Buwembo hopeful of winning Rubaga South on NUP ticket

KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | Renowned Kampala political and human rights activist, Habib Buwembo, is confident that if he secures the National Unity Platform (NUP) ticket he will win Rubaga South constituency on his second attempt.

Buwembo crossed from Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) to NUP about two years ago and aims at giving a second shot at Rubaga South constituency.

Buwembo became famous for participating in almost all of FDC protests regarding political persecutions, amendments of articles prohibiting President Yoweri Museveni’s stay in power and skyrocketing commodity prices.

Besides FDC and other opposition led protests, Buwembo has severally staged demonstrations regarding unattended to drainage channels like Nalukolongo channel which previously claimed lives of at least five children.

Buwembo also made headlines for challenging the 2016 victory of now deceased former Rubaga South Member of Parliament, Kato Lubwama, on grounds that he lacked academic credentials.

Although Buwembo won the case, the ruling came after Kato Lubwama had served the his term in parliament and had lost his second bid to Aloysius Mukasa in 2021. The court awarded Buwembo money which had accumulated to more than a billion Shillings at the time Kato Lubwama died in 2023.

Despite the political and human rights activism as well the legal battles against Kato Lubwama, Buwembo’s bid to win Rubaga South on FDC ticket in 2021 ended in a dismal performance with slightly over 1,000 votes while the NUP candidate Mukasa won with nearly 40,000 votes.

Mukasa was followed by Eugenia Nassolo who was on DP ticket, while the incumbent Kato Lubwama came third and Buwembo was fourth in the race of 10 candidates.

In an interview with Uganda Radio Network (URN), Buwembo said if he secures NUP ticket, he is assured to being a member of the 12th parliament.

“In 2021, I was an FDC member and I was the party’s flag bearer. But I have since crossed to NUP because I realized along the way our leaders deviated from the principles. I think we’re infiltrated by the regime and I couldn’t stay in the party which has lost track,” Buwembo said.

Buwembo is hopeful that NUP will trust him with the ticket since the incumbent Mukasa has fallen out with the party’s leadership. But he faces serious competitors for NUP ticket other than Mukasa. These include famous comedian and musician, Reign as well Eugenia Nassolo who has since crossed back to NUP.

“In fact, I have one challenger for NUP ticket. That is comedian Reign. I am sure Aloysius Mukasa won’t waste time to contest for NUP ticket. Eugenia was one of the first people to embrace NUP but she went back to DP once she failed to secure the ticket. That one has trust issues and I don’t see her getting the NUP ticket,” Buwembo said.

Buwembo has since been moving from one village to another in Rubaga South donned in NUP’s signature attire the red overall. In addition, addressing issues he believes all the previous legislators of Rubaga South failed to accomplish and are affecting the electorates.

Some of these include unemployment, drug addiction among teenagers and the youth and failure to lobby for development projects.

****

URN