Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Judith Nabakooba, says the five years she has been out of parliament have taught her a lot regarding politics and especially in Mityana District.
Nabakooba, who lost the seat to the then NUP candidate, Joyce Bagala, was the third to be nominated to contest for the Mityana District Woman MP seat, after Bagala and Proscovia Mukisa (Nabbosa), who were nominated on Day One.
She also hopes the differences within the NUP, which have seen the party produce two contestants, will play into her favour.
“I have learnt a lot about Mityana, not just the needs of the people, but the politics, too, and this time, it’s going to be different,” she said.
She is sure of taking advantage of what she calls the underperformance of the incumbent and NUP generally.
“I think you have seen for yourself. It’s good that they were given the chance, because before that, there was a lot of negativity about NRM’s performance; now people have seen. We shall see,” she said.
When Bagala was declared the winner of the 2021 vote, Nabakooba petitioned the High Court, citing irregularities in the process, and got a court ruling in her favour. However, an Appeal by Bagala saw the high court ruling overturned.
She now appeals to voters to remember the programmes she had started in her only term, 2016-2021.
“I have come with new tactics, new levels of deliverables, and the NRM manifesto has clear deliverables. You just watch”.
This time round, she says she will ride on the decision by the government to include Mityana in the beneficiaries of Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID). The World Bank-funded project aims at improving the road network in the Municipality.
Apart from the women she wants to represent, she says that focus will also be on youth employment through equipping the youth with technical skills.
She also promises to push for the upgrade of the Maanyi-Banda-Kanoni road and the Mityana-Busunju-Nakaseke road, saying that the current representatives have not added anything.
Bagala, who many expect to rely on her incumbency and an assumed weakness in the party, said she would continue promoting any effort that would cause change across, including human rights.
She said that when she was still pushing for the release of NUP members who were allegedly abducted by the Government.
Mukisa, a newcomer in politics, says her role will be to promote the welfare of women, youth, and children as the major focus.
She adds that as an entertainer, she will fight to ensure that the rights of entertainers, as well as their well-being, are brought to the fore of parliamentary debate.
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