UNTOLD STORY: Why Museveni Appointed Mutasingwa First Minister from Buikwe
Buikwe District has four Member of Parliament positions namely; Lugazi Municipality won by National Unity Platform (NUP)’s Sserubula Stephen, Buikwe South won by Democratic Party (DP)’s Dr.Lulume Bayiga, Njeru Municipality won by NUP’s Jimmy Lwanga and the Woman MP slot, differently won by the National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s Diana Mutasingwa.
Mutasingwa, the only NRM female MP in greater Mukono (Mukono ,Buikwe and Kayunga ) at first whitewashed ex-MP Dorah Mpiima, Immaculate Kaabale and Harriet Nankabirwa in the September 4th party Primaries before the final Political slaughter on Opposition in the January 2021 Elections .
This is one of the many reasons as to why the prolific legislator was appointed a State Minister in the Office of the Vice President. She is the first Minister ever since the ruling NRM government took power in 1986.
Just as the bible says in Micah 5:9 ‘Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries and all your enemies will be cut off’, the Electoral Commission declared Mutasingwa a young NRM Turk, winner of the Buikwe Woman MP Race against FDC’s Resty Nanteza her closest rival, making the former the only Female NRM MP Candidate in Greater Mukono to floor Opposition.
Others in the race were Faridah Nabatanzi(NUP),Harriet Nankabirwa ,Immaculate Kabaale,Lydia Nakiguli all independents.
As we look at why she was appointed a minister, we shouldn’t forget Mutasingwa’s Victory and why stakeholders dumped opposition on the woman MP slot for NRM opposite to what they did to other positions like Direct Mps and Chairpersons.
According to sources, Museveni sees Mutasingwa as a mobiliser who is not in politics to look for wealth but to serve, a move that prompted him to make her the first minister from the District.
‘’Muzeyi has been talking about wealth creation and what he has been lacking are people who can mobilize youths , women , elderly among others groups for household income and development, a unique talent Mutasingwa exhibited in the District using personal resources even before being elected to parliament.
In Buikwe , Mutasingwa equipped health center IIIs in areas of Nyenga ,Kiyindi,Kawolo ,Njeru and Wakisi with 80 medical beds to improve the health services .
Also repaired over 90 boreholes and drilled about 40 in the District, and promoted skilling of youth and women through handcrafts, Bakery, candle and liquid soap making.
Women and Youth Empowerment
When you drive around all the villages of Buikwe District, if you don’t see Mutasingwa’s posters pinned on the door and windows of various homes, you will see ladies donned in her T-shirts .Mutasingwa’s emergence on the political scene to vie for woman mp race brought hope to many families who had suffered singer Judith Babirye’s Political fraud.
Women had lost hope since direct Mps generally focused on general problems; however Mutasingwa clustered women groups in each village, funded and equipped them with communal items like tents, saucepans and Sacco empowerment.
Through her ‘Diana Foundation’ over 30,000 women all over the District have either received start-up funds ,their children been supported or accessed support directly from Mutasingwa.
Shortly after she lost the Njeru Municipality Mayoral race, Mutasingwa embarked on grass root mobilization. Prior to her political ambitions, she focused on impacting the lives of the locals and emulated President’s Museveni’s household income campaign, funding it, a thing that grounded her more than any other contender in the race.
‘’We were shocked to see some politicians unthinkingly coming up to contest with Mutasingwa because it was visible even to the blind that she wouldn’t be defeated and to any politically somber person ,wasting resource to compete with her would be the worst obvious political miscalculation’’, Namutebi Zaina, a voter from Najja Sub-county told Red pepper.
For majority voters in Buikwe, 14th January came as a God-sent opportunity to rescue their District and place it in the right hands and reject the poverty stricken opposition candidates who might enrich themselves.
Through her Diana Foundation, Donations towards education, health and economic improvement of the people of Buikwe as a way of supplementing government efforts have changed many lives. Actually it comes to working for the people.
‘’We are requesting the President to consider Mutasingwa for a Cabinet Position because as Buikwe we know her capability and we want the rest of Uganda to enjoy her passion for working for the people ,incorruptibleness and ability to lobby ‘’, revealed an NRM leader from Nyenga Division.
In the homes of people of Buikwe, are books branded with Mutasingwa for their Children as scholastic support and others received bursaries.
Nansubuga Harriet, a resident of Njeru Central Division argues that If the District had leaders of her caliber, they would be far like Districts that are developing at a supersonic speed.
‘’Most of the Villages have clean water, communal tents and other items from the Diana Foundation. But most importantly the issue of maternal health has been improved around the district because of mother kits and delivery beds from Mutasingwa .We regret the last ten years without her in office ‘’,said Nansubuga.
Some areas of Nyenga, Ngoggwe, Nkokonjeru, Ssi, Najja among others, electricity was a dream seen outside their localities .However, Mutasingwa, a highly connected young NRM turk both within government and outside Uganda lobbied REA and other development partners.
To many, Mutasingwa’s Victory is not a surprise because the same voters who selected Opposition are the same people who elected her on ground that she has in the last three years strived to empower members of the community through numerous interventions, even when she had no political office.
‘’Voters are wise and they understand better than what the politicians think. They will go for a person whom they think can deliver and this is the reason the opposition the wind spared Mutasingwa’’, added Nansubuga.
Other winning grounds for Mutasingwa include among others Improving rural people’s employability, sanitation and hygiene through skilling projects where thousands of young people in the District have benefited.
About Mutasingwa’s rivals, voters argued that Resty Nanteza, the FDC flag bearer who emerged the second, could not effectively represent them as woman MP given the failures registered in the central Division where the latter is the former chairperson.
‘’In Njeru central, many Roads are in an impassable state like areas of Nakibizzi, Kasanja, Kyabaggu, Namwezi and Naava. There has been gross Corruption at the Division and poor garbage disposal .How do you trust someone to guard an elephant when they fail on a rabbit? ‘’, argued a voter who preferred anonymity.
For Harriet Nankabirwa, voters accused her of inconsistency and fighting whatever crosses before her even when it is for her own good. Nankabirwa, the former Buikwe NRM District Chairperson had contested almost all positions in the past including Njeru Central Division, Njeru Municipality and Buikwe District Woman MP seat.
When contacted on phone, Mutasingwa sneakily argued that leadership comes from God and referred us to the bible verse of Deuteronomy 20:4 that says ‘’For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”