Raucous Over Entebbe Municipal Development Forum Elections

Jostling for slots on the new Entebbe Municipal Development Forum (MDF) took a new twist on Thursday as youthful stakeholders accused the Municipal Council management of aiding certain groups and individuals to push through their preferred candidates.

The event, which nearly turned chaotic, saw a group led by Daniel Abraham Ssebuliba disrupt proceedings midway. As a result, the elections of representatives for several interest groups were postponed to Tuesday at 2:00 pm “without fail.”

Principal Community Development Officer Dauda Ssemanda was in charge on behalf of Town Clerk Emmanuel Gacharo Mugisha, who was away on other duties.

Various interest groups dispersed to elect their representatives, but some returned with complaints, demanding postponement due to a lack of proper and effective communication about the meeting.

Ssemanda began the session by informing participants that the forum was purely advisory. He emphasized that participants should not expect financial gains from the exercise, as there were no salaries or allowances for sitting on the forum, only facilitation for the quarterly meetings.

However, Ssemanda faced challenges as Ssebuliba, who identified himself as a “senior citizen, manufacturer, businessman, and youth,” accused the management of planning a snap election to fill the new MDF slots. Ssemanda’s explanations that the day was only meant to provide a roadmap for the election of the MDF executive were ignored, as conspiracy theories and threats to mobilize the entire membership of the groups continued.