Ex- minister Nyanzi battles 3 to reclaim Busujju County

Former State minister in the office of the Vice President Vincent Nyanzi is back to reclaim Busujju County Parliamentary seat which he lost in 2016.

Mr Nyanzi, who is the ruling NRM flag bearer is facing competition from the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Mr David Lukyamuzi Kalwanga, who is seeking re-election on National Unity Platform (NUP) ticket.

Other two candidates are Mr Godfrey Kato Kasujja (Ind) who lost to Mr Nyanzi in the NRM primaries and Robert Mugambwa (Democratic Party). The four contenders are all farmers, born and raised in the constituency.

Mr Kalwanga says Mr Nyanzi lost in the previous election due to non-performance, adding that he has nothing new to sell to the electorate .

“I can assure you that Mr Nyanzi is going to terribly lose like he did in the previous election. Let him [Nyanzi] concentrate on what he can do well at his advanced age and I am sure the community will as well benefit from him,” he says.  

However, Mr Nyanzi, who represented Busujju County from 1996 up to 2016, says the time he has not  been in Parliament, the constituency has lagged behind in terms of development.

“During his [Kalwanga] five years in Parliament, Busujju has gained nothing from government, other  MPs in Mityana District have managed to lobby projects  for their people but  for him, he  is busy opposing every government programme,” Mr Nyanzi says.

He adds that the electorate know that if they sent him back to  Parliament, he would automatically be appointed   a minister.

“A minister meets the President every month and I will be able to lobby for  projects for them like I was doing before,” he says.
However, in 2013 , when Mr Nyanzi was a minister, he told a parliamentary committee on presidential affairs that he was rendered redundant in his office .
Two years later, he threatened to resign his ministerial position claiming that some presidential aides were slowing his performance by blocking him from meeting the President .

On the other hand , Mr Kalwanga says he deserves another term to complete some of the projects he has  initiated in the constituency.

“People of Busujju voted NRM for a long time and Mr Nyanzi was in Parliament for 20 years, but they never registered any meaningful development during all those years, it is only during this short period that I have done something for them ,” he says

During his tenure, Mr Kalwanga says he has tackled the problem of school dropouts, provided school bursaries to disabled children and also supported the construction of health facilities and schools.

“I have also played part in fighting household poverty through establishing projects such as maize mills and piggery demonstration farms,”  he adds.   
Mr Kasujja says although Mr Kalwanga has created some projects in the constituency, he has failed to play his legislative role as an MP.

“An MP is supposed to play four key roles including legislation, appropriation, oversight and representation, but our MP has done none of these. Contributing to voters’ weddings or building health centres or schools is good, but it is not the work of an MP,” he says.

Mr Kasujja pledges to be an MP for all residents of Busujju regardless of any political affiliations.

“During his campaign meetings, Mr Nyanzi claims he is so close to the State, thinking that this is enough to win him the support, for me I welcome whoever is willing to help me uplift the living standards of our people,” he says.

On his part, Mr Mugambwa promises to lobby for extension of electricity.
“ I will also lobby for construction of Mityana-Maanyi-Kanoni road to get tarmacked so that farmers can easily take their produce to the market ,” he says.

He also pledges to promote growing of coffee and avocado to boost household incomes as well as creating industrial and innovation hubs for the youth.

Mr Francis Nyarwaya, an opinion leader and resident of Maanyi Village, says Mr Kalwanga has high chances of winning the January 14 election .

“ I am an NRM member, but I can surely  tell you that Mr Kalwanga is still popular in this area. He scored highly when he opposed the lifting of presidential age limit, which was the position of majority of the electorate here. Do not be surprised when you see former Nyanzi finishing in the third position,” he says. 

Mr Nyarwaya says  Nyanzi served as MP for long and people in the constituency expect  nothing new from him.

