SEMBABULE.
Ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) legislators and ministers were treated to free drama Sunday as the rivalry between Sembabule District Woman MP Begumisa and State Minister for Health in charge of general duties Hanifah Anifah Kawooya played out during the launch of Buganda for Museveni (BM7) in the area .
The stage was at Lwebitakuli Seed School playground where NRM legislators from Buganda jointly staged a rally to drum up support for President Museveni in next year’s General Elections.
It all started after supporters of Ms Begumisa were blocked by police and soldiers from accessing the venue supposedly on the orders of Ms Kawooya . A visibly charged Begumisa asked her supporters to remain calm insisting that no one had the authority to denied her access to a function organized by her party .
The BM7 campaign which kicked off recently in Kiboga District is aimed at invigorating NRM in Buganda Region where President Museveni made a dismal performance in the 2021 General Elections compared to other regions .
It was State Minister for Micro Finance Haruna Kasolo and Sembabule deputy RDC Faisal Sseruwagi who calmed down the situation and ordered the security.
The bad blood between Kawooya and Begumisa is a result of the latter’s husband Wilberforce Bemugisa’s expression of interest to unseat the former in next year’s General Election.
“Who is bewitching us as NRM , we are doing everything to regain Buganda but some people are fighting internally . Lets stop engaging in petty fights ,lets look at the bigger picture ,” he roared ,adding “I appeal to my sister Begumisa to use her position as district MP to help NRM win back Mawogola South constituency which was snatched by National Unity Platform.”
Begumisa said she doesn’t have any personal grudge with any leader in Sembabule and wondered why her supporters were big blocked from attending the function. “Discipline is what has made me what I am today and I will stick to that always,” she said
On her part Kawooya said what she has done for her constituency speaks for itself and is assured of a win next year.
“Those who want to contest against me are free, but the voters will show them that it is Hanifah who understands their problems and has solutions,” she said
The NRM Deputy Secretary General, Ms Rosemary Namayanja said they are going to leave no stone unturned until NRM wins overwhelmingly in Buganda region in next year’s general election
“We are a party which has capacity to deliver and we have proved this in the past 3 decades , how can we fail to explain our achievements to residents here to give us votes ,”she asked
During the January 2021 violent presidential elections, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine who was the National Unity Platform (NUP) flag bearer, defeated Mr Museveni in the entire Buganda region,after scoring 1,453,535 votes and candidate Museveni’s 838,858 votes.
The Electoral Commission’s official data shows NRM received a paltry 35 per cent in the central region while Mr Kyagulanyi’s NUP cruised with 62.01 per cent.
The ruling NRM also lost at least 10 parliamentary seats in the Buganda region to NUP and the Democratic Party (DP).