Rwaburindore in race of his life

ELECTION WATCH 

The Ibanda Municipality incumbent MP and National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag-bearer, Tarsis Rwaburindore, may have thought his job was well cutout after he got the NRM flag, but this might not be the case.

Ibanda is predominantly NRM and recent elections have always favoured NRM MPs. However, with three youthful opponents eyeing his seat, every minute counts.

Rwaburindore's rivals

Rwaburindore is battling two old foes; Peter Agaba (independent) who lost in the NRM primaries in September, and Innocent Bakamuhara, another NRM-leaning independent, as well as Enock Muhimbise.

Each of the candidates claims to have the numbers to send Rwaburindore into early retirement, come January 14.

Agaba says he was rigged out in the party primaries, while Bakamuhara never participated, saying the exercise was fl awed and commercialised.

Rwaburindore won the primaries with 13,276 votes, compared to Agaba's 12,219.

Opponents accuse the incumbent of being a nonperformer who never speaks in Parliament.

As the four contenders move from house-to-house canvassing votes, political analysts say the real race is between Rwaburindore and Agaba.

"The NRM primaries were marred by malpractices and cannot be used as a yardstick for a candidate's popularity therefore, you cannot underrate independents such as Agaba.

He can win the election any time," Godfrey Kamagara, a political analyst, says.

He adds that people were unhappy the election process could have favoured certain candidates, saying Agaba has a sympathy vote and massive support among the youth.

Bakamuhara also has a lot of support as he has been supporting social causes such as provision of safe water in the municipality.

"Rwaburindore also scored poorly in the last parliamentary scorecard by African Leadership Institute that assessed performance of legislators. Many people may not vote for him as a result," he notes.

Bakamuhara

Bakamuhara lobbied for funds to drill 29 boreholes in water-stressed areas of the municipality and repaired 30 broken ones.

The project has benefited the community in the areas of Kashangura, Nsasi and Bisheshe Health Centre II, schools and churches in Kagongo and Bisheshe divisions.

This has enabled residents who cannot afford metered water to access safe water.

Bakamuhara also runs a fund that provides sponsorships for vocational training.

Agaba

Agaba has been providing ambulance services that have helped ordinary residents to evacuate the sick to hospitals at no or minimal cost.

The service has helped save many lives over the past two years. 

With the COVID-19 induced lockdown when ordinary cars were banned, the ambulance was at the disposal of the district task force to transport expectant mothers and the sick to health facilities.

Agaba is also paying fees for needy children and has set up a clinic in Ibanda town to supplement efforts geared at easing access to health services.

Rwaburindore

The incumbent MP distributed disease-resistant cassava and banana planting materials, and improved beans and maize seeds to ensure food security and improve incomes.

"I have focused on programmes that improve lives of residents and promote service delivery," Rwaburindore says.

He says he has also donated 20 improved bulls to progressive farmers that serve cows of other farmers.

Rwaburindore adds that he has set up livestock and crop demonstration projects at his farm, where residents learn modern methods of cattle and goat rearing, fish farming, plus banana and coffee growing.

Rwaburindore worked with government agencies so that electricity is extended to Kashangura (Kagongo division) and Kitontooma (Bisheshe division). 

Muhimbise

Muhimbise, a newcomer in Ibanda politics, says he will focus on fighting corruption and promoting projects that help improve livelihoods.

Ibanda Municipality became operational in July, 2018.

Candidate's priorities

Rwaburindore says he will continue to support initiatives that ensure food security and promote modern farming methods to increase production and household incomes.

Other pledges include lobbying for funds to increase access to safe water and improved supervision to ensure better services in government hospitals.

Better roads and power access are also top on his agenda. Agaba says the municipality needs better representation, which he will provide if elected.

"The municipality needs a capable leader who can debate in Parliament and lobby for improved services," he says.

"I will also promote agribusiness in the municipality to empower households economically and ensure resident of Bisheshe division, is also looking to promote patriotism.

"I am a vanguard of a corrupt-free Uganda and decommercialisation of politics," Muhimbise says.

However, not many voters have heard about Muhimbise, making his chances at winning the seat unpredictable.

Bakamuhara says he will continue supporting efforts to solve the problem of lack of access to safe water and also fill the representation gap in Parliament created by the incumbent.

"For instance, a storm hit three villages in the municipality and people were injured and lost property, the issue was never raised in the House," he says.

Many may argue that Rwaburindore deserves another term in Parliament, which he has been in for just two years.