Eliab Mporera, the man out to snatch Bahati's luck

It looked like business as usual when State minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives David Bahati took to the lectern that day in his Ndorwa West constituency.

But then something happened and in the confusion, the minister appeared to get light-headed.

He regained his composure and went on to berate some political aspirants of jumping the electoral roadmap start gun by running wild with early campaigns.

early.

Other officials who spoke that day also issued stern warning to the politicians they said were already campaigning before the electoral commission had given the green light for it.

The subject of the attention that day was a young lawyer, Eliab Mporera Naturinda, who has been bleeding the ground of dust as he combs Ndorwa West for early fortunes in his 2016 parliamentary aspiration.

Naturinda, the chief executive at PHLEB Associated Advocates, is determined to take away bahati from David.

For the unprimed, Bahati means luck and that is exactly what Naturinda needs the most if he is to vanquish the means who holds the name is his strides and appears to enjoy the luck, too.

There will time for Minister Bahati to get all the column inches, but after grabbing the attention of the incumbent, it is Naturinda for now.

The lawyer, who runs a string of businesses in the capital Kampala - including real estate - has pledged to continue the work of incumbent Minister Bahati in Ndorwa West should he take away that bahati from David.

“As far politics is concerned, I am ready to begin from where my current member of parliament will have stopped," he told Nile Post.

"I'm ready to work with all the leaders those who will support me... I’m ready to take the baton from Minister Bahati and build on his achievements."

Asked what he thinks he can do right that Minister Bahati has failed to do, Naturinda said what is important is focus on education, mentorship and agriculture.

“First of all, I want to appreciate what the current MP has been able to achieve and most importantly, he has not achieved it alone, he has achieved it with the people of Ndorwa West and also the people of Uganda," he said.

"I want to focus about three key areas. Inclusive education where you must work hand-in-hand with government and lobby for the people, two I want introduce a key element of mentorship of students and the other key area is agriculture within our communities."

He further highlighted some of the challenges that Ndorwa West is undertaking even when Minister Bahati has been the longest serving member of parliament the constituency has had, citing poor roads, political hatred amongst voters, poor schools.

“The other challenge we have is that people in Ndorwa West hate each other... I didn't know until I joined the race that they don’t talk to each other because of politics," he said.

In parliamentary politics over the years, many aspirants have come and made waves only to grab the first envelope stuck on a bait for them and run for it - dropping from the race to go enjoy their investment.

But the political aspirant from Ndorwa insists he was cut from a well-starched collar that will not wrinkle at the sight of just any pressing iron laced with money.

“Money can never be enough even if they put you in a house full of money, you must reach a certain point where you find that you must have some element of satisfaction within yourself," Naturinda said.

"When you are doing these things, you must go and serve a community but also you must be aware that different people come with different agenda. So, you must focus and be a leader who is decisive. I made a decision to contest as a member of parliament."

Following the political pressure that has so merged in Ndorwa West, Naturinda is hopeful that he will emerge as winner come 2026 elections.

Minister Bahati is serving his fourth term as Ndorwa West legislator. He however insists that he will secure a fifth term come 2026 elections.