contrary, Norbert Mao did not do much, aside from making appearances at the victory party and at the beginning of the campaigns. Nambooze’s supporters say that she got more support from Besigye than from Mao.

It is becoming clear that if DP does not join the coalition, they will miss the support of influential politicians such as Nambooze, Kampala central MP Erias Lukwago and Buikwe South MP Lulume Bayiga. Like Nambooze, Lukwago and Lulume are inclined to work with the IPC if DP does not join.

Whereas Mao was warmly received in several parts of Buganda after his election, it is questionable whether he can get votes in the region without uniting the party.

The recent move by the former Buganda Katikiro Joseph Mulwanyamuli to join IPC rather than DP is another blow to Mao’s leadership.

At a press conference on Thursday, the breakaway faction of DP, led by Lulume Bayiga, said they were negotiating with the party to Join IPC. They added that they would join on their own if DP refuses.

Former Buganda prime ministers Dan Muliika and Mulwanyamuli attended.