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Bobi Wine: We’ll Find Suitable Candidate to Uphold Ssegirinya’s Vision

The opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) President, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine has pledged a transparent and democratic process to identify a candidate to hold the party flag and replace Muhammad Ssegirinya as Kawempe North Member of Parliament.
 
Ssegirinya died on Thursday and was laid to rest at his ancestral home in Masaka on Sunday.
 
Addressing mourners, Bobi Wine assured the public that the party remains committed to fulfilling Ssegirinya’s vision, emphasizing the need for a candidate who will uphold the departed legislator’s vision of service to the people.
 
“We cannot fail to get a candidate who will fulfill Ssegirinya’s objectives, but I want to inform you that we shall follow our transparent process, and that process will be guided by the power of the people,” he said.
 
Bobi Wine reiterated the party’s guiding principle of “people power.”
 
“We are people power, we were people power, and we shall remain people power,” he said.
 
Bobi Wine stressed the difficulties the National Unity Platform faced in endorsing Ssegirinya as the party’s flag bearer for Kawempe North in the 2021 elections.
 
He revealed that the decision was particularly difficult due to the highly qualified and experienced contenders within the party, including the then incumbent MP Latif Ssebagala, NUP organizing secretary Sulaiman Kidandala, who holds a master’s degree, and other accomplished candidates.
 
The party found it difficult to zero down on who to give the flag.
 
Some started decampaigning Ssegirinya that his qualifications were questionable and could be thrown out Parliament if he won the election.
 
Despite this, Bobi Wine said that the electorate’s preference for Ssegirinya became clear.
 
He revealed that one priest (Reverend Father) advised him to back Ssegirinya, and a Professor at Makerere University emphasized that voters often prioritize candidates who resonate with their needs over highly educated individuals perceived as career politicians.
 
This, he said, compelled him to call NUP Secretary General, David Lewis Rubongoya and instruct him to hand the party flag to Ssegirinya.
 
There has been a public debate on whether the Electoral Commission will organize a by-election in Kawempe North to replace Ssegirinya given that the country is already in high preparations for next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
 
EC speaks out
 
The Commission Spokesman, Julius Mucunguzi clarified that the by-election cannot be held only if a Member of Parliament dies less than six months to the elections of Members of Parliament.
 
“The law says that once a Member of Parliament dies and his or her seat is declared vacant by the clerk to parliament, the clarke to parliament will inform the Electoral Commission of that vacancy, and the Commission then has to conduct a by election within 60 days, or upon receipt of that notification,” Mucunguzi clarified.
 
“The only exception where a by-election is not held for a Member of Parliament is when the period between the time the vacancy has been declared and the general election for election of Members of Parliament is under six months,” he added.
 
“And so clearly, the death of Honorable Ssegirinya is way beyond six months to the next general election, which will be between January and February 2026. So, the Commission will await notification from the Clarke to Parliament as provided for in the law, and once that notification has come, the Commission will act accordingly, and in accordance with the law.”
By ChimpReports