{UAH} HERE IS THE PRICE BOBI WINE PAID TO GET NAMBOOZE ON BOARD INSIDE HIS NUP PARTY
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By Mulengera Reporters
Mulengera News website has become privy to some of the concessions Bobi Wine Kyagulanyi Sentamu had to give in order to win over hardliners (like Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze Bakireke) who have always been very contemptuous of his brand of politics. In fact, Kyagulanyi knows it's not only Nambooze that is contemptuous of him but a few other seasoned politicians in DP bloc (including one that described him as fatally unfit to be President during an ad break as he appeared on a Wednesday evening talk show at CBS).
Kyagulanyi's plan is to have them bow and submit to his authority and political superiority for now and agreeing to run on his NUP ticket. "If there is anything the Principal always looked forward to was the day the Ssubi Group rallied behind him and embraced his bid for Presidency and among them, it's Nambooze, Erias Lukwago and Semujju Nganda that he valued most. That is the reason the door remains open even for Lukwago and Semujju; he is open to them and anytime they want to come to NUP, he is ready to give up anything to have them on board," says a NUP insider privy to most of Kyagulanyi's secret plans. The source adds that he values all of them coming under NUP flag because it guarantees him relevance and access to financial resources from IPOD, EC and Parliament in case his dream of becoming President fails (as is most likely going to be the case because he is beginning to painfully realize overcoming in the ballot box is next to impossible).
Fast forward: the Thursday events at Kamwokya (where DP MPs, Nambooze inclusive, defected to NUP) were preceded by two major planning meetings one on Tuesday and the other on Wednesday. The Tuesday one was at Monalisa Bar in Kisaasi and the final one at Ndere Center near Ntinda where all of them converged on Wednesday at 11am. Key strategists in the Kyagulanyi/DP Bloc talks were Mike Mabikke, Abed Bwanika, Mathias Mpuuga, Suleiman Kidandala and Walter Lubega Mukaku. The biggest sticking point throughout these negotiations was the reluctance of many DP bloc adherents to abandon DP and profess PP/NUP first before becoming entitled to the Kyagulanyi endorsement. Having drawn the line in sand that nobody would benefit from his wave without coming under his political control and authority for the next five years (2021-2026), Kyagulanyi was consistent in saying defecting to NUP and taking its membership card was non-negotiable. This put many, including Medard Segona, in a huge dilemma because, weakened as it has become, DP still enjoys some significant support, sympathy and good will among people in most of the Buganda region constituencies.
The only concession Kyagulanyi was prepared to give on that was allowing them to defect, quit his NUP and return to DP in the 4th year of the 11th Parliament; after serving for an entire four years in Parliament as members of his NUP. This is important because the more MPs a party has in the House, the more funding it can officially receive from government (through the EC) and the donors through IPOD.
BIGGEST DEAL
The other critically very important concession Kyagulanyi was willing to give was allowing all incumbents crossing to join his NUP under the auspices of DP Bloc to retain their positions. In other wards each one of them will naturally become the flag bearer for PP/NUP in their respective constituencies. And we consider this the biggest price Kyagulanyi has paid to get on board incumbents like Moses Kasibante, Allan Sewanyana, Betty Nambooze, Medard Segona, Matthias Mpuuga, Florence Namayanja, Joseph Sewungu, Veronica Nanyondo and Robinah Sentongo. It simply means each one of them will naturally become entitled to the Kyagulanyi endorsement wherever they choose to stand without the PP/NUP Movement fronting anyone else for whatever position they choose to come for. Of course all of them are seeking reelection to keep their MPs seat except Florence Namayanja who is running away from Bukoto East (which has significant support for NRM) to become the pioneer Mayor for Masaka City.
Namayanja will be facing off with DP-backed Charles Kabanda; the husband to wealthy Masaka Woman MP Mary Babirye Kabanda who has respectfully declined the Kyagulanyi invitation into NUP. Though Kyagulanyi says the door remains open, Mrs Kabanda says leaving DP for NUP would be the highest form of betrayal to the party she loves from the bottom of her heart. She has assured Kyagulanyi "I rather lose my MP Seat than jumping into a party that my heart doesn't believe in." To Namayanja, such disrespect for the infallible Kyagulanyi is something for which Babirye Kabanda (her nemesis for long) must pay by losing her seat come 2021. This is a very painful fight that NRM could exploit to make inroads in Masaka which the DPs have always considered to be their stronghold.
The only condition each of the DP Bloc MPs will have to comply with is that the infallible Kyagulanyi doesn't expect them to raise many accountability questions regarding the way business runs at the PP/NUP headquarters based in Kamwokya. "He expects them to be loyal and make monthly contributions to the party as sitting MPs but they should mind their business without having any authority to question his decisions or the way things are run at the Kamwokya headquarters. It simply means they will spearhead the party's business in Parliament and leave the rest to him including who gets deployed into which NEC position in NUP," says a knowledgeable source. The other modest demand the optionless DP Bloc politicians made and Kyagulanyi instantly accepted was getting one of them become a member of the PP/NUP executive (see original executive members here https://mulengeranews.com/who-is-who-in-bobi-wines-nup-cabinet/) and that's how Mathias Mpuuga got to be named and announced the NUP Vice President Buganda region. He naturally couldn't be the only Vice President and that is how the other three regional VPs had to be crafted into the picture.
