The Democratic Party (DP), which was once a dominant political party in Masaka, has this time round failed to front candidates in the Masaka City constituencies, completely losing its grip on the area.
The three constituencies of Masaka City, which include Kimaanya-Kaboonera, Nyendo-Mukungwe, and Masaka City Woman MP, are being contested for by the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP ) party and National Resistance Movement (NRM), and the newly-created Democratic Front (DF). There is also one independent candidate who is NUP-leaning.
The 10 parliamentary candidates nominated in Masaka City include Racheal Nakitende (NRM), Gyaviira Lubowa Ssebina (NUP), both seeking to unseat Mathias Mpuuga of DF who is seeking a fourth term as Nyendo -Mukungwe MP. In Kimaanya-Kaboonera Municipality, three candidates are in the race.
Mr Robert Asiimwe (NRM) and Mr Patrick Kuteesa of NUP seek to unseat the incumbent, Dr Abed Bwanika of DF, who is seeking another term in Parliament. The Masaka City Woman MP race attracted four candidates. They are NRM’s Justine Namere, incumbent Juliet Kakande of DF, NUP’s Rose Nalubowa, and independent Sauyah Nanyonga. Mr Denis Lukanga Majwala, the DP spokesperson in Masaka, said the party failed to field candidates for MP seats because some members in the area recently crossed to other Opposition parties.
‘So, we could not get substitutes to replace them easily, thus deciding to shun the parliamentary race in Masaka City and concentrate on other areas. However, we managed to have Ms Mary Babirye Kabanada, former Masaka City Woman MP nominated for the Masaka District Woman MP seat and the incumbent for Bukoto Central constituency, Richard Ssebamala, both are standing on our ticket. We are going to support them to ensure they get these seats and use them as a base to reclaim the party’s lost glory in the region,’ he said.
DP did not field candidates in more than 16 local government positions in Masaka City. But Mr Dick Lukyamuzi, a representative of Greater Masaka on DP’s National Executive Committee (NEC), however downplayed the party’s shrinking support in the area. He insisted that DP is still strong and dominant in the Greater Masaka area because the party fielded candidates at various local council levels in Masaka, Kyotera, Bukomansimbi and Kalungu.
He, however, admitted that they failed to get candidates in Masaka City and districts of Rakai, Lyantonde, Sembabule and Kalangala. ‘We did not get leaders in Masaka City during the previous General Election [2021] and this has made it hard for us to penetrate the city.
But we are building the party strength again and if our flagbearer for Nyendo-Mukungwe Municipality mayoral seat [Denis Majwala] wins, he will help us rejuvenate the party in the city and we have hope that it’s going to be the same in other areas where we have managed to field candidates,’ Mr Lukyamuzi added. During the 2021 General Election, DP candidates won only two chairpersons’ seats in Masaka District’s sub-counties of Kyesiga and Buwunga and the Bukoto Central MP seat.
Before the 2021 polls, DP used to front candidates at almost every position in Masaka and recorded several victories. During the recent nomination of district and municipality candidates DP only fronted two out of the 18 candidates contesting for city and municipality mayoral races.
These include Denis Lukanga Majwala who is vying for Nyendo-Mukungwe mayoral seat and Samson Kisekka who was nominated to contest in Kimaanya-Kabonera Municipality. DP has grappled with several challenges from the time it was founded nearly 70 years ago. Some of these challenges include internal and external disputes. For instance, in June, the party held its delegates conference in Mbarara City to change leadership, but the conference ended in chaos even though party President Norbert Mao and other leaders retained their seats.
Ms Zahara Nalubyayi ,a former DP supporter and a Masaka City Council councillor, who is currently contesting for Bukuto East MP seat, said voters lost interest in DP due to long standing internal conflicts .
She added that the situation worsened when the top DP leadership entered a cooperation agreement with the ruling NRM party in 2022.
‘I personally exited DP because…we were betrayed by our leaders and decided to leave them to dine with NRM,’ Mr Musa Matovu Kigongo, the NUP spokesperson for Bukomansimbi District, said, concurring with Ms Nalubyayi. Historically, Masaka is known to be DP’s stronghold since one of its founders, Benedict Kiwanuka, is a son of the soil. But in the lead-up to 2021 General Election, the party started losing ground as several members defected to NUP.
During the same period, almost all DP candidates in Masaka and other parts of Buganda Sub-region also designed their campaign posters with either NUP or People Power logos associating themselves with the then NUP presidential candidate Mr Robert Kyagulanyi who they had considerable support in the sub-region.
During the 2021 polls, DP won nine parliamentary seats. But that number has since dropped after Fortunate Rose Natongo (Kyotera District Woman MP), John Paul Mpalanyi (Kyotera County), and Paul Lutamaguzi (Nakaseke South) a crossed to NUP, saying DP had lost direction. Meanwhile, Buikwe South MP Michael Philip Lulume Bayigga crossed to People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) in July.