Lawyer Geoffrey Tumusiime is a new political entrant ready to give his fellow contenders for Lwemiyaga County Parliamentary seat a run for their money.
Tumusiime has grown in Sembabule District and he talks with audacity as far as his political ambitions are concerned.
He grew up in a family where his father David Ndengana was a cattle herder and so the only way for them to survive was to rear cattle and later sell them to earn a living.
As he was growing, Tumusiime fell in love with politics. At the age of 18, he had high hopes of standing for the parliamentary seat but his mother Jovans Kyonyunyu opposed the young man’s idea.
“You’re still young to involve yourself in politics. The doors are more open for you in business if you finish with studies,” the mother would advise according to Tumusiime.
The youthful politician has always looked up to Theodore Ssekikubo, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Lwemiyaga Constituency.
“He was open, articulate and most of the time I felt that Ssekikubo will lead us into the Promised Land as the people of Lwemiyaga, ” says Tumusiime.
However, the tide has now changed and Tumusiime’s dreams have surpassed Ssekikubo’s love and all eyes are now centered on ousting him out of Lwemiyaga seat.
“I grew up with political ambitions and as a young man, Ssekikubo was my role model. He was such a kind man, hardworking but his nerve on the constituency has drastically changed,” narrates Tumusiime.
He is a soft-but a hard young man. Too fast but intelligent when articulating issues. As we traverse the deep villages of Lwemiyaga Constituency, Tumusiime points at some of the cattle farms owned by local farmers.
It is blindingly obvious that agriculture is the booming business in Ssembabule District much as the community is still struggling with infrastructure development such as roads and health centres.
He says most of the people in Lwemiyaga Constituency are farmers and robbing for them through the government agricultural programs is one of his key primary tool as long as he engulfs power in time.
“I don’t know what the people of Lwemiyaga are pushing in all fairness. I’ve learnt a lot as an individual and at one point felt touched spiritually and that’s why I’ve come up to replace the old guns in the chamber,” rants Tumusiime before we crossed over to Merumeru village, Kampala Lugamba, Karushonishomezi and Nabitanga suburbs where he boosts with a lot of support.
Looking at the political stand in Lwemiyaga, different politicians are rallying for support from different voters and they normally convene public dialogues much as the government has not officially cleared the political arena due to Covid-19 pandemic that has razed the entire universe.
The political arena in Lwemiyaga Constituency is tough, stiff and all politicians are fighting for victory.
On the day when the community radio station Radio 5 was supposed to hold a maiden political show with celebrated politicians in the area such as Ssekikubo and State Minister for Transport Joy Kabasti (also wants to unseat Ssekikubo) all wasn’t rosy since Tumusiime was not considered for unspecified reasons.
“They advertised the show for almost two weeks thereby asking aspiring Member of Parliament for Lwemiyaga Constituency to take part and when I appeared for the show my slot was not there,” says Tumusiime.
However, that couldn’t stop Tumusiime from focusing. He reckons that the current wave of politics in Uganda has drastically favoured a few leaving the majority especially the youths pondering.
Despite the challenges, Tumusiime is ready to face off with Ssekikubo and Kabasti and he has high hopes of becoming the next area MP.
He was the guild president for Kampala University in 2016, a position that opened his door for politics.
When Tumusiime graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and Social Administration at Kampala University he again contested as the guild president for the Law Development Centre before losing to Ivan Busulwa.
“One of my lecturers at Kampala University Mr Nkugwa who also taught me political science had it that politics in general is a zero sum game. You go for it expecting victory or losing. Personally I’ve ever been in such a stance so I know what I am chasing,” Tumusiime laments.
“My grandfather Elia Kalemire has been very supportive both financially and materially. He is a focal person in Sembabule and that’s why I strongly believe that as a family we are destined for leadership,” he says.
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