We can predict that the PP/NUP-DP Bloc deal regarding incumbents not being antagonized is going to create major rifts in the PP/NUP movement because many long term allies are going to feel betrayed and will most likely be fighting back to the total detriment of the infallible Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu. We are talking about guys like KCCA Speaker Abubaker Kawalya who has been investing in PP and recently used his personal money to fund acquisition of the PP/NUP offices for Rubaga North in Nakulabye. Kawalya isn't a missionary doing all that for nothing. He expects to reap political dividend and that is by way of becoming the PP/NUP flag bearer for Rubaga North where the Kyagulanyi/DP Bloc deal imposes the incumbent Moses Kasibante who had already become too unpopular with voters having been a very stingy MP for the last 10 years. It's very unlikely Kawalya is going to listen to anything and will most likely remain in the race too and vow to go down fighting. In Sewanyana's Makindye West, you have Seya's brother Faruk Ntege who embraced PP/NUP much earlier on and will most likely not be bowing out easily for anyone. In fact (just like in Kawalya's case), it's the Faruk Ntege-related pressure that has pushed Sewanyana to come home at Kamwokya.
These three (George Kagimu, Abubaker Kawalya & Faruk Ntege) are going to be politically sacrificed and naturally become very much disgruntled if Kyagulanyi is to honor the deal he reached with DP Bloc members in order for Betty Nambooze, Moses Kasibante and Allan Sewanyana to become natural PP/NUP flag bearers (without competition) in their respective constituencies
In Nambooze's Mukono Municipality, you have outgoing Municipality Mayor George Kagimu who openly embraced Bobi years ago and has been funding PP activities through chairman Nyanzi and will naturally resent being betrayed because he has been marketing himself as the Kyagulanyi candidate for the MP job. And it's actually true that some of the pressure that has finally cracked Nambooze has been mounted by him. Truth is there are many Wakiso/Kampala constituencies facing a similar dilemma and if the Kamwokya bureaucrats aren't careful enough, this is how Gen Museveni and his NRM candidates are going to exploit confusion resulting from multiple PP/NUP candidates and sweep many of these elective positions in both Kampala and Wakiso while maintaining status quo in Mukono. We anticipate the confusion similar to the one Col Besigye and his IPC faced in 2011 resulting into a City Hall (KCCA Headquarters) where majority councilors were NRM and easily voted for Erias Lukwago's impeachment in 2013/14. IPC/Suubi seemed a very popular opposition platform and you had many candidates printing posters in its colors and in the end, Gen Museveni had the last laugh because the multiple opposition candidates enabled his party grow its numeric strength for electoral positions especially in Kampala where Besigye's IPC was strongest. That is how NRM's Godfrey Nyakana grabbed Kampala Central, Benjamin Kalumba Nakawa Division, Ian Clark Makindye Division, John Ssimbwa Makindye East MP Seat and Fred Ruhindi retained Nakawa MP Seat as NRM Lord Councilors numerically dominated KCCA. Only Rubaga's Joyce Sebugwawo and SDP's Mubarak Munyagwa (Kawempe Division) managed to win Division Mayorships on the opposition ticket.
And by the way even in Masaka Municipality, the Mpuuga-Mbidde fight could prize the seat to NRM should they front a candidate as strong as Herman Sentongo who in 2016 narrowly lost to Mpuuga. Rubaga North could be headed for the same scenario (similar to what NRM's Tom Kayongo did in 2001) because Kasibante who Kyagulanyi will be backing (under the DP Bloc deal) is already too unpopular yet he might end up facing multiple contenders from opposition/NUP (e.g. Kawalya, Henry Lubowa, James Mubiru). Rubaga South faces a similar dilemma (see details here;https://mulengeranews.com/2021-updates-constituencies-that-could-kill-people-power-revealed/&https://mulengeranews.com/total-chaos-as-people-power-bosses-plot-to-sacrifice-mukaku/) and the same awaits Segona in Busiro East where the NRM could take advantage of a divided opposition to grab that seat for the first time in many years. A potentially worse scenario awaits PP/NUP for the position of Nakawa West MP Seat where Joel Senyonyi will most likely find himself battling with more senior Kenneth Paul Kakande who has also become NUP member today under the auspices of DP Bloc. This being a scientific election; it's going to be the easiest for Gen Museveni and his NRM functionaries to manipulate hence making opposition solidarity more necessary than ever before. We eagerly wait to see what magic the infallible Kyagulanyi is going to use to force the rest of the candidates out so that one PP/NUP candidate is enabled to face the NRM.
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