Having tried and miserably failed to make an impact in the Parliamentary elections for Budiope West in 2016, many political visionaries were quick to write off Moses Bigirwa’s chances of making a successful attempt to join Parliament at least in a foreseeable future.
Many had advised him to swap his Democratic party for either the ruling National Resistance Movement or opposition FDC so as to lighten his chances.
Bigirwa was however not ready to go with any answer from the naysayers. He still believed he could realised his dreams without necessarily compromising his political views. He unsteady shifted his eyes from the rural constituency in Budiope to a more urban Kamuli Municipality.
When Bobi Wine announced he would be contesting in the 2017 Kyadondo East by-election, Bigirwa saw an opportunity to reach beyond the horizons of politics. Financially incapacitated as he was at the moment, he knew money is not all that would make the difference. He plotted to put his unmatchable organization and mobilisation skills to use in Kyadondo where he camped for over two months, making things work out for Bobi Wine under the most deplorable conditions.
When victory was attained in Kyadondo, Bigirwa would form an advance team to Jinja West and Bugiri Municipality the following year, scooping a gold medal on each of the two occasions before heading to Arua where the story of the current People Power was predominantly written out the catastrophic events that unfolded there, making their leader top international news headlines and becoming an international concern.
When Bobi Wine moved to formalise his political movement early last year, Bigirwa was expectedly one of the names that wouldn’t miss on the list of the appointees. He was appointed Coordinator for the Eastern Region along with other political notables like Bugiri Municipality’s Asuman Basalirwa, Jinja West’s Paul Mwiru, People Power Electoral Commission chief Mercy Walukamba among others.
Despite being the arguably the most junior among all the appointees, Bigirwa has exceeded everyone’s expectations by combing all the districts of Busoga and erecting People Power structures in each one of them.
While conducting a regional tour of the sub region early this week, Samuel Lubega Mukaaku who had represented People Power EC chief – Mercy Walukamba applauded Bigirwa for his selfless service towards the struggle and asked the young people within the subregion to emulate him by taking the lead in the fight against bad leadership.
“My son here [Bigirwa] has done exceedingly well. I don’t think I could have been any happier. He has achieved what many of us thought was impossible. Let a of you use him as a perfect example to learn that this struggle belongs to you. We can still do it without expecting much more than victory at the end of the day. That’s called sacrifice,” Mukaaku told a group of PP coordinators who had converged in Walukuba Jinja City on Saturday last week.
In Kamuli, the visitors from the PP Secretariat in Kamwokya couldn’t believe what they found. They seemed not to have known their Coordinator’s political weight in the town he is seeking to represent in Parliament next year. The Commission had during their visit to Busoga opted to visit each Constituency with a view of assessing Bobi Wine’s support and also setting up campaign structures ahead of the general elections next year.
Even though they had tried to prevent people from converging in large numbers in line with the Ministry of Health’s directives over the spread of Coronavirus, they were out powered as swarms of Bigirwa’s supporters that kept swelling until they were forced to cut the interaction short.
The Commission’s treasurer John Merry Ssebuufu showered Bigirwa with unending praises and implored him to equip his fellow leaders in the region with similar skills as a way of securing the people powers support in the region.
Bigirwa’s political mastery has seen him evolve into one of the most sought after youthful politicians of the current generation in Busoga along with others like Waiswa Mufumbiro, Masitula Namatovu of Kamuli, Bamu Lulwnzi of Iganga and People Power Regional legal officer Muganga Francis.
With 2021 tipping him against the incumbent Kamuli Municipality MP Hajjat Rehema Watongola, Bigirwa – the general as he is popularly known in people power will give her run for his money. Bobi Wine’s ever soaring political fame will unquestionably be the strongest war instrument in Bigirwa’s political armoury beside his first class oratory fluidity.
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