2021 polls: Will Lutaaya's songs help him win seat?

As the fever of the 2021 elections gains momentum, incumbent MPs in many constituencies are worried about those who have made their intentions to replace them public.

Before the President imposed a night-time curfew and restrictions on movement during the day to combat the spread of the coronavirus, jostling for Kakuuto County MP seat had started in earnest, with four aspirants working around the clock to impress voters.

The aspirants include the incumbent, Christopher Kalemba of National Resistance Movement (NRM), local musician Geoffrey Lutaaya, an independent, Robert Kalule, a lawyer and People Power supporter and Charles Jjumba, the Kyotera district vice-chairperson from NRM.

However, the main battle is likely to be between Kalemba and Lutaaya, who have strong name recognition in the constituency and have been gathering money for their election.

Kakuuto and other constituencies in the district have been dominated by NRM heavily in the past and analysts say many of its candidates will again be returned to Parliament without too much of a struggle.

The big fights, therefore, have been within the NRM. And this perhaps explains why Lutaaya was quick to keep his distance from Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine ever since news of his presidential bid broke.

Lutaaya's music shows have also not been laced with politics. Analysts say his plan to contest as an independent is a trick intended to draw support, especially from the ruling party.

He is one of the founding members of the defunct Eagles Production band, an ensemble of solo artistes who came together to maximise the benefit of having similar fans. It included Mesach Semakula and Ronald Mayinja.

Lutaaya split from the Eagle's Production band in 2014 to start Da Nu Eagles. He has been described as a ladies' man because he sings pro-women love songs.

His song Oli Miss, which he released in 2004 propelled him to fame and saw him win a Pam award in the Best Live Band category. He has consistently been ranked among the top ten local musicians in Uganda.

He claims he will unseat Kalemba, despite being a political novice and ensures the constituency gets its deserved share of the national cake.

"I have seen a gap which I want to fill in Parliament.  Kalemba rarely contributes to debates in the House and does not speak about the issues that affect the people of Kakuuto. So, I wonder what he is doing in Parliament," he said.

He noted that the only time Kalemba surfaced was when he was required to vote for the removal of presidential age limits from the Constitution.

"Majority of our people are farmers and when some of them were complaining about excess maize stock that had resulted into falling corn prices and wanted government to intervene, he never rose to the occasion," he said.

To prepare the ground and sway voters to his side he repaired 29 boreholes in sub-counties, such as Kyebe and Kasasa.

Lutaaya also distributed footballs and sports uniforms to various youth groups in the area, as well as giving money to women groups in various villages to boost their businesses.

"I am currently constructing a six-stance public latrine for the community in Kimukunda parish in Kasasa sub-county," he said. 

He talks with certainty that once elected, he will take agricultural experts to the area to teach people modern methods of farming and benefits of inter-cropping- growing more than one crop in the same field at the same time.

Lutaaya passed in division four with aggregate 62 in last year's Uganda Certificate of Education results.
 
He sat the exams at Makerere day and evening adult school along Sir Apollo Kaggwa road, scoring C7 in English, C8 in CRE, F9 in history, F9 in geography, C5 in luganda, C9 in Mathematics, C6 in biology and F9 in commerce.

Nonetheless the school director, Pastor Edison Nyanzi congratulated him upon passing the exams because he barely had time to study.

"Our programme is flexible. So, sometimes the teachers would have to meet him at his house or hotel for lessons," Nyanzi told Saturday Vision's sister paper Bukedde in February last year.

The minimum requirement for one to contest for a parliamentary seat is an A'level certificate.

"But I will join university in August for a degree course. So I am still studying," Lutaaya said.
 
Lutaaya's close associates believe fame will present him with good chances of winning polls. They hope he will join other politicians who began life in the music industry, most notably Bobi Wine and Judith Babirye, the Buikwe Woman MP.

KALEMBA STILL CONFIDENT

However, Kalemba, the likely NRM choice, said he has no qualms about Lutaaya contesting. "If people can contest against President Museveni, what about me?" he asked.
 
He noted, however, that Lutaaya and his rivals might find him too hard to dislodge as he still enjoys a lot of support in Kakuuto because he supported the people through various projects.

"I have a school (Nkoni Education Centre Primary School), which provides education for the less privileged, as well as a model farm," he said, adding that he has also helped ease the water crisis in the area.

Kalemba also claimed he lobbied the Government to construct a sh1.5b Nyangoma Island seed school in the area.

He dismissed claims that he rarely contributes to debates in Parliament. "Even this COVID-19, I am the one who started talking about the porous borders. I have talked about the forgotten Rakai earthquake victims. I mobilised over 50 MPs to visit my constituency to fundraise for churches and schools," he said.
 
He said he has served in the area for some time as resident district commissioner, LCV chairperson, which also gives him an edge.

"I know the people's needs unlike Lutaaya who does not even have a home in the area," he said.
"Now if he says that I don't have a home in the county, he is confirming my statement that he doesn't know the area he is representing well. There are two houses in that place. One is of my late father Kaboggoza and the other is mine," he said.

EARTHQUAKE, AIDS

In September 2016, an earthquake struck most parts of Uganda, destroying more than 500 houses in Kakuuto County and another 3,186 houses developed cracks. The most affected villages were Kifamba, Kyeebe, Minziro, Kanabulemu, Kibanda, Gwanda and Kasensero, which are close to Tanzania.

The victims asked the Government to provide them with building materials instead of food relief items.

The earthquake worsened the plight of the communities in Kakuuto, which registered the first HIV/AIDS cases in 1982 at Kasensero landing site. Kakuuto and other areas in Rakai were hit hard by the HIV/Aids scourge which left many homes broken and hundreds of orphans.
 
Residents have poor access to basic services, such as healthcare and education. There are few ill-equipped health centres with low numbers of skilled medical personnel.

Some sub-counties only have one primary school and roads are in a poor state. Kakuuto County was carved out of Rakai district and annexed to Kyotera district in 2017.