In a surprising turn of events, voters in Kisoro District chose the independent candidate Grace Akifeza Ngabirano as their preferred candidate for Woman MP, despite the National Resistance Movement (NRM) leadership including the party chairman and President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni actively campaigning for their official nominee, Rose Kabagyenyi.
Akifeza, feeling overlooked and robbed by her own party, decided to run as an independent after contesting the results of the party primaries, where Dr. Tanga Odoi, the party’s electoral chairman, declared Kabagyenyi as the chosen candidate.
The decision was met with strong disapproval from Dr. Philemon Mateke, the district party chairman, who claimed that the party did not have a legitimate candidate.
He alleged that the entire electoral process was tainted by undue influence from the national party electoral commission and leaders from Kampala.
Mateke specifically called out Dr. Tanga Odoi for showing bias towards Kabagyenyi, despite Akifeza being the clear favorite among the electorate.
The by-election held on November 14, 2024, confirmed Akifeza’s popularity, as she won decisively with approximately 5,000 votes more than her nearest rival.
The final tally showed Akifeza receiving 50,459 votes, while NRM’s Kabagyenyi trailed with 44,982.
Other candidates, including Zubedi Sultana Salim from the National Unity Platform (NUP) with 903 votes, Mable Ngabire from the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) with 362 votes, Juliet Musanase from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) with 193 votes, and Aisha Cyimpanye from the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) with just 157 votes, struggled to make an impact.
This election was necessitated by the sudden passing of the former MP and State Minister for Defense and Veteran Affairs, Sarah Mateke.
Kisoro is a known stronghold for NRM.
