KAMPALA. Outspoken Democratic Party vice President Fred Mukasa Mbidde, who has in the past 15 years struggled to enter parliamentary has this time round crossed to Mubende District to try his luck .
This publication has established the Mr Mbidde, 50 is now strategizing to vie for Buwekula County Constituency.
An insider in DP intimated to this publication that Mr Mbidde ,also a Kampala City lawyer is spending more time in Buwekula than his law firm in Kampala ,crisscrossing villages canvassing for votes .
” Take my word ,Mr Mbidde is going to stand in Buwekula County in next year General Elections. Everything is set and he will soon make his move known to the public ,” a DP stalwart who preferred anonymity to speak freely about Mbidde’s latest political ambition told this publication on Friday morning .
Interestingly, majority of the voters in Buwekula who are backing Mbidde’s bid to start for MP are ruling NRM supporters . One of them, Samuel Sentamu ,said: ” We[in NRM] are in a political marriage with DP and it is not a crime to support our own , “
This publication has further learnt that Mr Mbidde has prepared a thanksgiving on September 14 to unveil a new mansion he has erected in Buwekula where he is expected to officially launch his bid to contest for area MP . This comes after the incumbent Buwekula County MP William Ndori Museveni declared that he will not seek re-election after serving for only one term .
Education :
Mbidde attended Nakyenyi Primary School, a school where his mother taught, for his primary education and Kabwoko High School for his middle school education. He later joined Masuliita Boarding School and Kampala High School for his high school education and Makerere University and Law Development Centre (LDC) for his higher education. He holds a Mass Communication degree (2003) from Makerere University, an LLB (2009) from Makerere University and a postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Dip.Leg.Pract) (2010) from Law Development Centre.
Political career :
Mbidde began his involvement in politics in 1999 as a member of the Uganda Young Democrats (UYD), the junior wing of the Democratic Party. He served as the deputy treasurer for the party and then as the secretary for Students’ Affairs. He stood for the Makerere University guild presidency in 2001 on the UYD ticket and won in all polling stations. After his guild presidency, he went on to become the National UYD Vice President in 2005.
In 2006, he became the National Deputy Campaigning Director for the senior wing of DP . He was deputizing current DP president Norbert Mao at the time. In 2007,he played a significant role in the “Save Mabira Riots” that took place in Kampala .The same year,Mbidde became a candidate in the 2007 parliamentary by-elections for Kalungu East county, before Kalungu become a district , but lost in controversial circumstances and to-date still blames President Museveni ‘s involvement for the loss.
He also stood in the 2011 parliamentary elections for the same constituency and lost but this time contentedly.
Having failed to go to parliament in 2011, Mbidde saw a loophole in Uganda’s East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) representation which then favored the ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, and so sought court redress and lobbied for the inclusion of more opposition party members.
On succeeding in court, he was voted in on the DP ticket though in controversial circumstances after meeting President Museveni at a political rally. He tried contesting in Masaka City twice ( formerly Masaka Municipality now Nyendo- Mukungwe Constituency ) but lost to incumbent Mathias Mpuuga .
He runs a private law firm in the names of Mbidde & Co Advocates which started in 2011 and the Mbidde Foundation of which he is the patron.