United opposition dare NRM in Busia BY BENON HERBERT OLUKA Opposition leaders have put up a joint fight in a bid to defeat the NRM in Busia As DPs Deogratious Njoki takes on NRMs Stephen Oundo for LC-V chair Buoyed by recent by-election victories over the NRM, leading opposition politicians have pitched camp in Busia to campaign for another joint candidate. The latest contest is for the Busia district LC-V chairperson seat, where all the opposition groups are behind Deogratius Hasubi Njoki of the Democratic Party (DP). Njoki is contesting against NRM’s Stephen Wanyama Oundo, a former LC-V chairperson, in what is expected to be a closely-contested election. Polling day is January 22, 2015. The Busia LC-V seat fell vacant after court found previous chairman Adea Ouma guilty of soliciting bribes and abuse of office and ordered government to kick him out of office. Since the opposition leaders pitched camp in Busia last week, they address at least three rallies daily to popularise Njoki. Opposition leaders currently in Busia include; DP president general Norbert Mao, FDC president Mugisha Muntu, as well as Justice Forum (Jeema) president Asuman Basalirwa and chairman Mohammed Kibirige Mayanja. Mao said UPC president Olara Otunnu is also expected to join the campaign. NRM officials, on the other hand, say President Museveni will join the by-election vote hunt on January 19. In the meantime, the NRM campaign is to be led by the newly appointed NRM secretariat team led by secretary general Justine Kasule Lumumba, as well as Busia’s top NRM politicians such as Barbara Nekesa Oundo (state minister for Karamoja), as well as former Museveni-government ministers Gabriel Opio and Aggrey Awori. United front The opposition’s optimism in Busia is informed by the fact that they won two by elections last year partly because of working together. In May last year, Brenda Nabukenya of DP coasted to victory after a joint effort in Luweero, and in November, FDC’s Lucy Akello won the Amuru Woman MP by-election after similar efforts from the opposition. Last Friday in Busia, opposition politicians put up a show of unity when, before going for the day’s campaign rallies, they all attended the official opening of the Jeema office in Busia district. Also present were Busia Woman MP Kevinah Taaka and Jinja Municipality East MP Paul Mwiru. Before addressing the crowd, each opposition leader saluted not just their own party but all the other parties in their loose coalition. They called on Busia locals to put aside their inter-party differences and work together. Mao challenged the people of Busia to join the bandwagon for change. He said: “We beat NRM in the Amuru by-election. We beat them in Kasese. We beat them in Luweero. You in eastern Uganda are the only ones remaining.” At a rally held at the ‘Officers’ Mess’, a Busia suburb adjacent to the police headquarters, Muntu said the opposition is fielding joint candidates because its unity is crucial for saving Uganda from the clutches of NRM. He urged Busia locals to do the same. “Your vote is not for Njoki and Busia alone. It is for all of Uganda. If you give your vote to Njoki and he wins, you will give hope to the rest of the country,” he said. Mao worked up the crowd when he attacked minister Oundo, describing her as Janet Museveni’s bag carrier. Mao, who said Oundo had attacked him at a previous rally, said she was so peripheral in NRM that she cannot influence the ruling party to bring any development projects to Busia. The DP leader urged Busia locals not to sell their votes for a few thousand shillings and then wallow in poverty after the election because they cannot demand for services from their leaders. “Vote for someone who goes there [to the leadership] with our debt so that when he is there, we can demand for it from him,” he said. Battlegrounds Mao added that Njoki had offered himself to serve Busia even at the expense of his personal comfort since he will take a salary cut. Njoki, a former local councillor in Busia, has hitherto worked as a programme manager at the Foundation for African Development and as a policy analyst for DP. The opposition leaders, who ride in a single car from one rally to another, say they intend to stay in Busia until polling day. Numerically, according to some locals, NRM candidate Wanyama has a slight edge based on the fact that Samia Bugwe South, where he hails from, has eight sub-counties compared to Njoki’s Samia Bugwe North which has six sub-counties. The key battleground is likely to be Busia municipality, which has the remaining two sub-counties. Former Samia Bugwe South MP Awori said there are divisions within the opposition camps among the electorate, especially DP and UPC, which the NRM camp intends to exploit. “The opposition is challenging NRM on performance but they have a problem with finances,” he added. According to the Electoral Commission, which has budgeted Shs 450m for the by-election, about 142,000 registered voters are expected to vote at 220 polling stations for the LC-V chairperson and four councillors. The other vacant positions to be filled are the sub-county chairperson for Bulumbi, directly-elected sub-county councillors for Bubango and Bulumbi parishes, as well as a district directly-elected councillor for Busime sub-county. The posts fell vacant as a result of either death or resignation. However, all eyes are on the eastern district’s top job. [email protected]
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 22:24:58 +0000
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