By KT Reporter
Latest opinion poll findings concerning the Buganda NRM Vice Chairman race have sharply brought out the issues that delegates are basing on to make decisions regarding who deserves to carry the day.
Even after investing lots of money, the latest poll findings indicate that rich man Moses Karangwa of Kayunga has continued being rejected by a significant majority of delegates because they see him as not good enough. Some of the factors costing and alienating him from potential voters at the ruling party’s upcoming delegates conference include his failure to demonstrate commitment towards the Buganda Kingdom cause and readiness to mend fences and harmoniously work with the leadership at Mengo.
The Katikkiro recently gave a clear signal indicating that Buganda is more comfortable with Haruna Kasolo because he has always been clear and speaking with clarity regarding Buganda’s issues. In fact, Kasolo has for years been one of the generous patrons for Buddu County FC which is always participating and shining in Buganda’s Counties football tournament which is held annually.
In sharp contrast, many at Mengo see Karangwa as a man who is more sympathetic to the renegade Bugerere County throne claimant Capt. Baker Kimeze, the Sabanyara, than the Kabaka. Even in cases where he has been misrepresented, Karangwa, who didn’t go very far with formal education, has been reluctant to come out and clarify his position regarding Buganda Kingdom’s interests.
Karangwa has also endured bad reputation when it comes to land-grabbing claims which continue to be propagated by his rivals in Kayunga including the area Woman MP and former State Minister for Lands Aidah Nantaba. This has greatly alienated Karangwa while making delegates to perceive him as a pariah.
The other reason which explains why only 20% of the sampled delegates expressed readiness to vote for Karangwa relates to the fact that many delegates see him as transactional leader who believes that everyone in NRM is about money and has a price. This has clearly manifested in every district or region of Uganda he has been to campaign.
A few days ago, he turned off hundreds of delegates in Northern Uganda when he failed to eloquently expressed himself in English and instead resorted to promising to buy meat and donate one bull per district in case they elect him and he becomes the new NRM Vice Chairman for Buganda. Delegates from Northern Uganda might be poverty-stricken but the contempt with which Karangwa announced his offer of a promised cow per district, made the delegates to feel disrespected and despised.
They demanded that he goes beyond money-splashing sprees and bull roasting promises and instead articulate want he intends to do with the CEC position to increase NRM’s appeal in Buganda, a region which rejected Museveni in 2021 and overwhelmingly voted for Bobi Wine’s NUP party. Some delegates claimed to have failed to understand what candidate Karangwa was trying to say to them in his struggling English.
Others are wondering why he doesn’t have a clear team of campaigners he moves with.
Incumbent Godfrey Kiwanda polled even worse with only 8% of the delegates showing preference for him. Some described his decision to move and campaign jointly with fellow CEC incumbents Chris Baryomunsi and Lydia Wanyoto as a total turn off. Wherever the trio has been, delegates have demanded for money while accusing them of wanting to eat alone.
In some areas, the delegates, according to a recent newspaper report in Daily Monitor, have castigated the trio for being part of the political problems NRM is facing not just in Buganda but nationally. That there is a lot of fatigue towards NRM in the whole country because all the incumbent CEC bosses have been indolent, slow-witted and in the process let down the President, which is why all of them must be fired and replaced with new faces who are synonymous with energy and vibe.
Delegates are referencing on NRM’s poor showing in Buganda in 2021 as evidence of poor mobilization skills on the part of Kiwanda because he was the incumbent regional chairman as of that time yet Museveni and NRM were floored even in his native Mityana district. He was a Minister as of that time but failed to deliver even his own re-election as Mityana North MP. This has greatly diminished believability of Kiwanda’s campaign message.
In especially Buganda region, delegates are concerned about Kiwanda’s refusal to clarify and shed light on the Ugx6bn the president allegedly released to mobilise and promote coffee growing in Buganda through his office as Buganda regional Vice Chairman. Some also want him to explain how he ended up owning a large piece of land in Kiboga where he is growing coffee as opposed to supporting other coffee farmers in the region, which is what the president wanted to see.
Kiwanda is also seen as a man of intrigue which is why he has plenty of quiet uneasiness towards fellow Mityana-hailing leader Minister Judith Nabakooba whose supporters claim that Kiwanda actually supported her political opponents.
