By KT Reporter
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) party is celebrating a significant milestone after winning six parliamentary seats for the first time in Kasese District.
The victory is especially notable in the Woman Member of Parliament race, a result that has been widely celebrated by NRM supporters. Since 2005, the Kasese District Woman MP seat has largely been under the control of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
Despite the NRM making steady gains in other parliamentary and local government positions over the years, the FDC had maintained a firm grip on the Woman MP seat.
Veteran politician Loyce Bwambale was the last NRM member to represent women in Kasese. She served on the National Resistance Council (NRC) in 1989 and later as a delegate to the Constituent Assembly from 1993 to 1994.
Following the reintroduction of multiparty politics, Winnie Kiiza held the Kasese Woman MP seat for 15 years, from 2006 until she voluntarily vacated it in 2021.
After Kiiza’s departure, the seat was won by Florence Kabugho (FDC), a former journalist and protégé of Kiiza. The NRM’s failure to secure the seat in the last two election cycles has largely been attributed to internal party divisions and issues surrounding candidates’ personal egos.
In the 2021 elections, despite NRM gains in Busongora South, Busongora North, and Kasese Municipality, the FDC retained the Woman MP seat, albeit with a less experienced candidate.
NRM voters were split between Sarah Ithungu Baleke, the official party flag bearer, and party-leaning independent candidate Maryline Kabugho, who ran after losing in the party primaries. In that election, FDC’s Florence Kabugho won with 101,072 votes, while Baleke polled 73,924 votes.
Maryline Kabugho garnered 48,542 votes.A repeat of the split vote was anticipated after Maryline declined calls to step down for Ithungu following the NRM internal party primaries held in July last year.In the primaries, Baleke emerged victorious with 65,664 votes, narrowly defeating Maryline, who polled 63,060 votes.
Despite the tight contest, the NRM managed to rally its supporters effectively in the general election, securing victory not only by winning the Woman MP seat but also by consolidating support from opposition and independent voters.Sarah Ithungu polled 83,121 votes, defeating her closest rival Maryline Kabugho, who received 58,624 votes.
The incumbent Florence Kabugho (FDC) garnered 54,140 votes, while National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Fatima Kamama polled 28,297 votes.Ruth Katya of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) received 115 votes, while Victoria Night, an independent candidate, received 657 votes.Ithungu attributed her victory to strong party mobilisation and government-led development initiatives.
She committed herself to transforming women in Kasese into more enterprising individuals.
NRM Administrative Secretary Robert Mitse attributed the party’s political gains in Kasese to deliberate government efforts to improve infrastructure, the implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM), and support extended to the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu cultural institution.He said these interventions gave voters ample reason to support the ruling party.
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