The top leadership at Makerere Kavule based National Unity Platform (NUP) headquarters are not happy with the frequent secret meetings that the newly elected Kampala city Lord Mayor Ronald Balimwezo and his close friend Emmanuel Sserunjogi who is the also the Kawempe Division mayor are holding with the city Executive Director Hajat Sharif Buzeki.
Highly placed sources in NUP revealed that the party Principal Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) also complained about the said meetings in one of the high-level party meetings he attended via zoom noting that he is closely following what is going on at City Hall.
One of the NUP councilors told this reporter that a week ago, Balimwezo together with Sserunjogi visited City Hall not less than four times and during some of these visits, they were seen going direct to Buzeki’s office which has raised a lot of questions.
“Bobi Wine and other leaders at Kavule have a reason to be scared of those meetings because he struggled to convince the public that his party councilors were not compromised in giving away Nakivubo drainage channel. He even fought to make sure that voters are convinced on Balimwezo replacing Lukwago who had been telling voters that he is their shield. So these closed-door meetings are scaring him,” a councillor said.
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Balimwezo confirmed the said meetings but insisted that they are not secret. He disclosed that he is strategizing with the technocrats on how they will deal with Kampala problems adding that he is not going to be a mayor who fights political wars but one who fights for development.
Sources at KCCA said that Balimwezo is following up the preparation for his swearing-in which is expected in May after the swearing-in of the President and Members of Parliament.
The source added that the outgoing Nakawa East legislator is also under pressure from people asking him for jobs at City Hall including defeated councilors and some of his meetings with those KCCA bosses is to ask them whether there are vacant places where they can employ them.
The outgoing Kampala Lord Mayor Lukwago claimed that his defeat was facilitated by a cartel of mafias who are interested in grabbing all public properties including drainage channels, land, buildings and he has been a threat to them because he has been exposing them after declining to be compromised with money, jobs for his people and other juicy deals.
