Manjiya seat: Wakikona’s friend set to challenge him

State minister for Trade David Wakikona (R) receives a present as Mr John Baptist Nambeshe (C) and other officials look on at a recent function in Bududa district.

What you need to know:

Nambeshe is regarded by some to be a darling of the residents, some of whom say whoever he will be competing against is Isebele iye Khutumbusa, literally meaning “a well of confusion in Bududa leadership”.

BUDUDA- The year 2015 is living up to its billing as a political year. In Bududa, the rivalry between the district chairman, John Baptist Nambeshe, and David Wakikona, the Manjiya County MP, also state minister for Trade, has already set the tone for what could most likely be a bruising battle.

The incumbent MP’s grip on the seat is threatened by Nambeshe’s lively forays into the hilly countryside, enthusiastically carrying out a grassroots drive to mobilise support against the minister.

Nambeshe is regarded by some to be a darling of the residents, some of whom say whoever he will be competing against is Isebele iye Khutumbusa, literally meaning “a well of confusion in Bududa leadership”.

At ceremonies such as burial, marriage parties, district formal gatherings and cultural ceremonies, the two front men have faced each other with wrath and the looming fight has drawn attention of the cultural leaders as well.

Matters have got to a point where Bugisu cultural leader Inzu iya Masaba Umukukha Wilson Wamimbi has had to step in, observing that it could be a bloody contest between the two.

Some residents say Wakikona has a rather high opinion of himself, often looking at his constituents as subordinates who must bow to his orders whenever he seeks their audience. From the talk going around the slopes of Bududa, this may be an issue when the campaign officially gets underway.

Silver Wamanyanya, an opinion leader in Bushiyi sub-county, says they want to know why Wakikona believes he is the only viable candidate in the constituency.
However, a group of the electorate says it has blindly followed a man who has misled the district several times.

Depending on which side of the fence one sits, the outstanding question is likely going to be “how has the minister of state for cooperatives performed in respect to delivering of services to the people? Some think he has abandoned them. But Wakikona begs to differ.

“That’s an obvious lie. I meet people in groups in my constituency; I have thanked them for voting me. You don’t expect me to go to individual homes trying to find out what is happening there. That’s not what an MP is supposed to do,” Wakikona told Saturday Monitor.

Wakikona contends that an MP’s job is to lobby for the district’s development in its entirety together with other MPs.

“I appeal to the people of Bududa to be calm, not to rush to make decisions. Very soon I will be able to tell them the way forward. If they buy it well and good, if they don’t, well, I’ll go out honourably,” he said.

Coming back
While speaking during the 52nd independence anniversary celebrations at Bududa District headquarters last year, Nambeshe declared he would throw his hat into the Manjiya ring.

“Because we do not know why we should continue running after Wakikona’s orders, I declare myself candidate to unseat him in the 2016 parliamentary elections,” Nambeshe, a longtime ally of the minister, said, adding: “The people of Manjiya have not been well represented for the past one-and-half decades and I offer myself to serve them.”

Shortly thereafter, Nambeshe was summoned by the Umukukha to explain why he was standing against the minister.

“I am not standing against the minister. I am not also standing in the minister’s constituency because I am still the LCV chairman but I will contest for Bududa/Manjiya constituency when Parliament pronounces it vacant later in 2015,” said Nambeshe.

Peter Mayeku, the national chairman of the National Federal Alliance Party, who is an opinion leader in Manjiya County believes by becoming an adversary of the LCV chair, Wakikona ruined his mandate.

“The state minister has no choice but to mend his reputation to suit his 2016 parliamentary ambition before the time of elections,” said Mayeku.

Mayeku says Wakikona has under estimated the potential of the people of Manjiya to drop him in the 2016 general election. He says Wakikona’s campaign managers, who have supported his MP bids for the last 15 years, have now turned against him and joined Nambeshe.

Accountability
“And I believe this puts Wakikona in the receiving end as he may not be in position to explain to the electorate why he cannot account for his overstay as MP without lobbying from government, especially considering that Bududa is a disaster prone district,” Mayeku said.
He also observes that while the race between the two adversaries will likely be the main act, a new and little known candidate is slated to surprise both of them.

Alfred Kutosi from Bududa sub-county says trouble between the two former friends started when the incumbent MP allegedly wanted to be involved in the administration of the district council where Nambeshe is leader.

It is alleged that Wakikona assumed that because he groomed Nambeshe into Bududa politics, he had powers over his operations as district chair, something Nambeshe did not take kindly to.

Although several of those asking for Wakikona’s departure are his former close associates, he remains unshaken. The minister recently declared he is protected by the powers of the Virgin Mary, having visited a shrine dedicated to her in Jerusalem where he bathed and drank holy water.

At the same independence anniversary last year, Wakikona observed that politics is not about shouting in public that you want a particular position, but it is about mobilising the numbers to support you win an election.
He remarked that whoever wants to unseat him must be imbued with integrity and of sound mind, virtues which he claimed are lacking Nambeshe.

“I am not an ordinary MP; I have the blessing from the Virgin Mary. I have been to her shrine and I am protected by the Holy Spirit therefore political statements cannot scare me,” Wakikona said before adding that Mr Nambeshe has a constitutional right to contest in any position.

Michael Matsyetye, the district speaker, looks at the 2016 Manjiya county parliamentary race between the former allies as a contest that will greatly interest voters since both men have good following. The district chairman said that if he does not come through the NRM primaries, he plans to run as an independent.

“The two have been great allies and have been supporting each other politically and now that they have become bitter rivals, the 2016 race will present a tough race that is likely to be bloody between them,” Matsyetsye observed.

However, the former district chairman, Wilson Watira, who fell out with Wakikona, says if Nambeshe and Wakikona continue fighting each other, another person is likely to take the seat.

This is a view with which Geofrey Natubu, a councillor representing Bulucheke sub-county, agrees. He told Saturday Monitor voters are likely to send both men packing for “trading in malice, accusations and fights without helping the district develop.”
New comer
One such outsider could come in the shape of Patrick Wabusani, a community development officer, who plans to run as independent candidate. Wabusani says he prefers to present himself to the people as an independent because he knows the confusion the NRM primaries come with.

“We have had Wakikona since 2006. The people of Bududa have also decided that I represent them,” he says, adding: “I am coming into the race not because anybody has failed to deliver but I am coming with a new strategy of involving the local people in implementation of the government projects.”

Bududa waits the package that 2016 elections will bring. It had better be one that will result in better policies and service delivery.