NRM village leaders lose confidence in Nabeta

Jan 21, 2018

During the meeting in which the youth were dominant, the leaders allege the former legislator did not lobby to ensure that the pressing issues in the area were addressed.

PIC: Julius Zziwa, the municipal NRM chairperson speaking during the meeting. (Doreen Musingo)

JINJA - Village chairpersons of Walukuba and Masese parishes in Jinja east constituency have declared loss of moral support and confidence in former MP Nathan Igeme Nabeta, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag-bearer.

They declared this during the first parish consultative meeting for NRM village chairpersons at Walukuba community centre on Saturday.

During the meeting in which the youth were dominant, the leaders allege the former legislator did not lobby to ensure that the pressing issues in the area were addressed.

They also expressed concern that despite voting NRM candidates right from the President to grass root levels, they have not benefited from the national cake compared to other districts.

The first of its kind, the meeting, comes at a time after the Court of Appeal nullified Nabeta's victory.

Joseph Kwikiriza of Masese 1 raising a point


This was after rival candidate Paul Mwiru of Forum for Democratic (FDC) party and also once a former representative of the area petitioned the Court of Appeal over vote rigging. This is the second time the former leader has been pulled out of Parliament over same allegations and lack of academic papers.
 
"We need to have a leader that can lobby for us, we have many challenges such as the sorry state of our health centre IV. Besides, however much we vote for NRM, we have not benefitted much," Julius Zziwa, the NRM municipal chairperson.

"Now that we have a bye-election coming up, we should hold talks with the President so that we can benefit from the national cake," Ziwa said.

However, he also decried divisions in the party, saying as the parish chairperson, Phillp Bwambale, called the meeting, but some people were demobilising it, yet the Opposition is laying new strategies to win the bye-election.

He warned that by demobilisation of some leaders, they are creating gap for the Opposition in the parish which makes 80% of the constituency to snatch the victory.

Richard Mbazira the Jinja district councillor from Walukuba making a point

What others say
Richard Mbazira, the Jinja district councillor from Walukuba and Masese accused the party leaders of being selfish, saying they do not care about the people in lower ranks, who vote them.

On the other hand, Simon Magala, a youth from Walukuba east, wondered why their constituency was the only one whose MP was thrown out of Parliament twice.

He said they should identify other potential candidates in the party to compete with the Opposition.

Joseph Kwikiriza of Masese 1  blamed the poor service delivery in the area to the gap between voted NRM leaders and the lower people, adding that this results in leaders not representing the views of their people.

According to Faruk Waiswa from Walukuba west, the youth were being used as donkeys.

"The youth work like donkeys during campaigns, but the leaders do not ever bother to follow up on youth empowerment projects, which can help them earn a living.

When New Vision reached Nabeta for a comment, he was out of the country.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});