KABALE – The Kabale District woman Mp Hopeful Grace Ankunda Bwesigye has trashed rumours linking her Political ambitions to a section of prominent people in a Political and religious syndicate.
Ms. Ankuda who has twice contested on the Ndorwa East Parliamentary seat losing to the incumbent Mp Wilfred Niwagaba, was addressing the press at Cephas Inn Hotel, in an official ceremony to unveil her plan to contest as Kabale District Woman Mp in the 2026 general election.
When tasked by the journalists to comment on allegations that she was guided by the Church and a section of Politicians to shift eyes from the Ndorwa East Mp Seat to Kabale District Woman Mp, Ms. Ankunda asked the journalists to treat the allegations as false and malicious.
“I have contested for the Ndorwa Mp seat twice in 2016 and 2021, and I have never been sponsored by anyone apart from my husband,” Ankunda said, as she pointed to her spouse Mr. Emmanuel Bwesigye who had accompanied her at the press conference.
Ankunda also condemned the proliferating propaganda, particularly the religious sentiments that have marred Politics in Kabale District in recent times.
She urged the media to spearhead the fight against the growing vice which usually results into sectarian based violence especially in the election campaigns.
“I personally won’t build my campaigns on religion because that would be dangerous for not only my political career, but also the people I’m seeking to lead. I would actually wish to see people from all religious backgrounds rally behind me so that we can send a signal of unity and refusal to accept agents of division based on religion,” she said.
Ankunda’s husband Mr. Emmanuel Bwesigye supplemented her wife’s statements with testimonies of how he had relentlessly supported her political activities with all the finances required, from 2015 when she defeated three men in the NRM election for Member of Parliament Ndorwa County East.
Ms. Ankunda lost the general election the following year, but since then she has never given up, according to her husband.
“I had not identified the leadership trait in my wife until 2015 when she told me she was going to try her luck in politics. I gave her all my support and it is exactly why she’s been moving on despite the previous defeats,” Mr. Bwesigye said.
Kabale District is infamous for religious based electoral violence that rocked the 1993 C.A and 1996 parliamentary elections.
It is said that President Yoweri Museveni asked former Kabale Municipality Dr. Ruhakana to withdraw from the 2001 Mp contest after he foresaw a fateful clash between Catholics and Anglicans whose rivalry had been sparked off by the 1981 political battle between the Uganda People’s Congress –UPC and Democratic Party –DP.Hon, Serapio Rukundo (catholic) won the 2001 Kabale Municipality Mp election with a land slide victory following the withdraw of his main competitor Rugunda (Anglican) who was then Minister of Information.
Kabale District enjoyed relative rest from Politics of religion from the period between 2005 and 2021, but of recent, the religious sentiments have started chipping back in, the most recent being utterances by Kampala Deputy RCC Sheikh Kassim Kamugisha who claimed that the 2021 Kabale Municipality election was marred with religion.
While addressing mourners at her mother’s burial ceremony about two weeks ago, Sheikh Kassim Kamugisha stated that the current Kabale Municipality Mp Dr. Nicholas Kamara garnered the biggest number of votes on Polling stations dominated by Catholic voters, while majority of the votes were cast in favour of Andrew Ajja Baryayanga in Anglican dominated polling areas.
Kassim further noted that he performed best on polling stations dominated by Muslims, especially Kirigime ward.
“This kind of voting pattern is unhealthy for our District and we must change it if this area is going to develop,” Kassim told mourners who included religious leaders from all the religious organizations he mentioned.
His statements were backed by the Kabale Muslim District Chairperson Hajji Issa Tindyebwa who asked the right thinking members of the society to take up the fight against religion in politics of Kabale.
“It is time to accept that there’s a problem in our voting pattern and confront it with at most condemnation,” Tindyebwa said while on a talk show at one of the radio stations in Kabale Municipality.
