Museveni holds crisis meeting over Kusasira, NRM leaders’ fights

NRM Kampala chairperson, Mr Godfrey Nyakana (L) and Special presidential advisor, Ms Catherine Kusasira.

Kampala- President Museveni yesterday held a crisis meeting over the ongoing wrangles between the leaders of National Resistance Movement (NRM) party in Kampala and his newly appointed presidential special advisor on Kampala Catherine Kusasira.

The meeting that took place at State House Entebbe was aimed at addressing the ongoing fights between Ms Kusasira and NRM Kampala leaders, who include Mr Salim Uhuru, Mr Godfrey Nyakana and Kampala Affairs minister, Ms Beti Kamya, among others.
Mr Uhuru and Mr Nyakana attended the meeting.

Multiple sources within NRM, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Daily Monitor yesterday that the meeting urged the warring NRM leaders in Kampala to stop their quarrels immediately, accept each other in their role of leadership and concentrate on their mobilisation work for the ruling party.

Ms Kusasira, according to sources, did not attend the meeting because she was preparing for a flight to the US for “special work for the party.”

“The President wanted the issues addressed, that is why he called for the meeting. He talked to us and we shall find a way of handling them internally,” the source said.

Mr Uhuru confirmed attending the meeting and said: “We cannot allow someone who doesn’t know the issues of Kampala to just come and try to pose as if we are not working and yet we have won immense support for the NRM all these years. We have addressed them.”
Mr Nyakana said, “We have handled the issues and we expect no hullabaloo. We all know that this was excitement, but it has been handled.”

Our efforts to get a comment from Ms Kusasira were futile as our repeated calls to her known mobile phone contacts went unanswered.

Last month President Museveni appointed singer Mark Bugembe, alias Buchaman, and Ms Kusasira as his special presidential envoys for Kampala and the ghettos respectively.

A fortnight ago, Mr Uhuru invited Ms Kusasira and other NRM leaders within Kampala to discuss a way forward on how to coordinate their work. But Ms Kusasira allegedly said she would not meet with them because she occupies a higher position, saying they needed to seek an appointment with her to attend the meeting.

In reaction, Mr Uhuru and other leaders said it was a derogatory and an arrogant demand.
A war of words ensued between them and Ms Kusasira.

The NRM leaders insisted that they have done a lot for the party to be sidelined. They also claimed they have won 360 local council chairperson seats in Kampala for the party and 30 councillor positions in different divisions.
Daily Monitor could not independently verify this information by press time.

Mr Uhuru said: “Why would Ms Kusasira come and sideline us because she is lying to the President that she will deliver? That nonsense is unacceptable.”

Yesterday, Ms Kamya dismissed talk of NRM internal fights and said the two sides only contradicted a little.

“I am not fighting anyone and there are no fights. We just ask that these people settle down and work because that is something small. I refer you to the secretary general of the party and the chairman of the party, they will tell you the truth,” she said.