Kiiza firm as NRM fails to dislodge her

Ms Kiiza (R) is joined by supporters during campaigns on August 5, 2012. Behind her is FDC party president Kizza Besigye. PHOTO BY ISAAC KASAMANI  

By Felix Basiime, Thembo Kahungu and Enid Ninsiima 

Posted  Friday, August 10, 2012  (http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Kiiza+firm+as+NRM+fails+to+dislodge+her/-/688334/1475570/-/item/1/-/j1sk6a/-/index.html)

In Summary

Revenge vote? Commentators cite the Obusinga issue, the Kiyonga factor and arrest of opposition officials on eve of voting as factors that worked against the NRM candidate, Ms Rehema Muhindo.

The verdict is out. Ms Winnie Kiiza will stay on as Kasese Woman MP until 2016 after winning a gruelling by-election in which she defeated NRM’s Rehema Muhindo. Ms Kiiza (FDC) polled 97,669, Ms Muhindo 59, 946 while DP’s Rosemary Masika got 1, 229 votes.

On August 8, 2012 the streets of Kasese Town were still jammed with jubilating FDC supporters. It was understandable celebration seeing that their candidate beat her closest rival by more than 37,000 votes.

The symbolism in figure is unmistakable. In February 2011, when Ms Kiiza and Ms Muhindo first locked horns, the latter polled 92,108 votes as opposed to the NRM candidate’s 90,624 votes. In fact, it was because of this slim margin of victory that Ms Muhindo petitioned the courts, arguing that had the Electoral Commission not invalidated some 6,000 votes, she could have carried the day.

The by-election
Convinced, the Court of Appeal ordered a by-election. Ms Muhindo and the NRM, however, must be wondering how a 1,484 vote gap could have multiplied to about 30 times in just over a year. What then could have occasioned such a margin of defeat?

Mr Christopher Kibazanga, a former MP, who was Ms Kiiza’s chief campaigner, says the issue of the Bukonzo cultural institution played a key role in determining the course of the by-election. The Bakonzo are majority residents of Kasese District.

In 2001 and 2006, the NRM lost most of the parliamentary seats in Kasese, largely because it was accused of frustrating the restoration of Omusinga Charles Mumbere—the king of Rwenzururu.

Noting the damage the issue was having on its political fortunes, the government in 2009 recognised the institution. NRM’s fortunes in the 2011 elections improved as it took three of the six MP slots in the district and also won the LC5 chairperson’s seat.

However, coming into the by-election, something had happened. A trip by King Mumbere to neighbouring Bundibugyo District had turned dramatic when another tribe there, the Bamba-Babwisi blocked him, insisting that they do not recognise his authority.

According to Mr Kibazanga, who is also the chief prince of the Rwenzururu Kingdom, the government never genuinely recognised the kingdom and the rise of splinter chieftaincies was testimony to this.

“We are back to square one. The situation that prevailed before Obusinga was recognised is back,” he told Daily Monitor yesterday.

The Obusinga issue became so central in the by-election that President Museveni, in a press release a week to the election, attacked his political nemesis, FDC leader Kizza Besigye, over the matter.

“I heard Besigye telling lies that he is the one who returned Obusinga. Besigye was a student here in the 70s when we were fighting Idi Amin, why didn’t he bring the Obusinga that time or restore the Kabaka of Buganda or the other kings?” President Museveni wrote. “Kingdoms in Uganda were bought by NRM, nobody else.”

But Mr Kibazanga argues that the change of heart in 2009 was cosmetic.

“They are the ones that incited tribal clashes in Bundibugyo and Kasese districts,” he said.

Kiyonga factor
Another sticking matter was the role of Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga in the local politics of Kasese. Dr Kiyonga is Busongora East MP and also chairs the NRM in Kasese.

For many a watcher, Dr Kiyonga troubles stem from the view that he opposed the restoration of the Obusinga. In fact, so serious was Kiyonga’s matter, that while addressing voters in Katwe-Kabatooro

Town Council last Sunday, the President broached the subject.

“I know the people of Kasese have issues with Dr Crispus Kiyonga but that does not tantamount to you suffocating the party. Kiyonga is not NRM we need to solve the matter as a family,” he advised.

The appeal might have been a little too late. Our efforts to get to Dr Kiyonga were futile as he did not answer his phone nor respond to SMS. The NRM local leadership had promised to issue a statement about the election yesterday at 10am but by 4pm, none had come through.

Instead, Ms Muhindo’s chief campaigner, Mr Eliphazi Muhindi, said: “We are still locked in a meeting analysing the results. We are still investigating reports of pre-ticked ballots in favour of FDC’s Kiiza in Saluti Village, Nyamwamba Division and other parts of the district and release the statement later.”

There was also the issue of a land fight at Rweihingo where Bakonzo cultivators sued the government in May but the court order has never been implemented to evict Basongora pastoralists.

Many commentators, however, say the NRM pressed the self-destruct button when on the eve of elections, key FDC officials were arrested on charges of inciting violence.

Councillors Elly Magwara and Abudu Saad were remanded to Mubuku Prison, while 70 other FDC supporters, including party vice president Salaam Musumba, were rounded on claims of seeking to disrupt the election.

Some residents said this compelled them to vote against the NRM candidate.

Others pointed to Ms Kiiza’s affability and down-to-earth nature—and when contacted—all she could say was: “I told my fellow MPs that I would be right back in the House in two months. I am humbled by the trust the people of Kasese put in me because they ate the money but voted the right person. I am ready to work with everyone.”