By KT Reporter
Two camps of the ruling NRM party held parallel mobilisation meetings ahead of President Yoweri Museveni’s campaign tour in the Kigezi region. It appears that the division that emerged from the party primaries still subsists.
The division is likely to be further witnessed as the party’s candidate heads to Kigezi for the presidential campaign. Museveni is expected in Kisoro and Rubanda districts next Monday. He will campaign in Rukiga and Kabale on Tuesday, and conclude with Kanungu and Rukungiri on Wednesday.
On Friday, NRM leaders in Kabale District, led by district party chairman, David Bahati, who is also the Minister of State for Trade and Member of Parliament for Ndorwa West, held a meeting at Kirigime Guest House in Kabale Town.
The meeting aimed to discuss strategies for mass mobilisation ahead of the President’s visit. Leaders drafted several activities to boost enthusiasm, including cleaning and decorating Katuna Town Council and parts of Kabale Town on Saturday, and holding friendly football matches at Kabale Stadium on Sunday.
However, while the Kirigime meeting was still on, another group of NRM officials, led by Rosemary Nansubuga Seninde, the party’s Director of Mobilisation, Jacquiline Kyatuheire, the Deputy National Treasurer, and Henry Ariganyira Musasizi, Minister of State for Finance (General Duties) and Rubanda East MP, held a separate meeting at Agaba Centre Hotel, also in Kabale Town.
This parallel meeting, which had a similar agenda, attracted NRM leaders from across the Kigezi sub-region, although most leaders from Kabale District were absent. Journalists were ordered out shortly after introductions.
During the Kirigime meeting, Kabale District party leaders expressed anger, arguing that they were being deliberately excluded from the mobilisation process. Robert Matsiko Runyasi, NRM chairman for Central Division in Kabale Municipality, and Enock Kazooba, NRM chairman for Ryakarimira Town Council, said that with only days left before the President arrives in Kigezi, no district leader had been contacted regarding preparations or mobilisation.
Kazooba and Runyasi added that they were shocked to learn that top party officials had come to Kigezi and organised a meeting in Kabale without involving local leaders.
They also claimed that a party mobilizer has spent the past two weeks distributing money and holding rallies with NRM supporters in Kabale without notifying district party structures.
Kabale Municipality NRM chairman Joshua Mutekanga expressed suspicion that senior party officials were sidelining district leaders to portray Kabale’s party structures as weak. He warned that this could undermine their ability to lobby for services from the President.
Bahati described the exclusion of Kabale District leaders from mobilisation activities as unfair. He expressed disappointment, saying district leaders should not be left out and later blamed if the turnout to welcome the President is low. He urged party members to put aside internal conflicts and focus on mobilising for Museveni’s campaign.
When contacted, Seninde denied claims that Kabale District leaders had been sidelined. She said the Friday meeting at Agaba Centre Hotel was specifically for the District Executive Committee, which had been assigned to coordinate with all other leaders at the grassroots to ensure smooth mobilisation and preparations.
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