Lukyamuzi re-elected as CP President

By Andante Okanya

Rubaga South MP John Ken Lukyamuzi has been re-elected president general of the Conservative Party (CP), to serve another five-year term.

Party founder and veteran politician Jehoash Mayanja Nkangi presided over the election exercise, where Lukyamuzi triumphed with 106 votes. His only challenger, a one Godfrey Walugembe got 10 votes, during a national delegates conference held on Sunday at Lweza Training Conference Centre, off Entebbe road.

Walugembe pleaded for votes, saying he drew inspiration from the Lukyamuzi who had steered the party amidst opposition from a rival faction led by city lawyer Daniel Walyemera.This faction snubbed the conference.

In his victory speech, Lukyamuzi said the current political trend needed time-tested leaders like him. He lashed out at the rival faction, saying their selfish interests were evident, since they snubbed the conference, despite having been invited.

"I am not merely a man but a man of ideas. I have evidently performed and rescued the party from being mortgaged by people who wanted to sink it, "Lukyamuzi said.

About 200 delegates, who attended, also voted for people who vied for the other 32 posts. Some individuals sailed through unopposed. Semusu Mugobansonga was elected secretary general, replacing Walyemera who was earlier suspended over purported financial impropriety.

Nkangi who delivered the keynote address, advised the party to have an all-embracing broader outlook that is within the aspirations of Uganda.

"As conservatives, we must continue to justify the existence of CP in Uganda. We must be relevant to the fortunes of our country. Conservatives must have policies to support the continuity of the country," Nkangi said.

He noted the need for Africa to position itself in geopolitics, and join the big league of influential political players like America, Russia, and China.

The conference was funded by donors. However, the officials declined to state the amount, saying their expenditure would be released at a later date.

The exercise was observed by officials from the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy Henry Kasacca and Sarah Kirabo, plus the Project Coordinator Citizens' Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) Crispy Kaheru.