Mukono Municipality MP, Betty Nambooze Bakireke, urged civil servants to avoid fueling divisions among councillors and instead focus on their responsibilities.
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) has won the Mukono Municipality speakership race despite the National Unity Platform (NUP) holding the majority in council.
NUP fronted Phibie Faith Babirye for the position, while the NRM candidate was Constantine Kanga. Out of the 23 councillors in the municipality, NUP holds 17 seats compared to NRM’s six.
The election was conducted through a secret ballot overseen by Senior Magistrate Jacob Osiro of Mukono Chief Magistrate’s Court. At the end of the exercise, Kanga emerged victorious with 13 votes, while Babirye secured 11 votes.
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The outcome shocked many councillors and supporters who believed NUP’s numerical advantage guaranteed victory.
Mukono Municipality Mayor, Robert Peter Kabanda, appeared deeply disappointed by Babirye’s loss, forcing him to postpone the announcement of his executive committee.
Kabanda said he needed time to recover from the shock before unveiling his team.
“I need time to reflect on what I had considered to be my executive. Automatically, it cannot be today,” he said.
He accused some NUP councillors of betraying both the party and its president, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alleging that they accepted inducements to vote against the party’s candidate.
Kabanda further claimed that some councillors had been compromised to support Kanga, although he did not provide evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Mukono District Woman MP, Sheilah Draville Amaniyo, also expressed disappointment, saying the councillors had betrayed the struggle. However, she noted that the party would internally address the matter.
Milly Nakamya of NUP was elected deputy speaker after running unopposed.
Mukono Municipality MP, Betty Nambooze Bakireke, urged civil servants to avoid fueling divisions among councillors and instead focus on their responsibilities.
“Let civil servants play their role as politicians also carry on with theirs. Failure to do so will create conflict and affect service delivery intended to develop our areas,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mukono Municipality Deputy RDC, Rhoda Titwe Kagaga, called upon both the winners and losers to put aside their differences and focus on serving the people of Mukono.
Mukono RDC, Fatumah Ndisaba Nabitaka, urged Mayor Kabanda to work harmoniously with the newly elected speaker despite belonging to different political parties.
“People do not consider which political party their leaders come from as long as services are delivered. We should therefore put our political differences aside and work for the betterment of our communities,” Ndisaba said.