Last week, President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the Chairman of the ruling National Resistance Movement announced through a Facebook statement that Capt. Francis Babu and two others had bowed out of the race for the first Vice Chairperson of Central Executive Committee(CEC) , leaving incumbent Hajji Moses Kigongo unopposed.
It had been reported earlier that the President had been trying to engage with a number of contestants to let some of his most senior cadres walk through unchallenged.
Among those rumoured to have been Museveni’s major concern are Kigongo, Rebecca Kadaga and Matayo Kyaligonza.
It’s been however reported that General Kyaligonza was eliminated from the race to retain his slot as second Vice Chairperson Western Uganda over an illegality stemming from refusal to resign from his ambassador job.
The law requires that for one to participate in the CEC elections, he or she must first resign from any civil service office which the firebrand general had failed to do.
Keffa Mafumo, another in the race to replace Moses Kigongo as first Vice Chairperson was also ejected on similar grounds. He had equally failed to clear himself from the office of the President where he works as a Presidential aide on youths affairs.
Minister Godfrey Kiwanda Suubi could have also earned a soft way through to CEC after main challengers – historical Luwero strong man Nadduli and moneybags Moses Karangwa were eliminated out of the quest for the second Vice Chairman Central.
Although the reason for Nadduli’s ejection has remained vague until now, some analysts have argued that his recent remarks against the government in power over their greed for power could have cast his loyalty to the party in doubt for the big man with a hat.
Nadduli had at the start of this year accused the people from Western Uganda of greed and failure to be contented with what they have. He further expressed his disappointment that his people who had sacrificed their all to support the guerillas had been rendered landless in areas of his native Luwero and Bugerere.
For Kalangwa, the numerous land grabbing complaints against him had made him an expendable cadre for Museveni who is on record for demanding transparency from his close allies.
Whereas it’s been said that Kadaga’s nemesis Percis Namuganza defied Museveni’s plea to have the speaker sail unchallenged, the Party Chairman can at least sigh with relief that the biggest question of the people power threatened Buganda had been solved with ease.
After securing his position at CEC, with no questions whatsoever, Kigongo – the chief regime political strategist will be instantly getting to work with a mountainous task of neutralising Robert Kyagulanyi in Buganda awaiting him in his renewed role as party vice Chairman.
Kigongo has since the bush war days established himself as a chief negotiator, often being sent on missions to win moral and material support for the guerillas which partly explains why the NRA was able to attain power in so short a time unprecedented in the world history.
After taking over power from the Lutwa military Government in 1986, Kigongo- who had actually played an important role in besieging Kampala, would go on to serve in the National Resistance Council which was the national Parliament where he was a Deputy Speaker, he resigned into a voluntary party position where he became the pillar of stability in the party by playing a key role in diffusing party feuds amongst the members.
Kigongo is also remembered for his role in securing the return to the ruling outfit of late Minister Eria Kategaya.
Kategaya, along with many others had crossed to the opposition in 2005 which was bound to affect the morale of the NRM while boosting their opponents. Kigongo was however asked to engage the furious key Museveni ally though expectations for success in the task were at near zero. His success was a miracle for which many were convinced that the position of Vice Chairperson should be his for as long as he is still interested.
The dominance of Kyagulanyi’s NationalUUnity Platform by Baganda politicians has given Kigongo an automatic assignment from Museveni. Eventhough the possibility of the party taking over the Presidency has drastically dwindled due to its ethnic nature, Museveni is refusing to be kind to the fact that the outfit could be used in a power sharing deal with any ethnically diverse party which would finally send him grassing to Rwakitura.
With the candidate’s selection exercise just days away in NUP, Kigongo must be warming up for a busy schedule trying to prize away the dissatisfied members who would be recruited to serve in mobilisation roles for the ruling party to the detriment of Kyagulanyi’s Presidential bid.
The situation has even been complicated by the arrival of incumbent MPs in a deal we have learnt that could make the flags in their respective Constituencies automatic. This would certainly send the rest of the challengers cursing having spent considerable time and resources mobilising for the new party only to be ditched at the last hour.
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