Showdown as two brothers face off in Buhaguzi East parliamentary seat

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KIKUUBE – The Buhaguzi East Constituency parliamentary race in Kikuube district has been headlined by a family rivalry as brothers Nelson Junjura and Julius Junjura Bigirwa campaign against each other.

This familial contest is part of a five-candidate battle where the ruling National Resistance Movement faces off with the National Unity Platform and three independents.

Established in 2021, Buhaguzi East Constituency features a crowded field, including incumbent Steven Asera Itaza, who won as an independent in 2021 but now carries the NRM flag, alongside the Junjura brothers, Eng. Julius Ahura (independent) and NUP's Kato Hillary.

Incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Buhaguzi East Constituency Steven Asera Itaza

Observers say Bigirwa and Itaza have emerged as frontrunners, drawing substantial crowds during campaign rallies and presenting compelling promises to constituents.

The political landscape shifted when Bigirwa and Ahura rejected Itaza's victory in the NRM primaries. Both brothers-turned-candidates alleged widespread irregularities, including voter bribery, intimidation, voting by unregistered persons and the party's electoral commission's refusal to count results from their stronghold areas, prompting their decision to contest as independents.

Incumbent MP Itaza has focused his campaign on what he is calling tangible achievements during his first term, while outlining ambitious plans for reelection. He claims to have secured 109 water sources through partnerships with NGOs like Think Humanity Uganda to combat water scarcity and procured an ambulance for patient transport and organised free medical camps specialising in eye care services.

“Partnering with [Kampala city-based] Mengo Hospital and Ido Africa from Canada, we offered free eye screening, eye surgery and offered patients with spectacles. We also took six children to India for heart surgery, offered wheelchairs, Artificial [prosthetic] legs and arms and also helped children with imperforate anus to get free surgery,” Itaza detailed his foundation's medical interventions.

He promises agricultural transformation: “Most of our farmers are engaged in maize growing, but they are not benefiting from it. We want to sensitise our farmers and introduce them to value addition so that they can produce posho and sell at a good price, use the maize bran to feed pigs and poultry and make money.”

He also pledges to lobby for upgrading Buhima or Bugambe Health Centre III to Health Centre IV status to improve medical services.

Bigirwa, who served in the 11th Parliament before losing to Itaza in 2021, has returned with what he calls a development-focused agenda. He pledges to implement local content policies to ensure community youth benefit from oil and gas industry opportunities, a sector he says has excluded locals due to inadequate policies. Additionally, he called for parents to encourage children to pursue skills development education, noting the underutilization of technical schools despite their presence.

Nelson Junjura has adopted a grassroots approach, visiting households to promote modern agricultural methods. He contends that 85% of constituents depend on subsistence farming and animal husbandry, perpetuating poverty cycles. His platform also advocates for creating new administrative units, arguing that current parish structures are inefficient for development programs.

“Our areas, parishes are too big, for example government is implementing parish development model PDM with each parish getting sh100 millions every year, this money is not enough given the size the parishes, we have parish like Katanga which equivalent to four parishes, the people in such parishes will need to wait for like 10 years to touch on this money,” Nelson explained his restructuring proposal. He also pledged to extend electricity to blackout areas in Bugambe to enable small-scale businesses like welding workshops and salons.

Eng. Julius Ahura, a former UNRA manager for the districts of Hoima and Mbarara, campaigns on education and infrastructure reform. He revealed alarming statistics about educational challenges.

Eng. Julius Ahura, a former UNRA manager for the districts of Hoima and Mbarara, campaigns on education and infrastructure reform

“In this constituency 60% of learners do not go beyond Primary Seven, 50% dropout between P4 and 5 and want put up measures to see that such children go beyond those levels, we are already doing something regarding improving education standards through our brain trust association, under this association, we give capacity building to teachers, we offer learners with scholastic material and assessment examination.”

Ahura also claimed critical road infrastructure failures, specifically the Kihobya-Kyarubanga-Kahoojo-Rwebitera route, as impassable after a decade without rehabilitation. He promised to advocate for increased road funding while addressing healthcare gaps by upgrading a Health Centre III to Health Centre IV status and establishing missing Health Centre IIs across parishes.

NUP's Hillary Kato has positioned himself as an advocate for marginalised groups. He pledged to be “a voice for the voiceless” for youth, persons with disabilities, and women facing socioeconomic challenges throughout the constituency.

As the Junjura brothers' familial rivalry dominates the political narrative, their contest against Itaza and other candidates has transformed Buhaguzi East's parliamentary race into a complex battle where family ties, development promises, and service delivery records will ultimately determine who secures the electorate's trust.