He hastened to add, “We wanted Honourable Nambooze to rest sometime back but she asked us for a last term in parliament as she argued, had some lost time undergoing treatment in the US, and we agreed, but this time if she is not ready to leave peacefully, we may need to make her forcefully retire”.
After four terms of parliamentary representation for the people of Mukono Municipality, opposition icon Betty Nambooze Bakireke ‘Madame Teacher’ has finally got a serious contender from within her own National Unity Platform (NUP) circles, aspiring to pull her out of the august house at all cost, come 2026 general elections.
The daring aspirant is none other than her own traditional chief campaigner, the pioneer People Power activist in Mukono, and now Mukono Municipality NUP Vice Chairman for Mobilisation, Dan Lugoloobi, who laid bare his intentions while officially declaring his interest to supporters in Seeta, Goma Division, on Thursday.
Without mincing words, the 47-year-old, Lugoloobi said that after concerted consultations with key stakeholders in the constituency, they concurred that the town needs an alternative leadership, and averred that his decision is the beginning of steps for changing the political outlook of Mukono Municipality.
Speaking authoritatively, the Makerere University Economics and Administration specialist said that for the last twenty years, he has been at the helm of political developments in Mukono, and added that from the onset, there has been a vacuum of someone with a revolution spirit, which made it imperative that he steps out to bridge the gap.
“I am not new in politics; many of our cadres have retired, others have died off but we cannot simply resign – we have the responsibility to change the outlook of this nation and that is one of the reasons why I am now coming out to replace our respectable MP Madama Nambooze”, Lugoloobi said.
He noted that because many politicians are not bold enough to come out and tell the incumbent MP that she has been worn out due to the frail health stand which he necessitated keeping her out of the country for a year, there is need for a force to sweet talk her into accepting to take leave and go home to rest.
He hastened to add, “We wanted Honourable Nambooze to rest sometime back but she asked us for a last term in parliament as she argued, had some lost time undergoing treatment in the US, and we agreed, but this time if she is not ready to leave peacefully, we may need to make her forcefully retire”.
Lugoloobi said the last time he wanted to stand for mayorship, he was cheated of his opportunity and the card was given to someone else, and added that this time round, he wants to skip that level and stand for parliamentary representation.
Asked why he does not make a debut and give the mayorship bid another try, he said this time he wants to work closely with his party president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu as he manoeuvres his way to state house, and to be part of the team that will guide President Museveni on the way forward after his exit.
Speaking with either a satirical tone or meaning every word of his statement, Lugoloobi appreciated MP Nambooze for her contribution in her four terms as MP for Mukono Municipality, and pledged to take further the mantle of leadership starting from where she is ending, and going even further than where she has reached.
Lugoloobi was flanked by the NUP Chairman for Ntinda LC I in Seeta Parish, Goma Division, Mubiru Godfrey a.k.a Vanilla who said voters can foresee more benefits for their town under Lugoloobi’s representation than they have seen in the last twenty years during Nambooze’s representation.
“We are only a stone throw away from Kampala but we are among the most needy towns in the country, and that is the reason we coined the saying that ‘Mukono Deserves Better’, with the view that the next MP would manage to capture what we have missed in the last twenty years”, Mubiru said.
Juliet Namugerwa, an NUP foot soldier of Namumira cell in Mukono Central Division singled out Kame Valley Market in the heart of the town, which she said is choked by garbage, with no adequate maternity services for mothers even at the government’s own Mukono General Hospital, and attributed all this to Nambooze’s poor performance.