One of the shocks of the 2021 General Election came from the newly constituted Jinja South West, where the National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Moses Grace Balyeku lost to Timothy Batuwa from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). The difference in the number of votes was 1,699. Formerly known as Jinja West, Balyeku had represented this constituency from 2011 when he wrestled it from FDC’s Harry Kasigwa. To become a political force in Jinja, Kasigwa had wrestled it from the NRM’s Henry Kyemba (deceased) in 2001. By the 2006 elections, Kasigwa had buttressed himself in the politics of Jinja so much so that he ensured all the Local Council divisions were under FDC’s control.
In the runup to the 2011 elections, in an effort to wrestle Jinja West from the firm grip of Kasigwa, Balyeku dug into his deep pockets and constructed 120 market stalls in Mpumudde market. He also extended water stand pipes to Kimaka B Village. His success came as no surprise. In 2016, Balyeku easily defended his seat, beating FDC’s Paul Kawanguzi with a difference of 2,742 votes. But Balyeku couldn’t repeat the same feat in 2021 because by that time, he had been involved in some land wrangles.
Land wrangles
Balyeku’s footprints in Busoga land wrangles were exposed in 2018 during the Land Commission inquiry led by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire. The NRM politician was summoned after accusations emerged that he influenced the issuance of a freehold title over plot 24 B Kyabazinga Way in Nalufenya to businessman Thummar Jay Magnalal Patel. This was over a running lease of Jinja Municipal Council and a sub-lease to Tirupati Development. Justice Bamugemereire moved to issue criminal summons after Balyeku snubbed repeated summons by the Commission to provide evidence on the transfer of the land. Justice Bamugemereire also warned Balyeku of attempting to compromise members of the Commission through unnecessary phone calls. As if that wasn’t enough, Balyeku would get entangled in a standoff with then Jinja Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Eric Sakwa, still over land wrangles.
Sakwa, who had appeared before Justice Bamugemereire to pin Balyeku, was thereafter charged with manslaughter. The DPP claimed that between March 22 and April 17, 2020, while in Lwanda Village in Jinja, Sakwa and his co-accused, Bazimbyewa Bumali, alias Chris Umar Dindodi, a resident of Mafubira Zone C in Mafubira Sub-county, Jinja District and businessman Mohammed Simba, alias Meddie, also from the same place, caused the death of Charles Isanga when they stormed his kiosk and tortured him.
The charges were later dismissed by the High Court, but Sakwa said they were cooked by the DPP at the behest of Balyeku. ‘Balyeku is the one who engineered everything; of course, he denies he is the one who does all of that,’ Sakwa said, prompting Balyeku, who owns Baba Television and Baba Radio, to offer a rebuttal.
Balyeku said: ‘I have no problem with Sakwa that necessitates me to go to that level of arresting him. I’m not a police officer, minister in government or army officer, but an ordinary backbencher in Parliament. I don’t have those powers to make the court sit at 4pm.’
When Sakwa was temporarily jailed, there were protests outside the court premises by some civilians who had no kind words for Balyeku. Once the legislator lost to Batuwa, observers familiar with Jinja West politics attributed Balyeku’s loss to the way he handled the Sakwa standoff. Another contributing factor in Balyeku’s downfall was his open support for the removal of presidential age limits from the Constitution. Balyeku had teamed up with Kyaka South MP Jackson Kafuuzi to second the Bill that was tabled by Raphael Magyezi, allowing Museveni’s continued presidency. ‘Age shouldn’t be a factor that hinders the rights and freedom of any Ugandan to vie for the post of President,’ Balyeku said.
A cold shoulder
In the aftermath of amending the Constitution, Museveni rewarded Kafuuzi with the post of Deputy Attorney General. Balyeku was, however, ignored. Even when he lost his parliamentary seat, Museveni didn’t award him with any ministerial job like he did with his NRM cadres who lost in Buganda such as Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo and Ruth Nankabirwa. Still, Balyeku didn’t abandon the NRM; he stood in its primaries and defeated his closest rival, Daniel Kanu, with 9,020 votes against his 2,240 to win the NRM flag for next year’s elections. Other contestants in the race were David Talenga, who placed third with 78 votes. Sakwa trailed in fourth position with 71 votes.
Once he was declared the winner, Balyeku rallied all NRM supporters in Jinja South West to unite and rally behind him. Yet Balyeku’s NRM rivals weren’t contended with his victory, accusing him of importing rowdy youth from other areas, who allegedly threatened voters from participating in the electoral process. Kanu’s petition to an NRM tribunal that handled the disputes that arose from the ruling party’s primaries was thrown out for want of evidence, giving Balyeku a sigh of relief.
This means Balyeku is once again going to face Batuwa, who changed his political home from the FDC to the National Unity Platform (NUP). When he joined NUP, Batuwa insisted that he wasn’t just interested in retaining his seat but rather to see that the NRM is kicked out of power.
‘They have been promising Ugandans things they can’t deliver. They are the reason why Busoga [Sub-region] has really lagged in terms of development. We need to get them out of power,’ Batuwa said.