Africa-Press – Uganda. ELECTION WATCH 2021 |One of the two rival factions within the National Resistance Movement(NRM) in Kyotera has endorsed John Paul Mpalanyi, the Democratic Party candidate for Kyotera Constituency.One side is led by Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo, the incumbent MP for Kyotera Constituency and State minister for Microfinance while the other by Patrick Kintu Kisekulo, the Incumbent -Kyotera district chairperson, and Magdalene Nasolo, a prominent NRM mobiliser and Mutukula NRM chairperson.However, Kisekulo and Nasolo’s faction say they cannot work with Kasolo whom they accuse of consistently fueling internal party differences that have left the party divided.
The factions have been wrangling for over a year and the feud escalated during the party primaries and the current general election campaign period.According to Nasolo they have tried to resolve their differences but instead, the minister chose to carry on the rift between them.She alleges that they supported the minister in the two terms he has been in parliament but he undermined their contribution to hissuccess.”During the primaries, we resolved that Kasolo remains unopposed as the District NRM chairman. But he went behind our backs and sponsored his hotel manager (Charles Zziriddamu) to stand against Kisekulo, the District LC5 chairperson. He brought Paul Wasswa to stand against me on the post of treasurer,” she said.Currently, Nasolo and Kisekulo are openly campaigning for Mpalanyi and some NRM candidates as well as independents who are NRM leaning.Nasolo is using open gathering and WhatsApp groups to criticize Kasolo for attacking, dividing, and failing fellow NRM candidates at all levels in trying to brand himself as kingmaker.”During the NRM primaries, Gen. Salim Saleh met the Kisekulo and Kasolo to resolve the grudges for the good of the party but the minister declined to reverse his decision and plan. So we left it at that,” she noted.According to Kisekulo, he brought Kasolo into politics and groomed him into a good politician but he turned against him for unknown reasons.He added that his rude conduct towards party members has weakened the party.He said the minister has used his own bodyguards and groups to brutalise party members.”Several NRM party members have been attacked and beaten, not by the rival opposition groups but by the minister’s group and bodyguards,” he said.Kisekulo further added that he could not work with him (Kasolo) but chose to support Mpalanyi for the Kyotera parliamentary seat for people to have a competent and well-behaved representative.”A good politician is good, no matter the party they come from. I chose to support Mpalanyi because he has the potential to serve the people of Kyotera,” he said.All attempts to reach the minister through his known lines, for a comment, were unsuccessful as he did not pick and at some pointswitched off his phone.However, Enos Mugisha, the Kyotera NRM Vice Chairperson, told the New Vision that Nasolo and Kisekulo violated Chapter Three (5)(e) of the party constitution by supporting candidates of other political parties.He noted that membership of a party member ceases if he or she is found in breach of the code.
This includes campaigning for a candidate sponsored by another political organisation or party, offering material support to a candidate sponsored by another political organisation or party, and campaigning against the official candidate of NRM.He further says that they disregarded Nasolo and Kisekulo for breaching the party’s constitution, adding that they are free to dowhatever they want but not on behalf of the party.”Even when Kasolo annoyed you, leaving the party or supporting a member of another party against your own is not the solution. Internal differences can be resolved amicably but Nasolo and Kisekulo chose otherwise,” he noted.
