Nakawa Division East constituency returned to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) on Saturday after Kampala District Electoral Commission returning officer Rashid Hashakya declared Fred Ruhindi the winner with 18,555 votes.
Ruhindi defeated his closest challenger, Waiswa Mufumbiro of the National Unity Platform (NUP), who garnered 15,186 votes—a margin of 3,369 votes.
Ruhindi, a former legislator for Nakawa, previously represented the area before it was split into Nakawa East and Nakawa West between 2006 and 2016, serving two terms.
The constituency was later held by Michael Kabaziguruka of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) in 2016, and subsequently by Ronald Balimwezo of NUP in 2021.
With Balimwezo opting to contest for Kampala Lord Mayor this year, NUP fielded Waiswa as its candidate. However, the vote count highlights a fractured opposition, with multiple candidates drawing significant support and potentially splitting the anti-NRM vote.
Winfred Nakandi of the Democratic Front (DF) secured 3,020 votes, having switched from seeking the Kampala Woman MP nomination in NUP after incumbent Shamim Malende and Zahara Luyirika were favored.
PFF candidate Michael Kabaziguruka garnered 2,345 votes, while FDC’s Moses Okware Mugisha received 1,210 votes. Analysis of the results suggests that if opposition voters had consolidated behind Waiswa, he could have retained the seat.
Even discounting Nakandi’s votes, likely cast by voters favoring a female candidate—Kabaziguruka and Okware’s combined 3,555 votes would have pushed Waiswa to 18,741, surpassing Ruhindi’s total.
“The opposition effectively handed Nakawa East to NRM by failing to unify behind a single strongest candidate,” analysts note.
NUP spokesperson and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, however, dismissed Ruhindi’s victory, alleging electoral irregularities.
He cited discrepancies on declaration forms, including one where 380 votes were recorded for a candidate despite a total polling station turnout of 164.
“Several DR forms had irregularities, and we agreed they should be verified. Instead, the returning officer ignored them, disenfranchising our candidate. We cannot regard such elections as free and fair,” Ssenyonyi said.
Ruhindi defended his win, attributing it to extensive door-to-door campaigns that allowed voters to assess his track record.
“Voters realized that they have been missing out on my services. They compared my performance from when I was MP with the last 10 years and concluded I am the best candidate,” he said.
The Nakawa East outcome underscores the challenges facing Uganda’s opposition parties, where vote-splitting and internal coordination issues can tip the scales in favor of the ruling NRM, even in constituencies traditionally held by opposition candidates.
