Basajjabalaba Not Our Choice–Mbarara Business Community 

MBARARA – The business community in Mbarara District many of them long-time supporters of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) have broken ranks with Hassan Basajjabalaba, declaring that he is no longer their preferred choice for the position of Chairman of the Entrepreneurs League on the NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC).

In a heated meeting at Bam Hotel on Thursday, traders, manufacturers, and small business owners expressed frustration that Basajjabalaba has used his past position as a mere stepping stone to personal deals instead of advocating for policies that benefit the wider business community.

“Every time we hear about him, it’s not about helping businesses in Mbarara or Uganda, it’s about his latest connection or tender,” said Mary Katushabe, a wholesale trader in Mbarara Central Market. “We need a leader who will speak for us, not someone who will use the CEC seat as a shortcut to the next big deal.”

John Tumusiime, who runs a metal fabrication workshop in Kakoba, said the district’s entrepreneurs have been ignored for too long. “We have pothole-filled roads that destroy goods in transit, electricity cuts that cripple our work, and unfair taxes, but our representatives in the CEC have never brought these matters to the table. It’s time to elect someone who will be our voice not a deal maker,” Tumusiime told this paper.

Others accused Basajjabalaba of enriching only his family and kinsmen while the rest of the district’s business sector struggles. “When you hear him in the news, it’s about scandals – market tenders, land disputes, compensation money. We want to be associated with honest leadership,” said Beatrice Ninsiima, a clothing retailer in Biharwe.

Delegates at the meeting said they want a candidate who can lobby for affordable credit schemes, reduced bureaucracy for business permits and infrastructure improvements in the district and unfair taxation on imports.

“We have brilliant and honest entrepreneurs who can represent us well,” said Patrick Byaruhanga, a milk processing plant owner. “Basajjabalaba had 10 years and he failed to show up for us. We can’t waste another five years on someone who thinks the CEC is a deal avenue”

The group resolved to rally fellow NRM Entrepreneurs League delegates across western Uganda to vote for a “servant leader” when the party goes to the polls on August 25th.

“Let him keep his deals. We will keep our votes,” Katushabe added as the meeting ended to loud applause.