Here’s Why Kavule Is Blaming Shamim Malende for poor Performance of NUP Councillors in Kampala

There is growing consensus among strategists at Kavule-based NUP headquarters that the political relationship between them on one hand and Shamim Malende on the other is irretrievably broken. And that the Kampala Woman MP won’t be returning to the principal to kneel for the party’s flag and endorsement come 2031.

Knowledgeable insiders say that Malende is prepared for the political fight with Kavule similar to what her predecessor Nabillah Nagayi used to have with Najjanankumbi-based FDC for the 15 years she served on their ticket as the Kampala Woman MP.

But even when that is the reality that many at Kavule have come to accept, Malende faces fresh accusations coming chiefly from foot soldiers that she inadvertently had a lot to do with the poor electoral performance of NUP councilors in Kampala especially at the Division level.

It’s being claimed by many foot soldiers, a claim Kavule hasn’t found reason as yet to contradict, that Malende’s failure to release the facilitation money she promised for polling agents who represented her at the different polling stations, greatly discredited and weakened NUP candidates for Councilor positions.

The hundreds of agents Malende deployed to represent her and collect her DR forms were identified and recruited through the network of NUP flag bearers Kavule had deployed to stand against NRMs in Kampala’s more than 99 parishes or wards. The money was to come through the flag bearers for Councilor positions yet it never came. Malende became incommunicado after getting declared and this angered the foot soldiers who had served as agents and DR forms collectors for Malende, having been assigned that same role by the party’s flag bearers.

When the money never came, animosity emerged between NUP flag bearers and such foot soldiers yet in most cases, these were vocal and influential NUP emissaries at the community level. “Their would-be campaigners became angry and started decampaigning NUP Councillors by claiming that they received the polling agents’ money from Hon Shamim Malende and just ate it with their families. This fallout, combined with the demoralization of NUP supporters resulting from Kyagulanyi’s disappearance from the political scene, favored NRM as voters prepared to elect their councilors,” says a knowledgeable source.

NRM diehards took advantage of this internal animosity among the NUP structures and deployed money which was used to woo NUP foot soldiers onto the side of NRM councilors who have ended up giving plenty of bloody nose to their NUP competitors. That is how NRM ended up doing unexpectedly well in especially Division Councilor races in the five Kampala Divisions.

Even at the level of Lord Councilor positions, NUP only has two more Lord councilors compared to NRM whose strategists are determined to use that leverage to frustrate the agenda of Lord Mayor-elect Ronald Balimwezo and even possibly impeach him the way it was done to Erias Lukwago during his first term (2011-2016). Only political compromise with Museveni’s State House is going to save Balimwezo.

Similar impeachment moves are being mooted against NUP Division Mayors in Kawempe, Rubaga and Nakawa were winners are NUP candidates namely Dr. Emmanuel Sserunjogi, Zachary Mberaze and Nubian Li aka Ali Bukeni. Only compromising with Museveni’s State House will save them or else they won’t even be able to form their respective executives which NRM is determined to use its Councillors to keep frustrating.