Op-Ed: Govt to blame for spurring NUP growth in Bududa

By Steven Masiga

Bududa District currently has no Member of Parliament on the NRM ticket, with many of those with NRM tickets like Hon Justine Khainza not re-elected during the recently concluded 2021 general elections.

Hon John Nambeshe who was raised and groomed by NRM recently abandoned his political marriage with NRM and fled with ghetto strongman Hon Bobi Wine, which leaves the following as some of the reasons that may have made him (Nambeshe) end his political marriage with NRM 

First of all, during the 2016 General elections when Nambeshe was elected as a member of Parliament for Manjiya, something unthinkable happened during the sharing of the National cake. Nambeshe who had served as Mayor of Bududa Town Council and later as District Chairman for Bududa expected to be rewarded with a ministerial position while in parliament, but this did not happen.

What worsened the situation was that all the LCV chairmen at that time who were elected as members of parliament were all appointed as ministers by President Museveni; the likes of  Ismail Orot, formerly District chairman for Kumi who became appointed as minister of state for works, Fred Ngobi Gume, then LCV chairman Jinja, appointed as minister for cooperatives, Hon Vincent Ssempijja, then LCV chairman for Masaka, appointed as Minister for defence and the old man from Luwero Hajji Naduli was appointed a minister as well.

Hon Nambeshe looked abandoned and when the “Kyelondela Tabamubi” singer found him oozing with political wounds he quickly drafted him into the National Unity Platform (NUP) and became vice president of eastern Uganda. He therefore became an NUP asset on account of some unfortunate circumstances otherwise the Manjiya people in 2016 voted Hon Nambeshe as an NRM member of Parliament but not an NUP legislator.

It is a settled fact that if NRM talks to Hon Nambeshe well, he is ready to rejoin the National Resistance Movement as its legislator which capacity he has to grab the NRM ticket. Equally, Nambeshe has the capacity to get appointed as leader of the opposition by the NUP principal.

 Whereas the constitution allows people to associate politically with any party they so choose whether NRM Or FDC including NUP the above political piece was intended to explain why a strong legislator like Hon Nambeshe was left to be picked by the musician-turned-politician.

Otherwise, the above reasons for Nambeshe joining NUP, there are other grounds that I will highlight in subsequent editions 

The writer is a researcher and administrator from Mbale