The newly elected Ntungamo Municipality MP, Gerald Karuhanga has defended his decision to contest as an independent candidate after leaving the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), saying Ugandan voters are more concerned about service delivery than political affiliations.
Karuhanga made the remarks while speaking to journalists at Parliament during the second day of swearing-in for Members of Parliament on Thursday. He acknowledged that the Opposition still has significant work to do in spreading its message across the country.
“I think a leader is one who reads circumstances and appreciates the given situation, and then comes up with an effective approach,” Karuhanga said.
“I tried to run on ANT in 2021, and I realised that my area was not ready for the form in which I had presented myself. Even this time, when I had no intentions of running, people came looking for me and asked me to come differently because they still needed me. In fact, I made the decision to run close to the nomination period.”
Karuhanga noted that many Ugandans are primarily concerned with access to quality healthcare, education, jobs and better roads rather than party politics.
“One thing I have learned about our country is that people care about what directly affects their lives. They are not yet very keen on partisan politics or political organisations,” he said.
“They want to know whether there will be medicine in hospitals when their children are sick, whether they can pay school fees and whether their children can get jobs. In some areas, the Opposition has not made clear enough strides, and that remains a challenge.”
On his priorities in the 12th Parliament, Karuhanga said he intends to work collectively with other legislators, particularly on pushing for a National Health Insurance policy to improve access to healthcare services.
“If Parliament speaks with one voice on issues like national health insurance, government may realise that this is what Ugandans genuinely want and take it seriously,” he said.
Unlike Karuhanga, Ismail Kasule contested on the ANT ticket and defeated NRM’s Joseph Ruyonga to become the Hoima West MP.
Kasule said his priority will be improving service delivery in Hoima, particularly roads, schools, hospitals, clean water and electricity, to ensure the city status translates into tangible benefits for residents.
“Bunyoro is a rich area, but many people have no land titles and therefore do not benefit from compensation linked to oil-related projects,” Kasule said.
“There are also serious challenges in service delivery. People lack access to clean water, electricity and good roads. We are told Hoima is a city, but the city status is largely in name rather than action. We want to ensure that Hoima becomes a city in action, not just in words.”
