Ninsiima hanging onto independent ticket to keep Kabale woman MP seat

Ronah Rita Ninsiima is the current Kabale Woman MP. Left, is a view of Kabale hills. Photo by Robert Muhereza

What you need to know:

Battle for the hills heats up. Most of the Women Parliamentary hopefuls in Kabale bring to table promises of promoting women emancipation, improving maternal health and the lives of rural women.

KABALE- For those in the know, Kabale District can be a difficult place to win an election, let alone retain one’s seat. Most of the constituencies here are finely balanced and tend to be susceptible to the herd mentality – block voting based on certain emotional attachment is not uncommon.

The incumbent woman MP Ronah Rita Ninsiima is confident she will be re-elected on an independent ticket. There are at least seven likely rivals this former journalist can expect to face; six of them adherents to the ruling party while the other is a member of the FDC. Ninsiima is confident that her record will speak for itself even as she avoids the baggage of bitterness and vicious sectional manoeuvring party primaries usually bring with them.

In the time that she has represented the women of this rugged and hilly area, Ms Ninsiima has promoted good health, especially for women; supported agriculture and helped get women and youth groups acquainted with computer skills.

She was elected as an independent candidate, having lost in the NRM party primary elections in 2010. She defeated Ms Hope Mwesigye Ruhindi, former minister of Agriculture and current Kabale District NRM party chairperson.

She claimed the NRM party primary was rigged in favour of Ms Mwesigye. Her return of 96,155 votes would suggest the people were with her in this constituency where elections usually tend to come off as a do or die affair.

2011 judgement day
In the final elections, Ms Mwesigye got 74,279 votes, Ms Maclean Kamusiime (FDC) got 7,014 votes, and Ms Miriam Kiconco (Uganda Federal Alliance) got 1,236.

“I managed to win that election, not because I had a lot of money and government connections like my colleagues, but because of the people’s mandate after weighing me as a better candidate, and also those that sympathised with me for losing the NRM party elections in an unfair manner,” she says.

“I also believe people voted for me because of my strong advocacy for rural communities during the time I worked as a radio presenter at Voice of Kigezi and Radio West FM before I contested.”

As an independent legislator, Ms Ninsiima says she has delivered to expectations and believes that coming back as an independent candidate will do the trick again.

“I am not an enemy of the ruling party. The fact that the ruling government gives support, especially in the agriculture and health sector to the people that voted me is a testimony that government has given me conducive environment to serve its people although I defeated its candidate. I am sure that I will retain my seat as an independent legislator. I am not worried of how many are eyeing my seat because I know I will defeat them hands down,” Ms Ninsiima said.

Her work with the people outside of the wood-panelled corridors of Parliament includes lobbying the government to donate 80 computers to two major schools in her constituency, donating Shs500,000 to every women group, lobbying for computer training lessons for women leaders, donating agricultural inputs to promote food security, and participating in community projects such as tree growing on the bare hilltops.

Like many politicians, Ms Ninsiima does not believe her work is done yet. She says she needs to be re-elected in order to complete such projects as promoting literacy and financial empowerment of rural women, promoting maternal health and including safe motherhood.

But in her way, there stands NRM candidates Catherine Ndamira Atwakire, a social worker; Victoria Abigail Atukunda, an author and NGO worker and Eudia Mutabazi, Muhanga Town Council clerk. Mutabazi is also one of the pioneer women sub-county chiefs in Kabale. Also in the race are Pamela Kihumuro, a teacher and businesswoman, and Sarah Kyomugisha Sendegeya, a social worker.
It is expected that Ms Kamusiime will again be on the FDC ticket.

The biggest rival, Ms Mwesigye, for now is playing her cards close to her chest; saying she is not ready to comment on whether she will be returning.
As would be expected, almost every candidate, if not all, are hoping to represent an agenda strong on social policy issues to the electorate. Hardly any of them mentions what their national aspirations are or legislative agenda is.

“Issues of domestic violence, maternal health and education are important if development is to be seen at family level. I believe once elected to Parliament, creating harmony at family level shall be my main target. Families that are wrangling all the time cannot attain economic breakthrough,” says Ms Kyomugisha.
The same goes for Ms Mutabazi who holds that total women emancipation (including economic emancipation), promotion of good farming methods for environmental protection, food security will form the bedrock of her campaign.

“The NRM manifesto shall be the topmost on my agenda once I win the parliamentary election. My experience in civil service has exposed me to the development needs of the rural women and children and I feel I should win this election and address them for national development,” says Ms Mutabazi.

Clean water promises
Ms Atukunda believes extending clean water for domestic use to the rural communities would help the woman and children concentrate on farming for food security and education. She says she is ready to share her experience on cheap technologies that can be used to provide clean water to the people living in the rugged hills in Kabale.

“I am also ready to use my creativity as an author to steer development at household level. My experience after working with several water and sanitation projects shall help me to advise government on alternative cheap methods of supplying clean water to homesteads in the rugged terrain of Kabale District.

This would save mothers and children the trouble of moving long distances in search of water down the hill instead of concentrating on agriculture and education,” says Ms Atukunda.

There is a slight break in the ambition pattern when Ms Kihumuro speaks about what her priority would be if elected. She would like to focus attention on children below the age of 10 and their parents. Her goal is to eliminate malnutrition in Kabale district by emphasising good feeding habits.

But Ms Kamusime proposes a more radical break with the past. Time for change is now, she says. “People should vote for FDC candidates everywhere in Uganda so as to test the party’s good leadership style,” is her mantra.

The election reality
At the end of the day, however, Kabale may revert to narrow religious determinants. Certain pundits hold that the role played by religious affiliations in the district’s politics is a reality which cannot be shaken off. Some feel that this time, what they refer to as a visionary catholic would be a good choice, ostensibly to create a balance between religions as far as district top jobs are concerned.

“From 1995 to 2001, a Catholic politician, Ms Christine Ntegamahe occupied the Kabale woman seat in Parliament. From 2001 to 2011, a protestant politician, Ms Hope Mwesigye Ruhindi occupied the seat for two consecutive terms. And from 2011 to-date, the seat is occupied by a Protestant politician, Ms Ronah Rita Ninsiima. This time we need a Catholic politician to occupy the woman seat because the protestants have dominated it for long,” Mr Gilver Mwine, a self-proclaimed political activist in Kabale Town, told Saturday Monitor.

For those in the know, Mwine obviously has his finger on the political pulse of this district which, almost like no other in the country, is nearly split down the middle between Catholic and Protestant loyalties.