NRM candidates contesting for LC1 chairperson positions in Gomba District have accused their Members of Parliament of abandoning them at a critical time, despite the support they have offered during previous elections.
The candidates, led by Kanoni Village Chairperson Abel Wasswa Mukatuliki, said none of the district’s NRM MPs has joined their campaigns since village election campaigns began earlier this week, leaving them to face stiff competition from National Unity Platform (NUP) candidates on their own.
Mukatuliki said the political contest in Kanoni is particularly intense because the area is among those where NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, enjoys significant support.
“We have always stood with our MPs during their campaigns. We mobilised people, organised meetings and worked hard to help them win. But now that we need their support, none of them has shown up,” Mukatuliki said.
He argued that the MPs’ absence sends a message that village leaders are only valued during parliamentary campaigns but are forgotten once elections are concluded.
“They rely on us whenever they are looking for votes because we are the ones who mobilise people. But after winning, they disappear. Even when you call them, they rarely answer,” he added.
Mukatuliki warned that if the current electoral order remains unchanged, village leaders could withdraw their support for MPs in future elections.
“If the government does not change the election schedule and MPs are elected before LC1 leaders again, we will not mobilise for them. We have realised that we are only used when they need us,” he said.
He appealed to President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the National Chairman of the NRM, to intervene and support the party’s village chairperson candidates in Gomba if local MPs continue to stay away.
According to Mukatuliki, the National Unity Platform has invested heavily in the ongoing village elections and is determined to win several LC1 positions in the district.
The remarks come days before the LC1 elections scheduled for July 28, with the race expected to be highly competitive across Gomba District.
