Roughly nine out of ten members of the newly formed National Executive Committee of the Democratic Front (DF) are from the central region, revealing a deep regional imbalance in the allocation of places, an evaluation by Bbeg Media has established.
The Political Parties and Organisations Act mandates all registered political parties and organizations to have a national character. This means they must be inclusive, promote patriotism and national unity, and reflect the diversity of the country.
An examination of the top leadership of the DF, elected (or chosen) after the party’s national delegates conference in Masaka last week, reveals that they could have fallen short on this ideal.
Mathias Mpuuga, the Nyendo-Mukungwe MP and former leader of the opposition was elected its president. He is the party’s highest-ranking member, and he is from the central region.
Michael Mabikke, the former Makindye East, was elected secretary general while Walter Lubega Mukaaku, a former presidential candidate, was chosen as the party’s national chairman. Mabikke and Lubega are from the central region.
Further down, Abed Bwanika, the Kabonera MP, was chosen as the party’s treasurer while Ismail Semyalo was tapped to be the party’s national organizing secretary. These, too, are from the central region.
The head of mobilisation, who will double as chairperson of the party’s electoral commission, Henry Lubowa, is from the central region.
The party spokesperson, the former Rubaga North MP, Moses Kasibante, hails from the central region, as does the head of the Women’s League (Juliet Kakande); Secretary for Local Governance, Michael Nakku Musana; Secretary for International and Regional Affairs, Michael Mbwatekamwa Kakembo, and Abdu Kyabagu, who is the Secretary for Transport and Communication.
The central region also took slots for the Secretary for Agriculture (Charles Ssebyala); the Secretary Trade, Industry and Investment (Bruno Ssekubulwa), and the Secretary for Education and Culture, Robert Mukiibi.
While the party has named executive members from other regions, such as Sulaiman Kakaire (Legal Advisor), Agwe Salim Ahmed (National Youth Leader), and a few others, these represent a few regional sprinklings on the DF cake.
The lopsided regional composition of DF’s national executive committee has sparked debate on some social media platforms, with some people wondering how it will attract support beyond the central region.
“It will put off some people who may look at DF as a party for only Buganda,” one person commented on X.
Yet others have argued that, given the limited time frame the party has had to put its house in order, it is understandable that a sizeable number of its leadership hails from the central region.
Since its founders, Mpuuga, Mukaaku, Mabikke, Kakande, Bwanika, and Kakembo are from the central region, it was only natural that they choose to work with people they can easily relate with, at first.
However, with time, some believe the composition of party’s national executive committee will change to reflect a national character.
