28-year-old stuns Kiboga West incumbent

KIBOGA - A 28-year-old former teacher, Eria Erick Lule, has stunned the Kiboga West constituency incumbent Member of Parliament, Abdul Ssettuba Mutumba, by defeating him in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party primaries.

Lule, a teacher-turned-entrepreneur, was announced the winner with 6,738 votes compared to Mutumba’s 6,628 votes. 

Others in the race were Robert Yamani, who got 2,599, Israel Yiga got 469, Godfrey Ssekamanya got 233, Fred Mukasa got 713, Joseph Mbuga got 380 and Lilian Anyango who got 268.

Lule described this as a major political breakthrough for him as a youthful candidate with deep roots in education and business.

Lule, a trained teacher and the founder of several private schools across Kampala and Wakiso districts, is also known in Uganda’s entertainment industry, having managed prominent local musicians.

His victory marks the rise of a new generation of leadership in Kiboga West, with many voters lauding his youthful energy and focus on service delivery.

As he prepares for the general elections, Lule has called for unity and peace, pledging to focus on education, youth empowerment, and transparent leadership.

Incumbent lodges petition

However, Mutumba expressed dissatisfaction with the results, saying he would petition the party tribunal for redress. This was after it was announced that Mutumba lost to a newcomer.

Mutumba, who is the Imam of Parliament, decried what he termed as electoral malpractices, violence, and voter bribery during the voting process, as well as falsification of results and failure by the registrars to follow the party voting procedures.

He said that he had already written to the NRM tribunal asking for the outcome to be cancelled and re-tally the results, insisting that the person declared was not the rightful winner.

“First, the winner is not a registered voter in our constituency. Secondly, the yellow book was doctored, and several names were added using a pen during the voting process, and results from three polling centres were cancelled by the district registrar to favour my rival,” Mutumba told journalists during a press conference at Centenary Park.

He wants the tribunal to recall results from Kambugu, Kalyango and Kiwanda polling stations and compute them again. 

He also disputed the registrar’s decision to give all the votes from Kabada polling station to his rival. 

“If the tribunal fails to address my concerns, I am ready to come as an independent,” he declared.