By KT Reporter
Lord councilor Moses Katabu of KCCA has realized it’s not going to be easy to go to war with NUP secretary general David Levis Rubongoya. Katabu has been backed by the Mpuuga group to stand for the MP seat of Kampala central because he has been a leader in the central division for more than 25 years and on the opposition with others like Dr. Charles Sserunjogi.
Sources say that Katabu has realized that pro-Mpuuga spin doctors like Moses Kasibante are just using his name to show that Kyagulanyi and Rubongoya are mistreating Baganda inside NUP to pave way for non-Bagandas. Katabu has rightly realized he can’t win and the best he can do is to spoil things for Rubongoya.
Sources say that because he isn’t prepared to face the joblessness and misery that comes with losing elections in Kampala, he has considered making a deal with Rubongoya. The deal Katabu is open to discussing would guarantee him of being the NUP flag bearer for the position of mayor Kampala central currently occupied by NRM’s Salim Uhuru; while backing Rubongoya for the MP seat.
He is sure that with the NUP backing he can stand a good chance to defeat Uhuru and get that job for himself. In 5 years Rubongoya, who is going to be made LoP, would have built enough political and financial capital to abandon Kampala central to go and successfully stand in his home in western region. This would leave Kampala central vacant and Katabu can comfortably step in to replace Rubongoya.
Sources say that Kavule can sacrifice Charles Serunjogi Musoke and give the mayoral flag to Katabu who is politically more capable than Serunjogi who doesn’t have as much political capital as per now. Katabu is prepared to annoy and disappoint the Mpuuga-Mukaku squad but make a deal with Kavule which still has a lot of momentum on the opposition front than the Mpuuga DA group which doesn’t have the political cards currently.
Sources say that Katabu is finalizing consultations in this direction before making a public pronouncement and it’s the reason why he has been reluctant to grant media interviews bashing Rubongoya.
Sources say that because he doesn’t want to lose which could humiliate and demystify Kyagulanyi, Rubongoya has carefully been building a coalition of some sort to win the central vote and has always been open to engaging and making a deal with Katabu which now is a few days or weeks away from being unveiled to the public with Katabu declaring support for the NUP secretary general.
In a delicate constituency like Kampala central, political support has to be built incrementally and not working with Katabu could deprive Rubongoya of between 2000-3000 votes, in especially parishes of lower Kampala, which he badly needs to overcome NRM in Kampala central. These are basically the ghetto parishes of Mengo-Sserwanga areas and the Kisenyi parishes.
Central is complex because, whereas many foot soldiers work in Owino, Kisekka and Nakasero markets, they don’t vote from there. They come to work but live and vote from Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa, Rubaga divisions and parts of Wakiso and Mukono or even Mpigi for some of them.
This is how NRM, which relies on upper Kampala parishes like Nakasero, Kololo, parts of Kamwokya, state house, Summit view barracks, civic center etc, has always had an upper hand in Kampala central. Rubongoya is very much alive to all this political reality which is why he can’t afford war with Katabu who is very popular among the poor-inhabited ghettoes of lower Kampala.
It’s only Erias Lukwago who has ever won Kampala central from the opposition without compromising with Museveni or state house. This is why Rubongoya, who has been conducting consultative meetings aided by veterans like Deo Mbabazi, Habib Buwembo etc, has had to reach out and craft a delicate coalition comprising of the likes of Erias Lukwago. Mohammed Nsereko has been there for 15 years but has mostly survived on playing ball with state house which is why he has never led a demonstration against the state or seriously participated in any.
The only time he stood up to the deep state beyond talking at press conferences or funerals or Kibuli mosque was in relation to the alleged poisoning of his friend Cerina Nebanda in the early 2012 and this had nothing to do with the governance of Kampala.
Rubongoya, who currently is the only opposition actor Museveni can tolerate in Kampala central, is also careful to avoid repeating mistakes which cost Fred Nyanzi in 2021. All this explains why it works for him to work out a win-win deal with Moses Katabu, a kingmaker in Kampala central in his own right. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
