JINJA
THE phrase, “…If you can’t beat them, join them…”,which suggests that those who cannot win against a certain group should stop fighting and band together with them is making a lot of sense to one Jinja person who is considering making a political U turn.
The former Jinja District Council Speaker Michael Nyende Musana who defected about a year ago to the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) is now in a state of critical dilemma pondering whether to stick to the Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine’s path or follow Jesus’ story of a ‘prodigal son’.
The ‘undersize’ youthful politician who presided over a volatile council under Titus Kisambira now serving as a member of the Public Service Commission in Kampala had turned tables in Jinja where he used local radio stations and funerals to bash NRM as the most corrupt political party.
Obviously feeling uneasy that their own mentored political boy was doing a lot of damage to the already fragile political environment, a section of NRM leaders including LCs and MPs crafted a move to recapture Nyende.
We have learnt that a small committee of eminent elders and opinion leaders has been silently courting the pencil-sized Nyende who hitherto had embraced “Red” as his new color to take another bold step to abandon the Makerere-based Kavule radical party.
The members include Jinja RDC Richard Gulume Balyainho who also doubles as the Dean of RDCs/RCCs in charge of Busoga, former Butembe County MP Daudi Migereko, Patrick Bamwise the councilor representing the elderly at Buyengo Town Council, and powerful sugar cane dealer Mzee George Bamuswangkire.
Others are David Mutwalume the councilor representing Buwabuzi Ward to Buyengo Town Council, the Buyengo Town Council NRM chairman James Banalya and Omukaire Teddy Nabirye, also an opinion leader in Buyengo.
The elders and opinion leaders together with the NRM officials want Nyende to mobilize the foot soldiers holding NUP membership cards he has recruited so that they are officially unveiled in a ceremony to be held at the NRM Secretariat in Kampala.
The ceremony whose date is not yet disclosed but very soon is expected to be graced by the NRM First National Vice chairman Al Hajji Moses Kigongo, the NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong and the Eastern Regional Vice Chairperson Flight Capt George Mike Mukula, among others.
A series of activities are already taking place including meetings and clandestine engagements with more than 200 youth who are referred to as ‘foot soldiers’( one of the NUP coined phraseologies) to denounce the People Power slogan.
It’s not yet clear what Nyende will carry home as he makes this sacrifice while aware that the move will not only irritate NUP leaders who may also plan a counter mechanism to politically avenge his ‘betrayal’.
According to trusted sources, after defection, Nyende whose pockets are now ‘malnourished’ will bid farewell to the word ‘poverty’ and will also join the long list of powerful politicians who will bounce back in style during the 2026 general elections.
Nyende is vying for the Jinja District LC5 chair, currently occupied by the isolated Moses Batwala whose relationship sphere has greatly dwindled over years due to his work methods, not palatable to many.
Interestingly, Batwala who had severed all engagements with Nyende is now one of the happiest politicians, with the mistaken belief that chances for his second term bid has now been widened.
Due to his abrasive ways of doing things by quarreling at funeral ceremonies and applying populism approach on service delivery which have earned him unenviable notoriety, most NRM elders and opinion leaders are just waiting to see him off the political scene in 2026.
They are fronting the Butagaya Sub County LC3 chairman Abdallah Suta who is already trotting the poverty-stricken district to prepare grounds for next year’s NRM primary elections when he hopes to grab the flag.
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