NRM’s Agnes Kirabo beats six men to become the central youth MP

Mubende, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT | The Central/ Southern Regional elections officer Robert Beine has declared Agnes Kirabo the elected member of parliament for the youths in the central region.

Kirabo who was the ruling National Resistance Movement -NRM flag bearer polled 780 votes while her closest competitor, independent Ivan Bwowe collected 85  only votes. Also in the race was Michael Katongole who garnered 78 votes then came Simon Sennyonga in the fourth position with 49 votes while Ziritwawula Abdel Kareem collected 09 votes.

FDC’s Kasumba Gyaviira got 09 votes and Semmamba Alvin got only 1 votes in the election which took place at National Teachers’ College Mubende on Monday. The NUP candidate identified as Moses Kasule was disqualified on grounds that he used a non-delegate to support his candidature.

Kirabo who had since the day declined to talk to the press told URN a few minutes before she was declared winner that she was extremely tired and needed a day or two to talk about the election process.

“It is still early for me to talk about this election but with time, I will  to explain all that I have been going through,” the exhausted Kirabo said.

Meanwhile, other candidates had already disappeared from the venues by the time of declaration of the results. Earlier in the day, the runner-up Ivan Bwowe had staged a stiff resistance against the electoral commission’s decision to proceed with the elections using a register which did not carry photographs of the voters.

He claimed that this was a move aimed at rigging the elections but the commission officials together with the police engaged him and convinced him not to cause a fracas at the polling station.

Meanwhile, Kirabo’s supporters have attributed her success to the commitment she showed while looking for support coupled with the hard work she is doing especially in regard to mobilizing for development among the local communities, particularly the youth.

Nasif Ali, the youth chairperson for Nyimbwa sub county in Luwero district where the now central region youth MP elect comes from says that she has been managing a youth foundation for more than three years which has armed her with enough experience to address the youth related issues.

On the other hand, Axam Sulaiman Mpagi a delegate from Wakiso district attributes the overwhelming support shown to Kirabo to the zeal she exhibited while looking for support whereby she visited majority of the voters in their homes unlike other candidates who campaigned on radio and TV alone.

Mugema Isha from Luwero district has outlined some of his expectations from Kirabo after swearing in as the Youth MP for central region. He says that the youth have lots of challenges ranging from poverty and unemployment which he believes can be addressed by a member of parliament who is well focused on issues of the youth.

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URN