Eddy Yawe campaigns for Erias Luyimbazi Nalukoola in Komamboga, Kawempe North. He plans to contest for the Gomba West parliamentary seat in the 2026 General Election. PHOTO | MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
O nce part of Mpigi District, Gomba County was represented by a single Member of Parliament (MP). Like most rural constituencies, it was a stronghold of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). During this period, Gomba became synonymous with Mariam Najjemba Mbabaali, who represented it for two terms from 2006 to 2016 after defeating Emmanuel Kalule Ssengo.
Apple of the President’s eye
Najjemba, who served as Urban Planning minister, narrates how meeting President Museveni, who has a farm in Gomba-Kisozi,was a turning point in her life. Najjemba claimed that her mother, Aisha Nababi, who was the Local Council Woman Secretary and co-organiser of the President’s visit to their area in Maddu a few miles away from Kisozi,ensured that Najjemba caught the President’s eye during question time. Najjemba talked about how she later clandestinely met Museveni, who asked her to be his “political officer.”
Before the 2016 General Election, Najjemba announced her retirement from elective politics. Around the same time, Gomba was divided into two constituencies—Gomba East and Gomba West— after it was carved out of Mpigi to become a district. Whilst Gomba East is dominated by Ganda cultivators, Gomba West, where Museveni’s farm is located, is dominated by cattle keepers of western extract. The NRM has long dominated the cattle corridor, and the creation of Gomba West was seen as another avenue for further increasing the NRM majority.
In 2016, Robina Gureme Rwakoojo, a member of the NRM, won the newly created Gomba West seat. Robina’s connection to those who hold power is clear as she is the wife of former Electoral Commission (EC) secretary Sam Rwakoojo. During his tenure at the EC, Sam had wide-ranging powers at his disposal before he resigned in 2020 just before the 2021 General Election. He is widely referenced as someone who did his master’s bidding.Sam always categorically denied any wrongdoing and severally professed impartiality. Before being appointed EC Secretary from 1996 to 2001, Rwakoojo represented Lwemiyaga County in Sembabule. He lost the parliamentary seat to its current holder—Mr Theodore Ssekikubo— despite being backed by Sam Kutesa, Mr Musevení’s in-law. Mr Kutesa himself was a lawmaker representing the adjacent Mawogola County.
His daughter, Shartsi Kutesa Musherure, has since replaced him in the August House. Although Badru Kiggundu was the chairperson of the EC in the period that saw his team organise three general elections in 2006, 2011, and 2016, and the 2005 referendum that re-ushered in multiparty politics in Uganda, it was Mr Rwakoojo who was seen as the main man.Little wonder he was always targeted by the Opposition. With Rwakoojo seemingly preoccupied with the management of Uganda’s elections, the creation of Gomba West opened a chance for his wife Robina to take her chance in elective politics. Before veering into elective politics, Robina had worked in the Attorney General’s chambers, where she served as commissioner of Civil Litigation and also acted as director of Civil Litigation. During her time at the Attorney General’s office, Robina was among government officials who earned a piece of what came to be known as the“oil handshake” which totalled $1.7 million, following a court victory against the oil company,Heritage in London in 2015. Here, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) dismissed a case filed by Heritage, which had challenged a decision by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to collect Shs1.1 trillion capital gains tax.
This was after Heritage sold its stake to Tullow Oil. The court directed Heritage to pay Shs11.5 billion in costs to Uganda.Armed with this victory, the officials asked President Museveni to pay them some of the awarded money as a token of appreciation, which came to be known as the “oil handshake”.
This saga didn’t stop Robina from winning the Gomba West MP as she garnered 14,439 votes, beating five other candidates, who were all male, including Araali Muhiirwa, who had retired as a magistrate to venture into elective politics, only to come second with 9,916 votes. In 2021, Robina faced a different kind of opponent in NUP but she managed to stave off the umbrella wave that swept Buganda, getting a second term with 14,007 while NUP’s Gonzaga Luswata got 6,407 votes. As the 2026 parliamentary races take shape,it seems NUP is going to mount another assault on Gomba West, which is said to be more purposeful than that of 2021. It’s easy to see why Gomba is such a flashpoint in Uganda’s politics.
Opposition cradle
Despite Gomba being home to Museveni’s farm, it also holds political significance for his rival, National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, aka Bobi Wine, who traces his roots to the area. In 2021, Kyagulanyi made history as the first Opposition candidate to challenge Museveni’s grip on the region. Now, a similar political showdown is brewing, as NUP plans to field Kyagulanyi’s elder brother, Eddy Yawe Ssentamu, to contest for the Gomba West parliamentary seat against incumbent Robina.
Eddy Yawe, who is a veteran in music production, isn’t a novice in politics because he made the first steps before Kyagulanyi, only that he was not as successful. In 2011, then a Democratic Party (DP) member, Eddy Yawe contested in Kampala Central seeking to replace Erias Lukwago, who had served one term and decided to challenge for mayorship. His bid to take Kampala Central, where his Dream Studios are based, wasn’t successful as NRM’s Muhammad Nsereko got the better of him. Five years later, he chose to change the constituency and try his luck in Kira Municipality, which had been carved from Kyadondo East.
Still, he wouldn’t go to Parliament because the FDC’s Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, who was seeking a second term, emerged winner with 43,422 votes, whilst Eddy Yawe, who still stood on the DP ticket, came third with 10,691 votes. The years that followed 2016 have been the most interesting for the Ssentamu family because their own Bobi Wine has gained political acclaim that they had never imagined, thus opening up possibilities for those within the family to win political positions at various levels.
Putting family in order
Bobi Wine’s elder brother Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu, also known as Chairman Nyanzi, tried in 2021 where Eddy Yawe had failed in beating Nsereko in Kampala Central, but he was unsuccessful as well. Their sister, Betty Ssentamu, tested the waters of their ancestral Gomba, but she couldn’t beat NRM’s Sylvia Nayebale for Gomba District Woman representative. While his siblings contested in 2012, Eddy Yawe intimated that he was told by Bobi Wine not to stand in Kira because
people believed that NUP had turned into a family affair. While Eddy Yawe was expected to challenge Ssemujju in 2026, this newspaper understands that it has been agreed in NUP that it will be George Musisi to do that. With that, Eddy Yawe, it was agreed should go and try his luck in Gomba.
“There has been an agreement by NUP leadership,and it will be clear in the coming days but Gomba is where Eddy Yawe would stand,” a source, familiar with plans of the NUP leadership,said. When asked about his intention of leaving Kira and standing in Gomba, Eddy Yawe wasn’t forthcoming.
“I will be declaring soon where I’m going to stand. And this time, I’m going to come with a lot of strength,”Eddy Yawe said. Although NUP is flexing its muscles, Robina insists that there is no way in this world that the Opposition represents an area that hosts Museveni’s farm.
“Even last time when NUP won Gomba, the president won here in Gomba West. We were only defeated in Gomba East because it’s closer to Butambala. There is an effect from Butambala that affected Gomba East, but for me here in Gomba West, I’m very confident that I will go back to Parliament. I have been honest with my people. I have been on the ground since 2021 when we were elected,” Robina said.
