Africa-Press – Uganda. Although the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party took the Jinja City mayoral seat and went on to galvanise its presence in the just concluded municipality elections, the story is different in the two divisions of Jinja City.
At the end of the elections, all NUP flagbearers in Jinja City South and Jinja City North lost. A combination of factors have been advanced to explain the trend.
With Jinja City still digesting Mr Peter Okocha Kasolo’s victory as mayor-elect, it is widely being suggested that Mr Kasolo could have been voted to avenge the defeat of NUP presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine), who lost to National Resistance Movement (NRM) party flagbearer, Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa.
In Jinja North City Division, Ms Florence Nasubo Mirembe held the NUP flag, while Mr Muhammed Musisi Kibugujo held the NUP flag in Jinja South City Division. However, both lost to Mr Ayub Wamika of the Forum for Democratic Change and Mr Ashraf Nasser (NRM) respectively.
Mr Nasser garnered 6,910 votes against Mr Kibugujo’s 4,978 while Mr Wamika emerged winner with 16,697 votes against his nearest challenger and incumbent Stephen Wante (NRM) who got 5,602 votes.
Going into these elections, NUP was riding on relative success having trounced several incumbents, including ministers, in Buganda Sub-region.However, Mr Kasolo, the Jinja City mayor-elect, cited lack of groundwork from the candidates.
“I went through because I was involved in NUP activities every time Mr Kyagulanyi came to Busoga Sub-region; but some of these candidates got the NUP cards and relaxed, which impacted on their failure,” Mr Kasolo said.
Mr Kasolo, who is also a media personality and comedian, said the quality and limited popularity of the candidates presented by NUP was another factor for their defeat.
According to him, NUP is a new party which needed candidates who have already made a name in society and also matched by hard work.“As for me, I had already made a name with presentation on different radio stations,” Mr Kasolo added.
Mr Joseph Kintu, a resident of Danida, Walukuba-Masese Division in Jinja City, thinks NUP candidates relaxed after winning the Jinja City mayor seat while other parties continued to sensitise the electorate that voting should not be done for revenge, but to seek solutions to problems affecting them.
According to Mr Kintu, divisions are small in size and every candidate’s character was almost known.“Mr Kasolo was elected by every person including those who never knew him physically because of the NUP wave; but these division seats needed a person who is well understood by the locals, so the best ones were chosen,” he said.
Further still, the NRM after losing the mayorship in 2016, returned to the drawing board to strategise on how to reclaim the seats. Mr Nasser is said to have spent his time exploiting every loophole that befell the incumbents, for example, helping out women groups, among others.
