Lands minister Judith Nabakooba, incumbent Mityana woman MP Joyce Bagala and MP aspirant Proscovia Nabbosa Mukisa. PHOTO/COMBO
Out of the six constituencies that make up Mityana District, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party managed to win only one during the 2021 polls—Mityana North, which was taken by Muhammad Kibedi Nsegumire.
One of the constituencies that NRM lost was the Mityana District Woman Representative seat that slipped through Judith Nabakooba’s grip after she was upstaged by National Unity Platform (NUP) party’s Joyce Bagala.
Nabakooba’s political footsteps can be traced from years served in the Uganda Police Force, including serving as the institution’s spokesperson.
She was among the police personnel who threw their hats into the political ring at the behest of Gen Kale Kayihura, then police chief.
To take her seat in Parliament in 2016, Nabakooba—who is now Lands minister—first defeated Sylvia Namabidde Ssinabulya in the NRM primaries.
Before her ouster, Namabidde had been in Parliament from 2001, where she had focused on reproductive health therein.
She championed legislation that was aimed at saving the lives of mothers and their newborn babies.
Though she belonged to the NRM, Namabidde claimed that she was left downcast by the regime’s disinterest in maternal and infant mortality cases that were skyrocketing.
From Namabidde to Nabakooba
The Namabidde era was ended by Nabakooba, who went on to clinch the seat by comfortably beating Bagala, who at the time was a Democratic Party (DP) candidate.
While in Parliament, Nabakooba, who was the chairperson of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee, was accused by Opposition legislators, who sat on the committee, of shielding Gen Kayihura.
Specifically, in 2016, Opposition legislators led by Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi wanted Gen Kayihura to appear before the committee to explain why police and state-sponsored goons had clobbered Dr Kizza Besigye’s supporters.
Nabakooba refused, prompting Opposition legislators to accuse her of a conflict of interest given Gen Kayihura was her former boss.
“Nabakooba wants to be used to keep cover for Kayihura. She is being used by the IGP [Inspector General of Police] to undermine Parliament, and we are not going to accept that. The police where she comes from have been brutalising people. We can’t attend the public relations meeting. There are a lot of questions that only Kayihura can answer,” Muwanga Kivumbi, who represents Butambala County, said.
Bagala comes into picture
Nakakooba, who would go on to be appointed minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), was made a one-term MP when, in 2021, Bagala, who had dumped DP for NUP, prevailed in a two-way battle.
The fight for Mityana was so bitter that Nabakooba didn’t willingly give up the seat. She took the battle to the High Court, accusing Bagala of vote bribery.
At first it seemed like there would be a by-election when the High Court agreed with Nabakooba and promptly cancelled Bagala’s victory.
The Court of Appeal, however, gave Bagala a reprieve when it rejected the High Court judgement.
“Both the quantitative and qualitative tests should have been applied in finding non-compliance with the electoral laws. The claimant, however, didn’t show how it could have changed the outcome of the election results,” a panel of three judges of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, ruled, ending Nabakooba's dream of another shot at Parliament.
Despite losing in the 2021 parliamentary polls, President Museveni insisted on reappointing Nakakooba as minister—this time giving her the Lands, Housing and Urban Development docket, replacing Beti Olive Kamya.
Mr Museveni blamed Minister Nabakooba’s loss squarely on land mafias.
“Regarding the Land Fund and strictness in the land law…that is why, if you see in the new government, I proposed the name of Hon Judith Nabakooba because that girl was fighting land grabbers in Mityana,” Mr Museveni said.
Nabbosa eyes Bagala’s scalp
Although NUP leadership has been saying it is yet to make up its mind on Bagala’s fate, it has been known for a while that Proscovia Nabbosa Mukisa, an actress, will most likely be its candidate.
Nabbosa, who is a novice in politics, has been organising rallies and football matches throughout Mityana.
“She has shown that she has support on the ground. This is a kind of yardstick that the NUP leadership factors in when choosing who will be its flag bearers,” a source within NUP familiar with the party’s vetting processes, said.
Nabbosa has already engaged in running battles with security agencies. This was evident in May when she was arrested while engaging in a political mobilisation exercise in Mityana Town.
She would later be charged at Mityana Grade One Magistrates Court with offensive communication before she was released on bail.
Specifically, Nabbosa was accused of telling school-going children to call Museveni evil and a murderer.
Nabbosa is said to be a protege of Francis Zaake, the Mityana Municipality legislator, who has made confrontational politics his staple food.
“Arresting a female candidate in such unclear circumstances, and in such a disrespectful way, is a threat to democracy. It sets a dangerous precedent as we approach the elections,” Zaake said after Nabbosa was arrested.
On her part, Ms Nabakooba continues to burn the midnight oil. She has joined the NRM Buganda Caucus in holding rallies aimed at wresting Buganda from NUP’s grip.
“Unfortunately, they didn’t perform well in the 2021 presidential elections, but let’s look at how far he [Museveni] has brought us and trust him again. We ask you to vote for all NRM flag bearers,” she said at a rally dubbed Buganda for Museveni in Gomba.
During her time out of Parliament, Ms Nabakooba has also been doling out several goodies to the community.
For instance, in 2022, she gave out an ultrasound machine to Mityana hospital. From 2019, the hospital’s management had been waiting for the government, where Ms Nabakooba has been serving for two consecutive terms as a minister, to procure a contractor to repair the non-functioning ultrasound machine.
The hospital, which was rehabilitated in 2010 and commissioned in early 2021, also lacked a functioning X-ray machine after the one it previously had broke down.
Ms Nabakooba took the role of the saviour, saying once people are healthy, they can tap into the government development programmes like the Parish Development Model (PDM).
Bagala falls on lean times
With Nabakooba strategising to bounce back in Parliament, things have not been rosy for her nemesis, Bagala, who has fallen out with the NUP top brass.
Bagala has, nevertheless, made clear her determination to seek re-election on a NUP ticket.
“I want my party [NUP] to come and explain what exactly I did wrong. I don’t know anything about this fallout,” Bagala once said.
While Bagala says she is unaware about the fallout, what is clear is that it stems from her decision to hobnob with the party’s former deputy president for Buganda, Mathias Mpuuga.
After months of dilly-dallying, Mpuuga recently formed a political party known as the Democratic Front (DF).
When Mpuuga parted ways with NUP after disagreeing on the Shs500m that he received as a so-called “service reward,” he organised a thanksgiving ceremony in his home city of Masaka.
Bagala was a key pillar in organising this function, yet NUP had ordered all its members to steer clear of the function.
“We have the freedom to do what we want as MPs [Members of Parliament]. Being here in Masaka is a choice I have made and it doesn’t go against party principles,” Bagala said last year.
Bagala was among the NUP rebel MPs who Muwanga-Kivumbi warned a few months ago should either apologise or risk being blacklisted by the party.
Bagala refused to apologise, saying she isn’t familiar with the charge sheet.
“I don’t know what they are accusing me of. They should tell us what exactly we did wrong. I’m still a NUP member,” she said.
In a message aimed at the NUP rebels, David Lewis Rubongoya, the party’s secretary general, made clear that they had made errors during the vetting process ahead of the 2021 General Elections.
“Last time, we were still a new party. We were panicking, and we gave some people party cards without properly scrutinising them. This time we are going to pay attention,” Rubongoya said.