His recent defeat again for the NRM flag bearership for Mityana North MP Seat has once again multiplied doubts in Kiwanda’s capacity to convince even fellow NRMs in Buganda about the need to retain NRM in 2026. Among delegates from greater Mityana, Kiwanda is also resented for personalizing some of the President’s socio-economic transformation support interventions to favour himself personally as opposed to the entire community.
That whenever the President tours Mityana, he prefers having him tour and interact with individual households he has personally supported as opposed to those benefiting directly from key government programs like Emyoga, PDM etc. To increase NRM chances to reclaim Buganda, the party needs a leader who is a unifier capable of bringing cadres together, credentials which Kiwanda clearly doesn’t have given his well-known track record of selfishly fermenting intrigue.
As the rest of the peripheral candidates, whose relevancy and impact in the race delegates don’t even feel or recognize, share the remaining 2%, Haruna Kasolo enjoys 70% favourability among the delegates. He has greatly benefited from the gradual impact his Emyooga program has had among community members. This is what is selling him in especially the rural countryside parts of Uganda. It’s what he is synonymous with among delegates from especially the greater Northern region and much of the Eastern-and among delegates from Western Uganda too.
He is also appreciated for being articulate when it comes to explaining what is at stake and how he intends to use the CEC position as a platform to re-energize the NRM cadres and structures not only in Buganda but in the whole country. His consistent messaging around the need to have NRM structure leaders to become deliberately more involved in decision-making meetings at especially local government levels has greatly resonated with many delegates in especially upcountry districts, cities and Municipalities. His readiness to use the CEC platform to advocate for that as a matter of priority has increased his electability and acceptability among thousands of NRM delegates across Uganda.
He has spoken with clarity making clear how his campaign promises are achievable and will tangibly be achieved once he takes office as CEC member and party Vice Chairman for his region. He has also demonstrated how and why he intends to keep in touch with NRM structure leaders across the country at all times as opposed to only remembering them during campaign time. This is something many have welcomed while castigating majority outgoing CEC boss for not doing it. Being a Minister for Microfinance has also enabled Kasolo to have a verifiable track record against which his performance as a public official can be measured.
His loyalty to the President, Gen Salim Saleh (his mentor who actually got him into Cabinet) and to Gen MK is well demonstrated which has also made him appeal to many more delegates than any of his adversaries. In the PLU Pressure Group, Kasolo serves as the sub regional mobilizer for greater Masaka, which has enabled him to leverage on the Gen MK structures to create vibe and amplify his mobilization for the CEC position.
Having been Minister and MP for at least 10 years has also given him plenty of name recognition way above Karangwa, Sewava Mukasa, Hakim Kyeswa, Jossy Nuwabine and other peripheral contenders. The endorsements he has received from Buganda Katikkiro and other leaders have impressed it upon many delegates that Haruna Kasolo is the only one who can effectively do business with Buganda Kingdom on behalf of the NRM at this critical juncture.
Kasolo’s other equally game-changing endorsements have come from national leaders who are greatly respected inside the NRM. These include the two former Vice Presidents namely Prof Gilbert Bukenya and Edward Sekandi. These are key pillars upon whom especially NRM cadres look for inspiration and political signalling.
The duo hasn’t only endorsed Kasolo but have also publicly explained why he is the best thing for the Buganda CEC position for this moment. Bukenya says that, being someone who always appears on public media to debate with and confront demagogues from the opposition, makes Kasolo the man with all the requisite cards required to effectively lead the NRM camp as the country counts down to 2026.
There are several other cadres, who mentored many during their active years of public service, who have equally endorsed Kasolo and their word weighs a lot especially among NRM cadres and delegates, who too have publicly endorsed Kasolo. These include ex-Kira Mayor Mamerito Mugerwa, ex-Entebbe Mayor Stephen Kabuye and ex-Luwero LC5 Chairman and former CEC member Abdul Nadduli, who is also a former NRA bush war fighter.
Nadduli has made it clear that none of the would-be alternatives deserves anybody’s attention and is also furious as to how the NRM EC even ever permitted a person like Moses Karangwa to even get nominated to head the NRM party in Buganda at a time of great political tensions like now. All these factors have combined to make Haruna Kasolo the majority delegates favourite for the Buganda region CEC position. Some of his competitors have outrightly been dismissed by delegates as mere fortune-hunters who are in the CEC race to catch the President’s eye to satisfy their own opportunistic and selfish objectives. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
