Kampala, (UG):- The Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, Hon Judith Nabakooba, has declared her intention to contest for the Mityana District Woman Member of Parliament seat in the 2026 General Elections.
“I intend to stand again as District Woman MP for Mityana district. I have been serving while not an MP. I served in the first term, and I delivered on what I could in that capacity. But right now, people are seeing what those they voted for are doing. They are seeing and they are comparing,” Nabakooba said on Friday.
Nabakooba served as the elected Member of Parliament, representing Mityana District Women’s Constituency in the 10th Parliament (2016–2021) but lost to opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate and former journalist, Joyce Bagala, in the highly contested 2021 general elections.
Dissatisfied with the results, the Minister unsuccessfully petitioned the courts seeking nullification of the outcome and call for a by-election but Bagala’s victory stood firm.
The 2021 general election was notably unique, with Nabakooba and all NRM ministers from the Buganda region losing their parliamentary seats to the opposition.
While NUP called it a revolution, pro-government analysts and supporters described it as a “wave” that would dissipate by the next election. It is unclear if Bagala will be nominated by NUP as its flag bearer for the 2026 election.
The former NBS reporter and anchor has often publicly expressed her dissatisfaction with the party, stating that she supports Mathias Mpuuga, the former Leader of Opposition in Parliament, who left NUP over the controversial Shs 500 million “service award” given to him by Parliament.
Whereas NUP condemned the “service award” as corruption, demanding Mpuuga return the money, resign as Commissioner of Parliament, and apologize to the people of Uganda, the latter did not meet these demands, leading to a public fallout with the party.
Similarly, Bagala has also publicly criticized NUP, asserting that she has a stronghold in Mityana and does not need the party’s flag to win the election.
In June 2024, she defied her party’s resolution to step down as Vice Chairperson of the Government Assurances Committee in Parliament.
As her loyalty and favour with the NUP leadership shrinks, Minister Nabakooba, her strongest rival, says that the people of Mityana have urged her to run again in 2026.
“If you go there (Mityana), they have been reaching out to me; madam, come back. We are regretting; we don’t know what happened,” She said.
“They keep on comparing every other day, even when you are not there. I was like I wasn’t tired, but things came that way. Now that you are promising to move with me, let me come back, and we can restrategize to see how we can reclaim our district for the services because I had told them that I had come to deliver services from the government.
Mityana people, I just say, Here I am, and I’m already on the ground. Let’s work together to regain our glory and also to have our services, which are desired,” she added.
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