Ms Shamim Malende attends a press conference at Kamwokya, Kampala in 2023. PHOTO/MICHEAL KAKUMIRIZI
In 2021, when Shamim Malende won the Kampala District Woman Representative (DWR) seat in Parliament, she was in many respects a novice. She managed to poll an eye-watering 314,865 votes in a landslide win.
The smart money is on Malende, a trained lawyer, selling her candidature in the run-up to the 2026 polls on how she has helped National Unity Platform (NUP) foot soldiers stave off various charges in different courts. Her critics, who are not in short supply, say this is not good enough.
“She is just ever holding files and taking photos outside the courtroom but if you check the details and court records, she never says anything. She can’t claim to have played a critical role in representing us,” a NUP youth winger once incarcerated in the General Court Martial, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Malende’s travails can be traced to the position of female parliamentary representative introduced by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). The party that has been ruling Uganda since 1986 has been credited for becoming the first postcolonial government in Uganda to take proactive measures to include women in formal politics.
Electoral college system
Prof Sylvia Tamale, in her book titled When Hens Begin to Crow: Gender and Parliamentary Politics in Uganda, says between 1986, when the NRM took over power, and 1989, when the policy of affirmative action for women was introduced, there were only four women in the National Resistance Council, which then acted as the Parliament. Prof Tamale adds that tight races for affirmative action seats in the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in 1994 marked an increase in women’s political awareness relative to the 1989 race.
The June 1996 parliamentary race for the National Assembly, the academic notes, was even more competitive, with more women than ever before standing for the affirmative action seats. In that race, Tamale explains, 106 women competed for the 39 seats reserved for women, and 28 tussled it out with men for the county seats.
During the 1996 elections, women could only become lawmakers through the electoral college system. It was, however, skewed in favour of the regime candidates. The process started with voting for delegates who voted for the woman lawmaker. This commenced with village women’s committee members directly elected by village women councillors—all adult female residents of the village. This was followed by parish women’s committee members elected by the parish women councillors—members of the village women’s committees from all villages in the parish. This was followed by sub-county women’s committee members elected by the sub-county women councillors—members of the parish women’s committees from all parishes in the sub-county.
Next were the county women’s committee members elected by the county women councillors—members of the sub-county women’s committees from all sub-counties in the county. Next were district women’s committee members elected by the district women councillors—members of the county women’s committees from all counties in the district, plus district women representatives in Parliament. This culminated in the National Council Women from which the DWR was voted.
Universal adult suffrage
With this college system in place, NRM’s Margaret Natongo Zziwa came to dominate women’s politics in Kampala, which is usually hostile to the ruling party. First, she was voted to the CA that midwifed the current constitution. Ms Zziwa was then voted in the sixth and seventh Parliament. Her days in the House were ended in 2006 by Nabilah Naggayi Sempala, who rode on the wave of change prompted by the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
Ms Zziwa’s loss, per political analysts, was because in 2006, the college system, which was used both in 1996 and 2001 to vote DWRs, was discarded for universal adult suffrage. The change proved what people already knew—Kampala was a bastion for the Opposition. This explains why Ms Naggayi got the better of Ms Zziwa again in 2011.
The dominance of the Opposition has, however, with time given way to one crucial question for any holder of a DWR seat: who exactly do they represent? Do women parliamentarians perceive themselves primarily as women’s representatives? If so, can they purport to speak for other women? These are questions that have dogged Kampala women representatives since time immemorial. Ms Naggayi, who got two terms, was, for instance, accused of not effectively representing the women in Kampala.
Naggayi melodrama
Politically, Ms Naggayi’s downfall came after her fallout with the FDC top brass that accused her of being a mole. In 2015, the fallout was confirmed when Ms Naggayi appeared to throw her weight behind former Prime Minister and Museveni ally, John Patrick Amama Mbabazi, ahead of the 2016 presidential poll. Interestingly, days later when FDC’s Dr Kizza Besigye was being nominated at Mandela National Stadium, Ms Naggayi showed up at the Electoral Commission offices and sat next to Dr Besigye.
