Chameleone, Nambooze clash over DP membership
Police arrest singer Joseph Mayanja, aka Jose Chameleone (with tie), shortly after he addressed journalists at the Democratic Party offices in Kampala on July 16, 2019. Photo by Michael Kakumirizi
What you need to know:
- Chameleone dismissed Ms Nambooze’s claims as “hogwash and brainwashing propaganda with no impact”.
Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze has asked artiste Joseph Mayanja, alias Jose Chameleone, to prove that he will not be “a chameleon” in the Democratic Party (DP).
Ms Nambooze, one of the senior DP leaders, also questioned the manner in which the Tubonga Nawe singer, who says he now wants to replace Mr Erias Lukwago as Kampala Lord Mayor, was admitted into the DP.
“Chameleone joining DP should not excite anyone because at one time he announced that he had joined Islam but eventually came back to the Catholic Church. But the onus is on him to prove that the chameleon thing ends with his music,” Ms Nambooze said.
She added: “Becoming a [DP] member, you go through a branch, a certain village and get to join the party from that village and then the National Executive Committee is notified about a new member.”
She explained that the illegalities surrounding Chameleone’s DP membership were heightened when the 2016 Museveni campaigner was declared DP national mobiliser by the party president general, Mr Norbert Mao. DP unveiled Chameleone at Nsambya Sharing Hall on Wednesday.
“Chameleone has a lot of steps to take before assuming the positions I hear he was appointed to. A person shall qualify if that person has been an active member for at least 10 years or two years (depending on the nature of post),” Ms Nambooze said.
Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze. FILE PHOTO
But Chameleone dismissed Ms Nambooze’s claims as “hogwash and brainwashing propaganda with no impact”. He said Ms Nambooze is just jealous of his achievement.
Chameleone wondered why “Ms Nambooze thinks she can drive the opinion of the masses”, before he warned: “She will not do that on me. I don’t know why whenever new political players emerge, Nambooze becomes uneasy. She has never enthusiastically embraced fresh political players in the Opposition as you witnessed it with Bobi Wine [Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi], whom she had turned into a punching bag. She is indeed so feeble-minded and subnormal.”
Yesterday, Mr Mao said chapter two of the DP constitution allows any Ugandan who accepts the aims, policies and discipline of the party to enroll into the party.
“Application for membership shall be through authorised officials and in enrollment, a member shall be supplied with a membership card. This is what happened with Chameleone, no illegality,” Mr Mao said.
