Luweero to hold 5th District Woman MP polls in 10 years 

As Ugandans go for another general election next year, voters in Luweero will for the fifth time vote  the District Woman Member of Parliament (MP) in a period of only 10 years. 

Ordinarily in 10 years, the voters would go to polls only twice to elect a District Woman MP for a five-year term. 
Since 2011. All the last three MPs have failed to get a second term in office.

Under normal circumstances, the 2021 General Election would mark the third time voters in Luweero would elect the District Woman MP, but in the 10 past years, the district has held a number of by-elections resulting from court petitions and nullification of results.  
In September 2011, court nullified the election of Ms Rebecca Nalwanga as Luweero District Woman MP, citing electoral malpractices. 
          
While key players, including candidates who have participated in the different elections pile blame on reported lapses within the  Electoral Commission (EC) guidelines and the  questionable moral fibre of particular individuals  who have been key players in the electoral process, the absence of a uniting voice in the area is also the reason for this strange electoral pattern.

It is also not surprising that the just concluded National Resistance Movement (NRM) party  elections for the District Woman MP flag bearer presented seven candidates.
 Four of the six unsuccessful candidates petitioned the party’s electoral body and have vowed to contest as Independents in the general election.

 The contestants claim that the entire electoral process was flawed and lacked the values of  true democracy. 
They include Ms Faridah Nakalawa, Ms Joy Namulindwa, Ms Ali Zenar Nasur and Ms Phoebe Namulindwa.
 Ms Cissy Mulondo took the district Woman MP NRM flag.

2011 polls
On February 18, 2011, Luweero voted for the District Woman MP  and Ms Nalwanga polled a total of 46,544 votes against her closest rival, Ms Anna Kirabo’s  22,332 votes. 
Ms Nalwanga’s victory and stay in Parliament was cut short after a successful petition by one of the candidates, Dr Elizabeth Lugudde Nabatanzi , who cited bribery.

In September 2011, the High Court nullified Ms Nalwanga’s election after being implicated in a voter bribery act at Kiwumpa Village in Katikamu Sub-county where she allegedly gave out Shs50,000 to the village voters to repair a community borehole, something against the set electoral guidelines for campaigning candidates.
High Court Judge Benjamin Kabiito found Ms Nalwanga guilty of electoral malpractice and consequently declared the seat vacant.

In November 2011, EC organised a by-election to fill the vacant position and the Democratic Party (DP)-backed Brenda Nabukenya, who polled a total of 14,945 votes, won the election. 

NRM’s Nalwanga  came second after polling 14,915 votes. 
Other candidates in the race included  Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party’s  Ziyadah Gwokyalya (3,775), Ms Kirabo (3,687), Ms Elsie Namagembe (2,193) and Ms Elizabeth Lugudde, who polled 191 votes.

Second by-election
When Ms Nabukenya was successfully sworn in as District Woman MP in November 2011, her political opponent, Ms Nalwanga, appealed to court to have her election declared null and void, citing irregularities in the vote tallying system.

High Court Judge Vincent Zehukirize annulled the election of Ms Nabukenya following a successful petition by Ms Nalwanga in which she  protested the Luweero District returning officer, Mr Peter Kasozi’s decision to stop a vote recount, a constitutional right that had to be accorded to the petitioner (Nalwanga).

While Ms  Nabukenya petitioned the appellate court challenging the High Court position to have her victory nullified, the appellate court comprising justices Steven Kavuma, Remmy Kasule and Augustine Nshimye in March 2014, upheld an earlier decision to nullify the election of Ms Nabukenya and ordered the EC to organise a fresh election
Consequently, on May  22, 2014, the EC conducted a by-election where Ms Nabukenya was again declared winner.

Ms Nabukenya polled 38,582 votes, while her main challenger, Ms Nalwanga, got 22,236 votes. The other candidates included Ms Ramula Kadala (768 votes) and   Ms Farida Namubiru (717 votes). 

Other elections
On February 18, 2016, the voters in Luweero participated in the general election for the presidential, parliamentary and Local Government. 

The District Woman MP election that attracted five candidates saw NRM party-backed Lillian Nakate poll 56,573 votes, while DP’s  Nabukenya polled 53,558 votes. 
FDC’s Katangaza  polled 7,606, Ms Elsie Namagembe had 4,995 votes, while Ms Proscovia Namansa trailed with 4,374 votes. 
Ms Nabukenya, however, petitioned court, claiming that Ms Nakate engaged in electoral-related malpractices such as voter bribery.

Justice David Batema annulled Ms Nakate’s win, ruling that the accused  was guilty of a bribery act when she gave out Shs100,000 to a savings group at Vvumba Village, in Butuntumula Sub-county.
 
However, the Court of Appeal upheld Ms Nakate’s election as Luweero District Woman MP after she sought orders to have Justice Batema’s decision overturned. 
A panel of three judges led by then Deputy Chief Justice Kavuma, in 2017, held that the nullification of Ms Nakate’s victory was unjustified.

The voters narrowly survived a by-election in what political analysts and ordinary residents thought would once again revive the old rivalry between rival camps within the ruling NRM camp that had vowed to side with a section of the Opposition following  alleged unfulfilled pledges by big shots within the ruling party. 

The voters were reportedly ready to battle, Mr Eron Esau Ssembajwe, a liberation war veteran and retired primary school teacher and a resident of Katikamu Sub-county, claimed in a recent interview with the Saturday Monitor.
It is not surprising that the NRM voters held out to their earlier stand not to vote back the NRM MPs  in just concluded party primaries.

 All the NRM incumbent MPs, with the exception of Dr John Chrysestom Muyingo (Bamunanika County), were voted out. 
Mr Abraham Byandala (Katikamu North), Mr Edward Ssembatya (Katikamu South) and Ms Nakate, (Luweero District Woman MP),  lost during the September 4 NRM primaries.
A section of voters interviewed told Saturday Monitor that they  deliberately threw out  Ms Nakate because of her unfulfilled pledges and failure to remind the party at the NRM Secretariat of the same.

It is reported that more than half of the anticipated NRM supporters stayed away from the voting exercise. 
Ms Regina Nambalirwa,47, a resident of Kikyusa Sub-county, who claims to be a staunch supporter of the NRM, says she is disappointed with the growing selfishness trend among the party big shots. 

Mr Abbey Walusimbi, the senior presidential advisor on Diaspora Affairs and a resident of Luweero, told Saturday Monitor  that the voters have a right to demand better service delivery and that President Museveni had better move fast to have a committee follow up on many of the unfulfilled pledges.

“When you see the President fulfilling some of the pledges, including the recent delivery of bicycles and motorcycles to the NRM chairpersons, many of the pledges will be fulfilled. We appreciate what our people say and appeal to all the NRM supporters to remain strong and support the party programmes,” Mr Walusimbi said.

What others say
Unfulfilled pledges
Ms Regina Nambalirwa,47, a resident of Kikyusa Sub-county, who claims to be a staunch supporter of the NRM, says she is disappointed with the growing selfishness among the party big shots. 

Mr Abbey Walusimbi, a senior presidential advisor on Diaspora Affairs and a resident of Luweero, told Saturday Monitor  that the voters have a right to demand better service delivery and that President Museveni had better move fast to have a committee follow up on many of the unfulfilled pledges.
 

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