Factors that could have led to minister Migereko’s failure

Daudi Migereko’s 20 year rule as the Member of Parliament for Butembe County in Jinja district was prematurely ended on the 27th October 2015 NRM primaries after he was jokingly floored by new political entrant Pastor Nelson Lufafa with 12945 votes against 8128.

The failure by the soft spoken politician to make it to the forth coming general elections has left many wondering and we have tried to consider some of the possible factors that could have led to this failure.They include among others:

Moses Grace Balyeku

Since he hit the political scene in 2010, Jinja west Member of Parliament Moses Grace Balyeku has never had a cordial relationship
with Daudi Migereko. The beef is stiff to the extent that Moses Balyeku allegedly ordered his staff at his Bugembe based radio BABA fm never to air Migereko’s news for all the four years it has been in existence.

The presenters at this radio have also repeatedly fired direct attack towards the minister. And that when Pastor Nelson Lufafa showed interest to contest for the Butembe County parliamentary seat, Balyeku thought it wise to back him to unseat his (Balyeku’s) arch rival.

Some local political speculator allege that the Migereko-Balyeku’s rivalry stems from the 2011 elections where it is rumoured that the cabinet list which leaked for 2011, Balyeku’s name was among the list of the would be ministers but that Migereko spoiled for him by bad mouthing him to the appointing authority.

Since this rumour of being bad-mouthed landed in Balyeku’s ears, he vowed to give his support to whoever will come out to unseat Migereko and so when  Lufafa expressed interest he was just preaching to an already converted Balyeku.

The Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga factor

Migereko and Kadaga are among the longest serving MPs in Museveni’s government having joined Parliament in the 90s.
The duo are some of the most senior politicians in Busoga sub region since they have served in different senior government positions.
Remarkably however, these two politicians have been at loggerheads for quite a while since the demise of Busoga’s Kyabazinga Henry Wako Muloki in 2008.

The Kyabazinga’s death saw beginning of their differences as Migereko openly supportd Prince Columbus Wambuzi to replace his father while Kadaga was for Prince William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Nadiope Gabula IV to become the Kyabazinga. This caused a sharp divide between the two and it has not been mended to- date and that the two have been plotting secretly for each others down fall.

In a recent outburst, Kadaga named Migereko as one of her arch-rivals in the region and because of the fact that Kadaga, holds a stronger political clout, Migereko’s rival used this as a campaigning tool against him.

To show her solidarity with Lufafa, Kadaga has always been the Chief Guest during the commissioning of Lufafa’s projects including the opening of a multimillion hospital ALMECA medical centre in Mafubira Sub County in 2013 among others.

Some political commentators say the two each sought political supremacy over the other, something that left them bickering endlessly.

The coalition of three Chairpersons of Bugembe, Kakira and Mafubira

Butembe County comprises of four sub counties but out of the four, only one, Busedde Sub County’s Zuabir Tugezieku supported Migereko, the rest including John Kamau of Kakira Town Council, Stephen Wante of Bugembe Town Council and Hamis Kiganira of Mafubira supported Lufafa yet the later three are the most populated sub counties in Butembe.

This coalition was a blow to Migereko’s camp and he could not survive their wrath. Other factors which led to Migereko’s defeat included his intention to block Lufafa’s candidature on grounds that the latter lacked the minimum qualification which petition court quashed. This played in Lufafa’s favor since people gave him a sympathy vote

Others included Migereko’s alliance with the RDC of Buvuma Richard Gulume Balyainho who hails from the same area and Igeme Nathan Nabeta the Chairman NRM Jinja district. Mr Gulume has always been associated with chaotic scenes in Busoga characterized with vote rigging.

Underestimation
Quite often, the senior minister referred to his opponent as a little boy, a thug who could not cause him sleepless nights. “I have done a lot for my people in Butembe and I am sure they cannot be hoodwinked by a few opportunists” he once told a rally in Namulesa. As he was taking his competitor lightly, the latter was busy laying clandestine movements to uproot him.

Reckless statements
That Migereko is alleged to have angered his constituents when he said they burden him with wedding and introduction budgets which to him were a waste of funds that would help them set up businesses to generate income. As if to make matters worse, he once told mourners in Wanyange that if it were possible, funerals and burials would on be held on weekends for them to be able to attend. This sounded like an insult to the voters who never wish their dear ones to die on week days.

His personal aide
Most voters have for a long time been castigating Farouk Kirunda, Migereko’s aide, accusing him of being arrogant and rude. In fact a section of voters allege that towards the voting date, Migereko gave Kirunda colossal sums of money to issue out to voters
but he instead pocketed it.

Desire for new brooms
Having served as Member of Parliament for Butembe for 20 years since 1996, a section of voters believed Migereko could not add any new brick onto the development of Butembe. Indeed some voters repeatedly said that “he will not perform any miracle to add anything new that he did not do in the last 20 years. If anything, his over-stay would only spoil his achievements for the past 20 years, they kept saying.

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