By Andrew Baba
Linos Ngompek, the area Member of Parliament for Kibanda North in Kiryandogo district has said he would strongly back a bill to repeal the law that allows independents to contest in the general election after participating and losing in their party internal elections.
Ngompek, a former Resident District Commissioner was elected in 2021 to represent Kibanda North for the first time. In the NRM party primaries held last month, he defeated five other contestants including his immediate predecessor, Hon Taban Amin on his way to another term( 2026-2031)
Even when he doesnt face any serious threat having beaten his closest rival with a significantly big margin of over 13000 votes, he is still concerned that internal party divisions caused by independents who choose to contest after losing the flag could dearly cost the party. Taban Amin, his closest challenger has already indicated he will seek the vote on an independent ticket.
Speaking exclusively to Watchdog, Ngompek has described the issue of independents as a very big threat to NRM and urged the party’s National Chairman a d the Central Executive Committee (CEC) to look at it with a very keen eye. ” The issue of independents will bring down the NRM if not correctly and swiftly addressed. There is need to ensure party discipline and cohesion by enhancing party’s control over its members,” Ngompek noted.
He suggest a change to the Political Parties and Organisation’s Act to lock out candidates who would want to come back and participate in the general election after losing internal party process. ” This would ensure party cohesion and internal discipline,” he argued, adding that ” I would strongly back that bill if it came up in Parliament.”
On the trust he got from the people with the flag after the majority of incumbents didn’t make it across the country, he divulged staying true to the promises he made to his voters and keeping one with them throughout as the key secrets for which they opted to reward him.
” When I first came to my people to ask for their mandate, I made commitments that I have remained true to. We promise to support the youth and the women and this we have done throughout. We have supported sports and talents through providing foot balls, jerseys, shoes, we have bought tentsand chairs for different groups and in Parliament, their voice has always been heard. I think that’s why they thought I needed to be rewarded in order to continue the good work.” Linos confidently asserts.
He says he will majorly focus on economically empowering the people with skill based training and entrepreneurial support once reelected next year. He identifies joblessness as the major challenge in the constituency which also hosts a large number of refugees mainly from Sudan and South Sudan.
” When you ask the youth what they want, they ask for jerseys and football and handouts. I want to change that in the next term. I need to encourage people to do business or participate in any income generating activity. I will lobby extensively and also use my personal money to provide ready and willing people with small capital to better their lives.” These, he says, he will do alongside the different interventions that are already ongoing.
He also pledges more emphasis on support for the widows and the elderly to ensure they live a meaningful life. He adds that ensuring young girls stay in school will be another focus area as a way of scaling down on the number of girl children dropping out of school. This, he intends to do through allocating more funds in support to girls from vulnerable families and providing sanitary towels to those who don’t afford them.
On the reports that the refugee population in the camps in Bweyale Town Council have devastated the area by putting pressure on the existing facilities, the Lawmaker dismissed the allegation as baseless and ill researched, rather extending appreciation to the different programs they have benefitted from as a host community.
” I don’t think that’s true. On the contrary, the refuge arrangement has brought many developments to our area that we should be proud of. They have for instance built for us a stadium, improved our health facilities with additional buildings and stocking them with medicine and medical equipment, they have built school blocks, to mention but a few.
He, however, notes that the refuge program has not been entirely without challenges. He for instance points out that some youthful refugees move with machets at night which poses a security problem and spreads panic among residents. He also says there have been regular clashes among the refugees, especially after a group was brought in from the Dafur area of the Arab Republic of Sudan. These, he explains, have had a rusty relationship with their South Sudan counterparts which have often degenerated into deadly physical fights.
On his projection of the results from next year’s general election, he says he is betting on President Museveni and the NRM winning with a landslide of at least 80 percent. He says, “last time we were caught unaware. There was some kind of wave which I don’t see returning in 2026. I can see we are everywhere as NRM and it would be a miracle if the opposition acquired even a half what they managed in 2021.
He rallied the voters of Kibanda North to continue trusting him and the NRM so as to continue with ” what we have already started. “
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