Nakawa East: Who will be Balimwezo’s rival?

When the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) government gerrymanders constituencies, the official explanation given is that such a move is intended to bring services closer to the people and ensure fair distribution of resources among Ugandans. 
The same explanation was given when, before the 2021 elections, Nakawa constituency was split into two—West and East. 
Whilst the official position given by the government was that splitting Nakawa into two was to bring about efficient delivery of services, observers contend that the NRM was betting that by creating two constituencies the party would be able to get at least Nakawa East into the yellow column.
The NRM was shocked when in 2016 the Forum for Democratic Change’s (FDC) Michael Kabaziguruka ended Fred Ruhindi’s decades hold on the constituency. 
This was a slap in the face that NRM didn’t take lightly because it had taken Nakawa to be its stronghold in a very hostile Kampala. 
In 2006, Ruhindi took over the constituency from NRM historical Jaberi Bidandi Ssali who had bowed out of parliamentary politics. 
This was after the veteran politician had been tossed out of Cabinet after he refused to support Museveni’s bid to scrap the term limits.
This tradition of dominating Nakawa is what NRM has been trying to resurrect, but in 2021 the party had counted more on Nakawa East which is made up of places like Bugoloobi, Luzira, Butabika, Kitintale, Mutungo, among others.
NRM’s calculation didn’t go according to plan because it was National Unity Platform’s (NUP) Ronald Balimwezo who garnered 31,263 with Ruhindi coming second with 11,720 votes. Kabaziguruka placed third with 7,467 votes. 
Cagey Ruhindi
As the 2026 General Election comes within eyeshot, it is not yet clear who will be Balimwezo’s rival. 
When Saturday Monitor contacted Ruhindi, he was guarded about whether he will contest again in the NRM primaries for Nakawa East.
“The way I work is that it’s the people who decide what they want. It’s not you to impose yourself on the population. If you have got a different way of doing things in politics then you are a lucky man,” Ruhindi said. 
When Ruhindi first lost to Kabaziguruka in 2016, the blame was squarely put on Olga Rucongoza Ajiri who belonged to the NRM but stood as an independent. It is said she ate into Ruhindi’s votes.
Former Nakawa MP Fred Ruhindi. PHOTO/ FILE
By the time Ruhindi was dropped by voters he had served as a junior Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister and Deputy Attorney General. Before in 2016, he had replaced Peter Nyombi as the Attorney General. 
As Attorney General, Ruhindi was part of government officials from the taxation body, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), who gave Shs6 billion as an honorarium or what came to be known as a handshake following a court victory against the oil company, Heritage.
When he appeared before the Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and Enterprises (Cosase), Ruhindi, who pocketed Shs72 million, said he didn’t do anything extraordinary outside his work of being Attorney General to merit the reward. 
“The duties that I performed are the duties I would ordinarily perform. But as to the achievement attained it was extraordinary,” Ruhindi said. 
Akasiimo fallout
Ruhindi also defended his decision of naming himself in the top echelons in his letter to President Museveni in which he explained the “unprecedented sacrifice” lawyers in the Attorney General’s chambers had made.
“When I was writing that letter, there was an element of protocol. There is no way I could write to the President and I put myself last. I was the Attorney General when I was writing that letter. I am comfortable with what was done and I believe the people who made this judgement were correct to put me as a non-core member,” Ruhindi said. 
Museveni, who didn’t reappoint him to Cabinet after he lost his constituency, would later appoint him as a member of the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters that was led by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire.
Kabaziguruka speaks out
Ruhindi’s conqueror in 2016 Kabaziguruka, who came a distant third in 2021, was also non-committal if he would stand in 2026. 
“I put my chances of running again at 30 percent to 70 percent,” Kabaziguruka, who is part of the FDC Katonga faction that is in the process of forming another political party, said, adding, “There are 70 percent chances that I will run again.” 
It is clear why Kabaziguruka didn’t perform well in the last election because no sooner had he won Ruhindi in 2016 when the FDC and Dr Kizza Besigye—who had under controversial circumstances lost for the umpteenth time to President Museveni—had declared what was termed as the “defiance campaign” against the government. 
Before he could be initiated into Parliament, security agencies, believing that Kabaziguruka was a key cog in Dr Besigye’s defiance campaign, pounced and charged him with 22 others at the General Court Martial. 
It was alleged that Kabaziguruka was hatching a plot to overthrow Museveni’s government by using sanctuaries of Kampala, Wakiso and Luweero districts.
Sporting a blue shirt—the colour of his FDC party—Kabaziguruka and his co-accused were in August 2016 arraigned before Lt Gen Andrew Gutti's court martial. 
What happened thereafter could go down in history as one of the most dramatic days in the much-feared military court’s history. 
Statement made
Kabaziguruka, who in January lost his bid to get a second term in Parliament, not only refused to answer the questions fired by Gutti’s panel but also turned up in court with no lawyer.
He also rejected free legal representation by Maj Patra Asha, who had been made available by the court.
Then Nakawa MP Michael Kabaziguruka (in blue shirt) in the dock at the General Court Martial in Makindye, Kampala in 2016. Kabaziguruka successfully challenged his trial before the Court Martial. Photo/File
Kabaziguruka defiantly insisted that since he is a civilian he was appearing before an illicit court.
“I am a civilian who should be tried in a civilian court. I can hire a private lawyer but I can’t because I am in the wrong court. If you force me to be tried here, I prefer to represent myself,” Kabaziguruka said, triggering a thunderous ovation from FDC supporters who had crammed the courtroom.
Kabaziguruka was later released from the gallows of the court martial by the High Court’s Criminal Division but he soon ran into misfortune when in 2017, he broke his leg whilst driving an ambulance that he had bought to serve his constituents. 
Though bedridden, an ambulance delivered the defiant Kabaziguruka to Parliament for him to vote against the lifting of presidential age limits in 2017. 
“When I offered myself to stand as MP, I knew what it entailed. I knew what I wanted to do. When I took my oath of office, I vowed to uphold, defend and protect the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda. So, when there were attempts to break the Constitution by individuals led by Hon Raphael Magyezi, I had a duty to go to Parliament and make my voice heard – to present the views of the people of Nakawa. That was the reason why I sacrificed myself that day and put my health on the line to go to Parliament. To me, it has always been the country first. That’s why I was there,” Kabaziguruka said.
Balimwezo on cloud nine
His efforts weren’t enough to defend his seat as people voted overwhelmingly for NUP candidates like Balimwezo in Buganda. 
Though Balimwezo feels confident that he will defend his seat in 2026, he never wanted to stand in Nakawa East. It is said he feared Kabaziguruka and Ruhindi. 
Balimwezo instead wanted to stand in Nakawa West, a seat that Joel Ssenyonyi, the current Leader of the opposition (LOP) was also eyeing. 
It took the intervention of NUP principal Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine, to shift his efforts to Nakawa East where Balimwezo now thinks nobody can challenge him. 
Though he is the Shadow minister of Kampala City, Balimwezo isn’t the most vocal Opposition lawmaker in Parliament. 
Saturday Monitor understands he will be banking on his foot soldiers’ abilities that have seen him forge support over years in Nakawa. 
Balimwezo, who served as Nakawa Division mayor between 2016 and 2021, delivers help to his constituents through his foundation—Balimwezo Community Foundation, a community-based organisation whose cardinal objective he says is to foster pro-poor and economically disadvantaged communities’ programmes in Nakawa Division.