Battle for Kira Municipality seat kicks off

POLITICS|ELECTION WATCH|KIRA

WAKISO - The battle for the leadership of Wakiso's municipalities has kicked off with each candidate saying they are the right one for the job.

In Kira municipality, the political temperature is high after the nomination of veteran politician Mamerito Mugerwa last Friday.

Mamerito was once the mayor of Kira town council before it was elevated to municipality status.

Before leaving the seat to the current mayor Julius Mutebi, Mamerito had been involved in skirmishes with residents of Kasokoso, near Kireka where they ganged up against him and burnt his vehicle.

However, Mamerito has bounced back into the political race on the National Resistance Movement ticket with much hopes of winning the elections.

After his nomination, Mamerito addressed the media and promised transparency to the people of Kira municipality.

He asserted that on leaving office, he left in place a network of good roads which he said have been neglected by the municipality's current leadership.

"Kira municipality needs a better road network and it is only me that can do that. When I was the mayor of Kira town council, I worked hard to tarmack most of the municipality's roads which have not been maintained by the current leadership," Mamerito said.

Being a member of the ruling party, Mamerito pledged to network with the Government so that people in the municipality get services.

Mutebi was also nominated last Friday. Formerly a member of the Democratic Party (DP), Mutebi now belongs to the National Unity Platform (NUP) and he is its co-ordinator in Kira municipality.

In an interview with New Vision, Mutebi bragged about the many things he has done in the municipality that Mamerito, during his tenure, failed to do.

He pointed out that he has tarmacked 25km of roads in the municipality in spite of meagre funding from the central government.

He said Mamerito left behind badly constructed roads but he has done his best to make them usable for the people of the municipality.

Mutebi said most of Kira has clean piped water.

Another candidate interested in the same seat is Norman Ssemwanga Kabogoza.

He is standing as an independent after losing to Mamerito in the NRM party primaries. Kabogoza says there is a lot of land grabbing and other land-related wrangles that need immediate intervention.