
Former Minister for Presidency who is also the Luuka District Woman MP Ms Esther Mbayo. PHOTO/COURTESY
At least six people have declared their intentions to unseat former minister for the Presidency, Ms Esther Mbayo, from her position as Luuka District Woman Member of Parliament.
This comes after Ms Mbayo lost the Irongo Parish Women’s League chairperson race, where she garnered 17 votes against her long-time rival, Ms Annet Nabirye, who polled 27 votes.
In response to her loss, Ms Mbayo urged her supporters not to despair.
“This loss should not make us lose hope. My voters were hidden prior to the election, but we will come back stronger,” she says.
Despite this defeat, Ms Mbayo was recently declared the winner of the Iganga B-Lambala Village NRM Women League by-election following a boycott that initially handed the seat to Ms Justine Muwaga.
This victory has added a new twist to Luuka’s evolving political contest as Ms Mbayo seeks a third term in Parliament.
Ms Nabirye, considered Mbayo’s strongest challenger, has made her presence felt across the district.
She has lobbied for road rehabilitation across Luuka’s 12 sub-counties, initiated installation of security lights, and responded to various community needs.
According to her stepfather, Mr Charles Mpoko, Ms Nabirye also assists patients with complex conditions to access treatment at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala.
Beyond health and infrastructure, she has attracted the youth by organising football tournaments and bicycle races.
Mr Mpoko says her campaign is funded through her savings from her businesses and support from friends, including Mr Faruk Kirunda, the deputy presidential media secretary.
Ms Nabirye is a sister of the late Gladys Aliyinza, the wife of Mr Kirunda, who had also shown interest in the Luuka Woman MP seat before her tragic death in a car accident last year.
Other aspirants
Also seeking the NRM flag is former MP Evelyn Naome Kaabule Mpagi, who held the Luuka seat from 2011 to 2016 before losing it to Ms Mbayo.
She says she wants to “revive what I started and add more.”

Luuka District woman MP aspirants: (left) Olivia Nabiryo (top), Resty Namutamba Kawoowo (below), Esther Mbayo (main picture), Annet Nabirye (top right), Olive Namwase (bottom right). PHOTO/COMBO/CREATED JUNE 4, 2025
Ms Kaabule lists achievements such as founding the Luuka Women Sacco, Youth Development Association, and the Disabled Development Association.
She blames the district’s stagnation on poor leadership.
“After 10 years, there’s nothing to show—nothing that reflects our ministerial position,” she says.
Ms Resty Namutamba Kawoowo, currently the district female youth councillor, has launched a grassroots campaign and criticised Ms Mbayo’s leadership.
“Without grassroots support, the incumbent’s chances are minimal,” she said.
Ms Namutamba pledges to push for girl-child education and a hospital upgrade beyond health centre IV.
Justification
Ms Mariam Mwesigwa, a first-time contestant, criticises Ms Mbayo’s performance, especially the lack of tarmacked roads.
She claims to have personally lobbied for more than 100 boreholes and enabled women to acquire tailoring machines and farming tools, even without holding public office.
Ms Oliver Namwase, who finished second to Ms Mbayo in 2021 with 15,885 votes, is back in the race, this time on a National Unity Platform (NUP) ticket.
In the last election, Ms Mbayo secured 25,495 votes, followed by Namwase, Ms Nabiryo (11,120), and the late Aliyinza (9,406).
Ms Namwase’s switch to NUP comes amid the Opposition party’s strength in the area.
In the 2021 presidential race, NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) polled 31,842 votes in Luuka against President Museveni’s 27,520, although NRM swept all parliamentary seats.
Also in the NUP camp is Ms Olivia Nabiryo, adding to the already crowded field.
Supporters of Ms Mbayo are highlighting her achievements during her ministerial tenure.
Her chief mobiliser, Mr Yakubu Mutasa, credits her with the creation of new town councils such as Bulanga, Busalamu, Kyanvuma, and Bukoova—projects that he says have generated jobs and increased local revenue.
Mr Isa Kidhoga, Mr Mbayo’s campaign manager, lists infrastructure projects such as construction of the district police headquarters, staff quarters, and the President’s office in Luuka.
He also credits her with establishing seed secondary schools (Ikumbya and Buwanda), securing the government takeover of Nakabale SS and Nakabugu Muslim SS, and improving healthcare with health centre IIIs in Bukendi, Waibuga, and Bulalu.
Mr Kidhoga says Mbayo lobbied for the tarmacking of the Iganga-Kiyunga-Bulopa-Kamuli road, increased electricity access from 20 percent to 75 percent, and distributed medical equipment and an ambulance.
Through her NGO, Safe Future, she has provided textbooks, exercise books, and sanitary pads to schools.
“These efforts reflect her deep commitment to Luuka’s development,” Kidhoga says.
About Mbayo
Born on April 27, 1971, Ms Esther Mbayo is an accountant and former Minister for the Presidency.
She attended Wanyange Girls’ School and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Makerere University, awarded in 2005.
She served as minister from 2016 until she was replaced by Ms Milly Babirye Babalanda.