Mutufu Town Council, Sironko District: Mr. Kiisa James, a humble peasant farmer and former Town Council Chairperson of Mutufu, who has stunned political observers by handing the State Minister for Karamoja and Sironko District Woman MP, Hon. Florence Nambozo, a political humiliation in the just-concluded NRM Structures Elections.
Kiisa, whose feud with the Minister traces back to 2024 when she allegedly blocked him from meeting President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni during his visit to Mutufu, suffered a stroke shortly after the incident. What many thought would be the end of his political journey instead became the start of a powerful comeback.
On May 16, 2025, Kiisa challenged Hon. Nambozo for the position of General Secretary for Mutufu Town Council, defeating her by 10 votes. In a dramatic twist, chaos erupted when the Minister’s team reportedly disrupted the process, leading to its cancellation. A re-run scheduled for May 17 failed to yield a result after her camp allegedly attempted to sneak in non-eligible voters, a move that further dented her credibility and forced another postponement.
But the real knockout came not at the linking up of electorate.
In a masterstroke of strategy, Kiisa petitioned NRM Electoral Commission Chairperson Dr. Tanga Odoi, highlighting that Hon. Nambozo, who initially contested in the Women’s League in ward that was not her own, was ineligible to switch and contest for a mainstream position in a different structure. Dr. Tanga Odoi swiftly acted, declaring Mr. Kiisa unopposed and ordering Hon. Nambozo to withdraw her candidacy within two hours to avoid bringing further embarrassment to the party.
“This is a senior leader in government. How can she fail to comprehend the most basic election guidelines of our party?” a source close to Dr. Tanga Odoi was quoted as saying.
Now, all eyes turn to Friday, May 23, 2025, dubbed by political analysts as her Waterloo. On that day, the embattled minister will face off against the formidable NRM Chairman and presidential model farmer, Mr. Mafabi Sulaiman Lumolo, in the race for Sironko District NRM Chairpersonship.
For a woman who once towered over the political landscape of Sironko, Hon. Florence Nambozo now finds herself reeling under the weight of strategic miscalculations, grassroots rebellion, and the rising tide of the very structures she helped build.
Whether she can regain her footing or be swept away by the new wave of NRM loyalists is a story only the next ballot can tell.
