NRM polls: Why minister Werikhe lost in Bugisu

FRED WAMBEDE
& YAHUDU KITUNZI

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) strongman and longest serving Member of Parliament (MP) in Bugisu Sub-region, Mr Michael Werikhe Kafabusa, could miss out on the forthcoming 2021 General Election.

Mr Werikhe, who is the State minister for Trade, was defeated in the NRM primaries for the newly created Bunghokho Central County in Mbale District by a little known and new entrant, Mr Richard Wanda.

Mr Wanda, a tax consultant working with Raj Consulting Firm based in Kampala, emerged winner after he got 17,613 votes and Mr Werikhe got 7,063.

Bunghokho Central County, which comprises Busoba, Nabumali, Nyondo, Busano, Bumbobi and Bunghokho sub-counties, was carved out of Bunghokho South.

Mr Werikhe, born in 1955, has been the MP for Bunghokho South since 1996 and he has been State minister since 2006.
He first served as State minister for Housing and Industry until 2016, when he was appointed State minister for Trade. Mr Werikhe could not be reached for his comment but he posted on his Facebook wall conceding defeat.
He also pledged to continue working with the government.

“There is no permanent enemity in politics. I have accepted the challenge and I’m still working very closely with government to ensure fruitful development to the Bugisu community,” Mr Werikhe said.

He also urged NRM electorate to turn up in large numbers in the final elections and vote for NRM flag bearers in Mbale City in order to achieve development.

However, a section of leaders and residents say the new method of voting by lining up behind the candidate, candidate’s portrait or agent, was the last stroke that broke the minister’s back.

“Since 2011, we have not been electing the minister but he has been going through, miraculously. Try to ask, all people here will tell you the same,” Mr James Mabonga, a resident of Nabumali Town Council, said.

In 2016, Mr Werikhe won the race with a difference of 3,000 votes after defeating Mr Andrew Mauso, who contested as an independent. The locals protested the results.

It is also alleged that Mr Werikhe’s fall out with the NRM chairperson, Mbale District, Mr Mahmood Masaba, led to his defeat.

“When they fell out, the NRM chairperson started decampaigning him and in the process, the minister lost the ground,” Mr John Kutoyi, another resident, said.

When contacted, Mr Masaba said they fell out with Mr Werikhe because he was playing dirty politics.
“He went off the track because he was fighting everyone. He was playing politics of divisionism. When we fell out, he started forming youth militia groups,” Mr Masaba said.

Daily Monitor learnt that Mr Masaba supported Mr Wanda, who the locals say, was a mere returnee, without a house in the constituency.

When asked to clarify, Mr Masaba, acknowledged and said they have since advised Mr Wanda to construct a house in the constituency.

Mr Godfrey Mabonga, one of the aspirants for the same seat on the National Unity Platform ticket, said the Opposition supporters rallied and voted Mr Wanda, a weaker candidate in the NRM primaries.

“It was our mission to ensure that we have a weak candidate we can easily trounce in the General Election and we have achieved it. He grew up not in our locality and he has spent most of his youthful years in Kampala,” Mr Mabonga said.
However, Mr Wanda told Daily Monitor that he emerged winner because of his closeness to the voters.

“I did not imagine I would beat the minister but we knew his weakness. He has been distant from the people. We worked with the people and guarded our votes,” he said.

Some of the voters, however, told Daily Monitor that they voted for Mr Wanda out of anger. They claim that Mr Werikhe has not been developmental.

“He has been an MP and minister for long but there is nothing tangible in this area that we base on to remember him,” Mr Robert Madoi, a resident of Bunanimi Parish in Busoba Sub-county, said.

However, Mr Steven Watemba, the personal assistant of Mr Werikhe, said the minister had been a developmental leader.
“He has supported the extension of power, construction of bridges, roads, churches and mosques,” he said.

Mr Watemba attributed the defeat of his candidate to President Museveni’s directive of allowing everybody to vote.
“If only NRM supporters voted, the minister would not have lost but everybody had voted, including Opposition,” he said.