The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Deputy Secretary-General of the National Resistance Movement-NRM party Richard Todwong has said that Ambassador Matayo Kyaligonza was directed to step down from the Central Executive Committee race after failing to resign his job.
Kyaligonza, Uganda’s ambassador to Burundi was defending his position as the Western region vice-chairman of NRM in the Central Executive Committee, the second topmost organ of the NRM party.
Todwong told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that lawyers of the party advised that any public servant who didn’t resign his job before participating in the party elections should be disqualified, apart from the President, the speaker of parliament and ministers, whom the constitution does not consider public servants.
Based on the advice, CEC spent a considerable amount of time during its meeting earlier in the week trying to resolve the same issue of public servants contesting in partisan politics.
But when he was told that he could not contest because of the legal provision, Kyaligonza went bananas accusing CEC presided over by President Museveni of conspiring against him. Sources say Kyaligonza threw the same tantrums in 2015 when Odrek Rwabogo tried to contest against him. Eventually, CEC ordered Rwabwogo out of the race but Kyaligonza had already accused Museveni of sending ‘his boy’ to humiliate him.
This time around, NRM Secretary General Justine Kasule Lumumba was at the receiving end of Kyaligonza’s insults. He accused her of being a ‘Jonnie come lately’ in the party and wanting to boss around senior cadres of the NRM. Todwong said any bearer of bad news for Kyaligonza was always bound to receive that kind of treatment.
Kyaligonza was contesting with among others Col. Shaban Bantariza who also faced the same predicament because he had not resigned his job as the Deputy Director of the Uganda Media Centre. Others in the race are Dr Chris Baryomunsi, Florence Kintu Tumwine, Dr Deen Kisambo, and former MP Boaz Kafuda.
Kefa Mafumo, who was challenging Hajji Moses Kigongo for the position of national vice-chairperson was also in the eye of the storm. Mafumo is a presidential secretary in charge of politics, but like Kyaligonza, he never resigned his seat before joining the contest and it’s for this reason that lawyer Kiryowa Kiwanuka raised a red flag against him during the vetting exercise.
Mafumo challenged CEC to be fair to him because in their midst at the time, there was Matayo Kyaligonza a serving ambassador. But Todwong clarified that by the time Kyaligonza was appointed ambassador, he was already serving as deputy vice-chairman-western.
In the end, CEC resolved to eliminate all those challenging Kigongo clearing the way for him to go unopposed. President Yoweri Museveni met Capt. Francis Babu on Friday and explained to him why it was imperative to allow Kigongo to go unopposed. Also in the race was businessman Hakeem Asiimwe Lukenge.
Meanwhile, Todwong explained that CEC decided to disqualify Kayunga district NRM chairman Moses Karangwa because he has way too many responsibilities. “He holds leadership positions both in Kayunga and Jinja which we think are too many,” Todwong said.
However, reports indicate that CEC was not comfortable with Karangwa being part of them because of his name always appearing in land grabbing allegations in several parts of the country. Karangwa has been competing with incumbent Hajji Abdul Nadduli for the position of vice-chairman Central.
It is said that Nadduli himself was ordered out of the race although the reasons are not yet clear.
This leaves Tourism state minister Godfrey Kiwanda, Kibedi Nsegumire, and John Magaro as the only contenders. The NRM will hold the National Delegates Conference from August 19-20 at the district level in which new party leaders will be elected.
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