Tension is rising within the National Resistance Movement in Mukono District after district party chairperson Hajji Haruna Ssemakula made remarks discouraging election petitions despite several senior members of his party challenging recent election results in court.
Speaking during a media engagement, Ssemakula criticised politicians who rush to court after losing elections, arguing that leadership should not be treated as a personal business venture or a “do-or-die” source of income.
According to Ssemakula, candidates who lose at the ballot box should accept defeat and allow those declared winners to serve the people rather than prolonging political battles through litigation.
He further suggested that excessive court disputes create the impression that some politicians seek leadership positions for personal gain, including access to government resources.
“Five years is not a long time. If you lost fairly, wait for the next election and contest again,” he reportedly told supporters.
However, the remarks have triggered debate within Mukono’s political circles because two legislators from his own ruling party have already petitioned court challenging victories by candidates from the opposition National Unity Platform in Mukono Municipality and Mukono North.
Political observers say the contradiction has exposed deep divisions within the district’s ruling party structures and raised questions about whether Ssemakula’s comments were genuinely principled or strategically calculated.
Several analysts in Mukono believe the veteran party mobiliser may have miscalculated the political consequences of his remarks by appearing selective on which election petitions deserve support and which do not.
Critics argue that while Ssemakula publicly condemns election petitions, he has remained largely silent on legal challenges filed by influential NRM figures contesting parliamentary losses. Instead, they claim his current position appears aimed at protecting the party’s grip on the district chairperson seat.
The controversy centres on the disputed Mukono District LC5 race in which Francis Lukooya Mukoome was declared winner. The result is now under challenge before the High Court by Johnson Muyanja Ssenyonga, who insists the electoral process was flawed.
Sources within the district say Ssemakula has actively mobilised NRM councillors behind Mukoome’s leadership as the court process unfolds.
Recently, the district NRM leadership convened a closed-door meeting at Collin Hotel where councillors discussed the formation of the next district leadership structure, including the district council speakership.
The meeting reportedly endorsed Asuman Muhumuza for Speaker and Milimira Gashegu as Deputy Speaker, a move some observers interpreted as an attempt to consolidate control of the district administration before court pronounces itself on the LC5 dispute.
Despite mounting pressure from sections of the ruling party to abandon the legal challenge, Muyanja has maintained that he will proceed with the court case until a final ruling is delivered.
The Mukono situation illustrates the growing difficulty for ruling party leaders to preach acceptance of defeat while simultaneously benefiting from selective legal contests designed to preserve political influence.
For Ssemakula, what may have been intended as a call for political maturity has instead opened him to accusations of double standards, exposing the fragile balancing act within Mukono’s increasingly polarised political landscape.
English 