Will NRM regain Wakiso?

ELECTION WATCH 

It is 10 years down the road since the National Resistance Movement (NRM) lost the Wakiso district LC5 seat.

The ruling party lost Wakiso district leadership when Ian Kyeyune was defeated in the elections that saw Matia Lwanga Bwanika of the Democratic Party emerge at the helm of the most populous district in the country.

This time round, five candidates are in the race.

They are, the incumbent, Matia Lwanga Bwanika, this time contesting on the National Unity Platform ticket, Moses Mayanja from the NRM party, Simon Nsubuga Mujambula from DP, Ahmed Kaweesa of JEEMA and Moses Seryazi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).

Moses Mayanja is the current mayor of Masuliita town council.

The fact that Bwanika has a big support base among DP members, yet DP has also fielded another candidate is seen as the biggest chance NRM has to regain the seat since the opposition votes are likely to be divided.

The race is expected to be among Matia Lwanga Bwanika, Moses Mayanja and Simon Nsubuga.

Promises

Moses Mayanja said the most oppressing issues in Wakiso district are unemployment and poverty.

He promised to create more employment opportunities by starting affordable housing estates, where most youth will be employed.

He also said he expects to set up industrial parks in the district.

Mayanja says the state of the roads in Wakiso district is poor, but promised to work with the Government to improve it.

Mayanja promised to ensure that people get clean water once he becomes the district political head.

Matia Lwanga Bwanika said the role of local government leaders is to implement national policies.

Bwanika argued that there is no decentralisation and he pointed out that all the local revenue collected by the district goes to Bank of Uganda and that getting back the money is so hard.

He, however, says he has three areas where he will put emphasis on, if given another mandate.

He said he worked hard to have the Wakiso district physical plan in place and now that it is available, he will push for its implementation.

He, however, pointed out that the physical plan cannot be implemented, until Wakiso becomes a city, something he is "fighting hard to ensure it is achieved".

"The legal status of Wakiso district must change because if it remains a rural district, the physical plan will never be implemented and the district will have slums everywhere," Bwanika said.

His other promise is to see that Wakiso district's major roads are tarmacked.

Bwanika said Wakiso district has 300km that need tarmacking. Bwanika added that once he achieves the above three things, he will not seek another term in office.

Simon Nsubuga of the Democratic Party, said land-grabbing is so rampant in the district and that if he takes the seat, the problem will be dealt with.

Nsubuga also promised to deal with the challenge of environmental degradation in the district.

He cited the challenge of sand mining on the shores of Lake Victoria, saying it is not acceptable.