Mukula revisits Museveni’s motorcycle dash to Kololo

A presidential convoy could not get President Yoweri Museveni through the crowds. A boda boda did. Capt Mike Mukula has revisited the motorcycle ride that took the president to his nomination at Kololo as supporters clogged his route.

In a post on X, Mukula said he urged Museveni to leave his vehicle and take a motorcycle arranged by State House official Moses Byaruhanga.

Mukula, who was then the Soroti Municipality MP, said the crowds threatened to delay the president’s arrival at the nomination venue. He later served as minister of state for health from 2001 to 2006.

According to Mukula, Museveni had less than 45 minutes left when they decided to switch transport. He said they reached the electoral officials with 15 minutes to spare.

However, some historical reports differ from his recollection on the year, the official who handled the nomination and the time remaining.

Mukula placed the incident in 2000. Contemporary reporting dates Museveni’s nomination at Kololo to January 9, 2001. The Electoral Commission chairman was Hajji Aziz Kasujja. Stephen Besweri Akabway, whom Mukula named in his post, had chaired the interim commission that organised the 1996 elections.

A Monitor report published on March 25, 2018, records that Kasujja declared Museveni duly nominated at 3.57pm, ahead of a 5pm deadline. That account leaves more than an hour to spare, rather than the 15 minutes Mukula recalled.

The central account of the motorcycle ride, however, matches Museveni’s own explanation.

Speaking at the swearing-in of judges in 2018, Museveni said he had underestimated the crowds between Nakasero and Kololo. He feared missing the nomination deadline and boarded a boda boda to get through.

New Vision identified the rider as Sam Kabuga, then an 18-year-old motorcycle taxi operator from Nateete. In an interview after the nomination, Kabuga said security personnel selected him from riders gathered at Kololo.

He recalled carrying Museveni for about 500 metres before the president dismounted and headed to the pavilion. Kabuga said he did not charge for the trip.

Mukula credited Byaruhanga with arranging the motorcycle. Reporting from the period identified Byaruhanga as the president’s private secretary for political affairs.

The nomination put Museveni into a six-candidate contest. His challengers were Dr Kizza Besigye, Aggrey Awori, Francis Bwengye, Chapaa Karuhanga and Kibirige Mayanja. Besigye, a retired colonel and Museveni’s former bush-war doctor, emerged as his strongest opponent.

Museveni won the March 12, 2001 election with 69.3 per cent of the vote. Besigye received 27.8 per cent.