Mr Julius Tumwine, a resident of Maanyi Trading Centre  in Maanyi Sub-county, says the next MP should be brave enough to tackle the issue of land grabbing. 
“Majority of  the people in Busujju County are tenants (bibanja holders) and we are being mistreated by the landlords, the incoming MP should priotise this issue if he is to get our votes,” he says.

During the 2016 General Election, Mr  Kalwanga defeated Mr Nyanzi with 18,000 votes against his 4,000 votes . 

Independent candidate Steven Kafalanga polled 1,000 votes while Mr Gavin Kasirye, a  son of late Gen Kasirye Gwanga, got  400 votes.

However, during the 2011 General Election, Mr Nyanzi defeated Mr Kalwanga with 10,625 votes against his 5,063 votes. Mr Aloysius Kyeyune Kitikyamuwogo, who stood on a DP ticket scored 986 votes, Musa Nkalubo Bulega of FDC (615 votes) , Joseph Musoke (Ind,  5,678 votes), Ronald Mukasa Kiwalabye (Ind,  430 votes).

About the candidates
David Lukyamuzi Kalwanga
Mr Kalwanga, 41, attended Nawanje Primary School, Busubuzi Demonstration School and  Kitebere Primary School where he obtained his Primary Leaving Examinations certificate. He later joined St Peter’s Secondary School-Busubuzi for one year, joined St Kennedy SS then went back to St Peter’s SS Busubuzi where he completed his Uganda Certificate of Education. Kalwanga enrolld at Pride SS-Mityana  for his A-Level education and joined Makerere University for a bachelor’s of education degree.

He is a teacher by profession, a commercial farmer and businessman. Before becoming MP, Mr Kalwanga was operations manager at Harris International Ltd.

Vincent Nyanzi
Mr Nyanzi,69,  joined active politics in 1992  as a district councillor in Mubende District before it was split to create Mityana District. In 1996, he entered Parliament to represent Busujju County. During the 2001 parliamentary election campaign, his bodyguard shot and killed a man.

Nyanzi, together with the bodyguard, were arrested and charged with murder. He was released on bail and eventually exonerated by the courts. Nyanzi lost his ministerial appointment during that period, but retained his parliamentary seat until 2016 when he was ousted by Mr David Kalwanga.

Between 1998 and 2000, he served as Minister of State for Industry and Technology. Between 2000 and 2001, he served as Minister of State for Gender and Culture. He has also previously served in the Economic Monitoring portfolio.

Robert Mugambwa

Mr Mugambwa, 39, attended Namilyango Junior Boys School and later joined Namilyango College and Masaka SS for UCE and UACE, respectively. In 2002, he joined Makerere University where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Wood Science and Technology and later a Master’s in Forestry. Currently, he serves as a member of DP National Executive Committee representing Greater Mubende and vice president of Uganda Youth Democrats in Central Region.

Godfrey Kato Kasujja 
Mr Kasujja , 34, attended various schools including Bujjubi Primary School, St Mary’s Fair Way Primary School, Tiginya Primary School and completed his primary level at Danya Day and Boarding Primary School in Mityana District .

He joined St Henry’s Misigi SS  in Mannyi Sub-county, Mityana District and later Pride SS- Mityana where he obtained his Uganda Certificate of Education in 2006 and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education in 2008. In 2012, he enrolled at Nkumba University for bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy.In 2016, joined Kampala International University to pursue a second degree in law which he is yet to complete. He is the outgoing deputy speaker of  Mityana District.

About Mityana

According to the 2014 National Population and Housing Census, Busujju County has 20,842 households, and majority (87.3 per cent) engaging in crop growing such as coffee, beans, and maize.
The same statistics also show that many households in the constituency have insufficient   access to social services such as health, good roads, clean water and electricity.

Available records show that only 473 (2.3 per cent) have piped water, 6,293(30.2 per cent) draw water from boreholes while the rest share water with animals. Another 908   households   lack toilets and only 3,312(15.9 per cent) have access to electricity while 14,066 (67.5 per cent) use tadooba (oil candles)   or solar for lighting.
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