Musumba, Mugerwa out to stop Kadaga

The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, who has held the Kamuli Woman Parliamentary seat for 23 years, has subsequently earned herself the title, ‘Busoga matriarch’.
On September 4, at the National Resistance Movement (NRM) primaries, Ms Kadaga trounced her sole rival, Ms Deborah Mwesigwa Mugerwa, paving way for a showdown with Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) vice president-eastern and former Kamuli District chairperson, Ms Proscovia Salaamu Musumba.

Ms Kadaga, 64, holds a Master’s degree in Women’s Law from Zimbabwe University.
Starting as a village chairperson for Busobya Village in Mbulamuti, she scaled ranks and held different ministerial portfolios including State for Regional Cooperation, State for Transport, Parliamentary Affairs from which she ascended as deputy Speaker (2001-2011).

On May 19, 2011, she was elected Speaker of Parliament, replacing Mr Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, who was appointed vice president, a position she has served for two terms and is relishing a third term.
Ms Kadaga says she looks beyond winning the Kamuli Woman MP seat, adding that she has done enough to merit another term.
“Busoga is tired of having its projects remain in design and plans. The focus this time will be on consolidating gains, pooling resources and getting a fair share of the national cake,” Ms Kadaga said.

Deborah Mwesigwa Mugerwa
Having trailed Ms Kadaga in the primaries and lost the 2016 General Election, Ms Mugerwa says Ms Kadaga’s time is up and has vowed to bring her down as an Independent.
“My aim is to reach the grassroots and have a civic engagement with them by telling them the role of an MP. I also want to ask the marginalised and voiceless, if they feel they have been represented for the past 30 years, as Ms Kadaga says.

“I am telling Ms Kadaga that if she is a woman activist, hasn’t she matured in politics to leave another woman to come and she goes to another constituency?” Ms Mwesigwa asked.
She added: “You have been Speaker for 20 years, minister for 10 years and still going for Woman MP! If you have been in Parliament for 30 years, do you need to make posters anywhere or people will know you from what you have done?”

Born to a priest, Rev Gastafas Kirigoola of Nawansaso Kitayunjwa Kamuli, Ms Mugerwa holds a degree in Adult and Community Education from Makerere University, a Master’s degree in Management Studies, a Diploma in Taxation and Revenue Administration.
She has worked at Uganda Revenue Authority as a senior supervisor in the Enforcement Domestic Taxes, the only job she has held for 22 years.
“My only job has been at URA where I enjoyed 22 years of clean service from 1992 to 2014 and retired voluntarily,” she said.
In the 2016 General Election, Ms Mugerwa got 24,073 votes against Kadaga’s 91,853 with FDC’s Miria Namwase getting 7,256 votes. At the NRM primaries, that were held on September 4, she managed to get 7,243 votes against Ms Kadaga’s 118,748.

Ms Mugerwa believes freshness should be breathed into the Kamuli leadership, saying when a computer freezes, one refreshes it and gives it new life.
“It defeats the affirmative action intention for her to cling onto the queue instead of maturing and grooming others to increase women numbers in leadership,” Ms Mwesigwa said.

Salaamu Musumba
She has been Ms Kadaga’s associate having worked together in the sixth Parliament before joining Parliamentary Advocacy Forum, which later morphed into FDC.
Ms Musumba, a former Bugabula South MP, holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy and Administration from Nottingham University.
The politician accuses Ms Kadaga of having ‘an inflated ego’ and fighting her candidature. She cites her last parliamentary bid for the Kamuli Municipality seat when Ms Kadaga allegedly decampaigned her at a rally, leading to her loss.

Early in March 2015, it emerged that all was not well between Ms Kadaga and Ms Musumba. During a graduation party in Buyende, Ms Kadaga publicly chided Ms Musumba for reportedly  putting public servants in the district at the edge even when they had been instrumental in her 2012 election to the district chair.

“I know you are my very good friend and sister but there is something I want you to think about tonight. FDC could not even make 10,000 votes. The support that propelled you to where you are now was from NRM. I don’t want you to forget that,” Ms Kadaga said.
That led to speculation that Ms Musumba would hit back by either taking Ms Kadaga on or lining up someone else against her. After all, it was her who had always backed Ms Prossy Naikoba from battle Ms Kadaga for the 2006 and 2011 polls.
In July, Ms Musumba picked nomination forms from the party’s headquarters in Najjanankumbi against Ms Kadaga.
Earlier, Ms Musumba made several public statements in which she backed Ms Kadaga, and referred to her as the “gem of the region”.

Revenge politics
“I was going to get a lucrative post and leave her but she stepped on that too and that is why I have resolved to come for her seat. This is going to be a campaign dubbed “Kalinanali” (revenge politics),” Ms Musumba vowed.
Ms Musumba was the Kamuli District chairperson, and was ranked second best performer by the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, an independent public policy research and advocacy think tank, working on public policy issues.

“I have come into this election to pull down the negative publicity about Kamuli and Busoga. We can’t be in the news for defilement, teenage pregnancies, jiggers and intrigue. We need to address these issues point blank or lose a generation. That is why Salaamu is saying enough is enough,” Ms Musumba says.
She added that she is well-positioned in policy making and has the ability to fill in the local government gaps towards better service delivery.