Princess Eugenia Nassolo was this month successfully nominated by the Electoral Commission as a candidate for Lubaga South Parliamentary seat ahead of 2021 general elections.
The highly competitive race has attracted 13 contenders. The others are Aloysius Mukasa, Charles Male Kenneth, Samuel Lubega Mukaaku Habib Buwembo Kifampa, Siraje Nsambu, John Ken Lukyamuzi, incumbent legislator Kato Lubwama, Denis Kiyingi, Mugga Adam Swift, Mbidde Francis, Kayemba Michael, and Derrick Lufunya.
Nassolo is a key leader in Lubaga Catholic Parish which also doubles as the headquarters of Kampala Catholic Archdiocese and the Democratic Party (DP) is counting on her solid profile as one that makes her an easy brand to sell to the electors in the 8 parishes making the constituency.
The Buganda princess owns multiple commercial buildings in Ndeeba and in other Kampala city suburbs.
Not only is she very wealthy, she also gainfully employs many young people in the poor slums of Lubaga South. She for instance has a yard in the Nalukolongo slummy neighborhood where 100s of jobless young people sell their plastics scrap.
Being a big-name manufacturer involved in making polythene materials used on construction sites and piping materials, Nassolo uses these dumped plastics (which young men collect off garbage heaps) as raw material for her manufacturing practices. She has also contracted garages in the different Rubaga South suburbs where she sponsors young men to be trained as mechanics and many of them have graduated into self-employment and its them that she is relying onto popularize her ambition for the MP Seat.
An eminent Rotarian, Nassolo also has another community project which targets girls who are between S6 and campus for practical skilling.
She has a training center in Natete-Busega where such young girls, given to her by their poor mothers, are sent for training in the craft shoes-making business.
Her plastics and polythene-processing business employs hundreds of youths both in Nalukolongo and Kikuubo where she has her wholesale shops.
For the garages, her training program has economically transformed many young people who have subsequently referred their younger siblings to enroll for the same and gratefully, Nassolo started early (2017). This has enabled her to create a reservoir and strong network of good will ambassadors in all the parishes on which the DP leadership is leveraging to make a serious attempt of winning over the constituency.
The ambulance she donated to the community in 2018 is another thing that has endeared her to many potential voters in especially the poor slums of Lubaga South. In the Catholic Church, she is deeply rooted right from her St. Augustine Namirembe Sub Parish where she serves as the treasurer and head fundraising. At the Cathedral, she sits on the Parish Council which is chaired by Fr. Achilles Mayanja the Parish Priest.
She is also the chairperson for Lubaga Cathedral’s Twezimbe association which oversees development projects, the buildings thereon and their beautification. The huge commercial complex housing the Cathedral Centenary Bank branch at the Cathedral is one of the many her committee looks after. They also look after the wellbeing of the Cathedral itself, the priests’ houses and other infrastructure on Lubaga Hill.
“It’s very possible the Church hasn’t had someone that can potentially be as loyal since the days of Mzee Damiano Lubega (former Lubaga South MP),” says a Cathedral insider.
Married to city businessman Livingstone Semuwemba, Nassolo has lived in palatial residence in Kakeeka village near Super fm since the 1990s when she had just completed campus at Makerere University. She graduated in community psychology. Some of her best friends in doing Church errands and business include George the owner of Cheap Hardware and the wealthy couple that owns the Eliana Schools near Natete. The other key ally is Free Man Kiyimba who is a member of the Lubaga Twezimbe Association even when he isn’t a Catholic.
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