John Katumba defeats Robert Kyagulanyi at 98 polling stations in Buganda
By Staff Writer
It may come as a surprise and many will argue with emotions boiling, but the truth is former Presidential Candidate John Katumba beat Hon Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine at 98 polling stations in Buganda.
According to this research, Hon Kyagulanyi only managed to get a maximum one vote scoring zeros mostly while John Katumba scored in hundreds.
Some of the polling stations include: Wakiso, Maganjo B C/U, Katumba scored 333 while Kyagulanyi got 1; Mukono, Nakifuma East (N-Z) John Katumba scored 256 while Robert Kyagulsnnyi got 0 . The list goes up to 98 polling stations, but all in that sequence.
The 24-year-old John Katumba, one of the 11 presidential candidates, probably had potential of leading, had it not been not the emotional voting that took tall of most Ugandans.
Katumba is from a humble, disadvantaged background; he has made it through college courtesy of well-wishers who liked his good character and they kept giving him odd jobs. He almost failed to get nominated because he had no tax identification number (TIN) for paying the official nomination fee. You won’t have a TIN if you never made a transaction involving the Revenue Authority like buying titled property or at the very least, acquiring a driving permit.
Anyway, Katumba got nominated seconds to the deadline, having jumped from the rickety jalopy that broke down as his team approached the nomination centre. Panting after the sprint, he was formally declared a candidate in the 2021 presidential election. Then he hit the ground running, literally.
For he did not have a reliable car to drive around the country, though his government-provided security detail had theirs. He would ride on buses, get carried on bicycles or walked. Soon enough, he started getting offers of vehicles and fuel, so more regions of the country got to see Katumba in action.
Soon he evolved his campaign slogan: “Katumba Oyee!”
But if everyone was amused, the keepers of law weren’t.
As candidate Katumba rapidly became the darling of the public, many were moved to near tears when police blocked his attempt to stop in Jinja town for lunch.
In the now easily recognized voice, the presidential-to-be cried out to the cops that he was hungry and just wanted to get a bite in Jinja. But the officers were aware that the young man was already a crowd puller. So they firmly shooed him back to the highway as he cried out in hunger.