It had barely been a week when Ms Naggayi said she was done with the Opposition leader. The seat Ms Naggayi took had been reserved for Dr Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, who wasn’t in the country. Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the Kira Municipality lawmaker, would later disclose that he wanted to dislodge Ms Naggayi from the seat but he was stopped by Dr Besigye.
Internally, although Ms Naggayi had been nominated as FDC candidate, the party had resolved to support Ms Shifrah Lukwago, then a close ally of Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago but has since retired from elective politics after Museveni appointed her a commissioner at the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC).
Shaky Malende
With that, FDC tapped Museveni’s virulent government critic on social media and researcher Dr Stella Nyanzi. She, however, wasn’t able to overcome the umbrella wave as Ms Malende stormed to victory.
During her first term in the House, Ms Malende has been accused of not putting up an impressive performance.
Monitor understands that NUP is toying with the idea of backing other candidates to replace the lawyer. Eugenia Nassolo, who in 2021 lost her bid to become Rubaga South lawmaker to Aloysius Mukasa, has been severally mentioned.
During the 2021 poll, Ms Nassolo stood on the DP ticket but has since fully embraced NUP. While she wants to have another crack at the Rubaga South seat, NUP’s top brass appears to be interested in her in the Kampala DWR seat.
“Yes, I’m looking at contesting for Kampala [DWR seat]. The party will have a final say, but I’m looking at that,” Ms Nassolo said in a phone interview.
Ms Nassolo insists that while Ms Malende has done a tremendous job representing incarcerated NUP supporters, she has been a no-show in her constituency.
“We don’t see her in the district. We don’t see her meeting women’s groups. I think she has been absent in the district,” Ms Nassolo said.
In 2021, with the backing of the Catholic church, Ms Nassolo came second in Rubaga South. This was after she garnered 12,893 votes. Many believe Ms Nassolo would have emerged victorious if she hadn’t oscillated between NUP and DP.
Indeed, while on the campaign trail, Ms Nassolo would tell voters that whilst she was a DP member, she was backing NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine, for the presidency.
Vagueness
Although Ms Nassolo is now part of NUP’s grassroots leadership, she is still dogged by accusations of being undecided.
“She is not assertive and focused on exactly what she wants and where she wants to be. That might cost her because she keeps sending mixed signals. At one time she is saying she would stand again in Rubaga South, and then we hear she is being tapped to replace Malende,” said a NUP grassroots leader in Rubaga South on condition of anonymity.
If there is vagueness in NUP, then the NRM also is in a dilemma of finding a suitable candidate to give the Opposition a run for its money and perhaps be the first NRM candidate to win the seat after the removal of the electoral college system.
In 2021, the ruling party’s candidate, Faridah Nambi, who is the daughter of NRM’s vice president Moses Kigongo, shocked many when she got 94,870 votes and came second. However, after losing the election, Ms Nambi disappeared from the public eye. It’s not yet clear if she will run again in 2026. The only NRM supporter who has shown interest is Nabisere who lost in 2016.
If Ms Nabisere enters the race, she will join her sister, Minsa Kabanda—the Kampala Minister—who has already expressed interest in replacing Muhammad Nsereko as Kampala Central’s Member of Parliament. Like Ms Kabanda, Ms Nabisere is a dedicated NRM mobiliser in Kampala Central and a former councillor.
In 2022, she was appointed the coordinator and focal person for the Parish Development Model (PDM) in Kampala, a role analysts believe positioned her to engage with key groups ahead of a potential run against Opposition candidates in 2026.
Contenders
Eugenia Nassolo: A former Democratic Party (DP) candidate for Rubaga South, now part of the National Unity Platform (NUP)’s grassroots leadership. She is viewed as a strong contender but faces criticism for perceived indecisiveness about her political ambitions.
Faridah Nambi: The daughter of NRM vice president Moses Kigongo, who surprised many in 2021 by securing 94,870 votes and finishing second. Her plans for 2026 remain unclear.
Asia Kinaabi Nabisere: A former councillor and NRM mobiliser in Kampala Central, currently serving as the Parish Development Model (PDM) coordinator in Kampala, positioning her as a potential candidate.
