There is a new twist in the Ibanda Municipality MP race. Yesterday, after losing the NRM candidature for the seat to former FDC supporter Tarsis Bishanga Rwaburindore, Deusdedit Mulinde’s camp were unsatisfied with the results and vowed to push their candidate on the Independent slot.
Bigshots intervene
Unconfirmed reports from Ibanda have intimated to TrumpetNews that on learning that Mulinde had been trounced by a candidate they didn’t feel was “conc” NRM, top Ibanda NRM opinion leaders asked Mulinde to come to Kampala for consultations.
Mulinde duly arrived Monday evening and immediately jumped into the strategic planning meetings that are meant to forge a way for him to claim the seat.
The source who told TrumpetNews says the meeting was brokered by Ibanda North MP Guma Gumisiriza and District Woman MP Jovline Kalisa.
In the meeting, it was agreed that Mulinde contests as an Independent candidate and that the party would fully back his decision.
“The President said he knows Mulinde as a long time cadre,NRM Supporter who should be helped and that he wasn’t sure about Rwaburindore who formerly sympathized with opposition party FDC” said the source who was privy to the details of the meeting.
Double Standards
As Mulinde met President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in Kampala, nominations for the seat by Electoral Commission were going on in Ibanda as other parties and independent candidates registered to tussle it out.
Unconfirmed reports said the President promised to fund Mulinde so that he would be able to make it to parliament.
However, NRM’s stance on supporting a candidate who was trounced in the primaries is bound to create confusion and unfairness in the party.
As the duly elected NRM candidate, Rwaburindore will be the force of the party and all voter wooing tactics would be directed towards getting him into parliament.
Who will Museveni campaign for?
As the confusion reigns, Rwaburindore is left in a state of dilemma while NRM and Mulinde stand between a rock and a hard place. As has been norm, the President as NRM party leader attends one of the party candidate’s rallies to use his influence and popularity to drive voters for the candidate.
Ibanda voters are now waiting to see if Museveni will campaign for Rwaburindore-the party’s official candidate or Mulinde who he has vowed to support at all costs as an independent candidate.
Nomination of candidates for the seat ended this evening and by press time, Mulinde had not submitted his papers though it was believed he had opted to be nominated in Kampala.
