Bugisu Region (UG) – The Manjiya County legislator has confirmed to this publication, through a telephone interview, that he intends to return to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) if several conditions he has tabled on behalf of his people are fulfilled.
Some of the seventeen conditions he has presented to NRM leaders include the tarmacking of the Manafwa-Bududa-Bukigai circular road and proper compensation for those affected by landslides across the Bugisu region.
The Bamasaba people have reacted in various ways to his decision to return to the party that mentored him. The Umukuka III of the Bamasaba people, His Highness Jude Mike Mudoma, says that Hon. Nambeshe approached him as an elder in Masabaland. “Given my previous political experience as chairman of Local Council III in Bugisu at some point, he sought my guidance on the possibility of rejoining his party, NRM. I shared my guidance with him in secrecy. As a cultural leader, whenever I am approached for advice by any of my people, regardless of their political inclination, I must listen and guide them. Elders are here to guide, and I will continue to do so.”
While Hon. Irene Khainza Manghali, a former Deputy RDC in Manafwa and Bugiri District and currently serving as the Inzu Ya Masaba Minister for Mobilization and Public Engagement, said, “Let Hon. Nambeshe come back home. He is our son who has been lost for over six years. I’m happy that the Bamasaba spirits have brought him back home.”
Mr. Emmanuel Mutanje, a business mogul in Kampala and a one-time political assistant to the late James Wapakhabulo, says that Hon. Nambeshe has made the right decision, and the party and government should address his demands. “As somebody from Bududa, I had also pushed him to return to the main road.”
Former Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Mr. Hussein Kato Matanda and Emmanuel Matsyetsye, who are both competitors for the NRM party ticket in the upcoming primaries for the Manjiya County seat, say he is welcome back, and “we shall meet at the polling booth.”
Hon. Nambeshe, who served as LCIII Chairman for Bududa Town Council and later as LC5 Chairman for Bududa District, has been a member of NRM for a long time. After transitioning from Local Council to Parliament, he did so under the National Resistance Movement until around 2021, when he decamped from the Movement. Many people in Bududa, especially the older men and women, can’t even fathom if he is actually in the National Unity Platform (NUP).
Many political commentators in the region feel there is a high possibility of Hon. Nambeshe winning the Manjiya election, whether as an independent or under any political party. Mr. Emmanuel Matsyetsye, who intends to contest for the same seat under the NRM party in the upcoming general elections, says, “I mentored and educated Nambeshe, and I know his strengths and weaknesses. I was his teacher at both Bulucheke SSS and Bududa SSS, and I know him more than anybody else.”
Many Bamasaba had anticipated the possibility of Hon. Nambeshe being nominated as Leader of the Opposition (LOP), especially after the exit of Hon. Mathias Mpuuga, with whom he had competed for the same slot. When four people showed interest in becoming LOP—Hon. Nambeshe, Hon. Segona, Hon. Mpuuga, and Hon. Namboze—an argument was put forward that if NUP wanted to spread its influence beyond Buganda, it needed to appoint someone from outside Buganda. Hon. Nambeshe was seen as a potential suitor for LOP, but the NUP principal ignored this strong political submission.
Due to such weaknesses, NUP is struggling in the East, with no councilor in the whole of Bududa, Manafwa, Namisindwa, and Mbale District, except Mbale City, where there is one NUP councilor with minimal influence.
Hon. Nambeshe recently completed a master’s degree from Makerere University and, at about 60 years old, has the stamina to serve his people. If Hon. Nambeshe is welcomed back into the National Resistance Movement, there is a possibility of him securing a senior ministerial position, according to one of his staunch supporters, who preferred to remain anonymous to speak freely.
