Minister Balaam Barugahara of first son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) has endorsed youthful Politician Boniface Tugume Kagambirwe to unseat Gaffa Mbwatekamwa for the Igara West Seat in Bushenyi District in the 2026 parliamentary polls.
Igara West MP since 2021, Mbwatekamwa replaced Raphael Magyezi, the local government minister, who got in trouble with his voters over his role in a constitutional amendment that saw the age limit clause erased from the country’s supreme law.
Interestingly, Museveni – the beneficiary of the amendment maintained his popularity and vote in the constituency and district – and so did his ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). That’s how interesting Bushenyi’s politics can be!
In the 2021 election in Igara West, Mbwatekamwa, who had been MP for Kashambya County in Mubende, now represented by PLU secretary general David Kabanda, garnered 24,508 votes to emerge the winner.
Then the official NRM candidate, Mbwatekamwa comfortably beat former minister Prof Tarsis Kabwegyere Bazana who managed 12,660 votes, Brian Atuhaire Katana of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) who got 742 votes, Juma Nayebare of the National Unity Platform (NUP) who managed 286 votes. Other candidates were Onesimas Tumutegyerize and Nicholas Karuhanga.
Minister Barugahara has told Mbwatekamwa to look for another constituency to represent in 2026, expressing optimism that there was no way the incumbent would survive Tugume in a free and fair election.
At the weekend, Minister Barugahara was in Bushenyi to officiate at the handover of items that Tugume donated to youth leaders and LC1 Chairpersons in Igara West. Barugahara handed over 32 tailoring Machines and 32 wielding machines to leaders.
At Kizinda Grounds, popular musician Ray G, fresh from a concert at Cricket Oval in Kampala, entertained thousands who had come to the event. Here, Balaam preached the gospel of Museveni’s NRM and Muhoozi’s PLU. Balaam also endorsed Tugume as the man fit for the Igara West MP seat.
In March 2024, Museveni appointed Balaam as a minister for youth and children’s affairs. (See Details Here).
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