Why Bunya East MP Kyewalabye Majegere Crossed to NUP

By Abraham Lincolns

 Elias Nalukola just won the Kawempe North by-election in Kampala city but as the country draws nearer the 2026 general elections there are shocking information intercepted by the Second Opinion publications as to why Bunya East constituency former NRM MP Waira James Kyewalabye aka Majegere defected from the ruling party to National Unity platform (NUP).

In a twisting turn of event, NRM diehard and former Member of Parliament for Bunya East Constituency in Mayuge District Busoga Sub Region Waira James Kyewalabye Majegere threw away ruling NRM party uniforms and card and joined the main opposition party the National Unity Platform (NUP).

 
 According to Kyewalabye Majegere says that the national Unity Platform (NUP) observes democracy and a pro-people party, unlike
 the NRM party which he alleges is full of betrayal and hypocrites both at the electoral commission national offices and at the district level.

 In 2011, Majegere disclosed that he won the NRM parliamentary ticket for Bunya East seat and later the general election, while in 2016, he lost the party NRM ticket to his usual political rival James Kubeketerya but trounced him in the general election on an independent ticket.

“Just imagine spending time rallying my people to vote for me and the president, I won and got cheated at the district. When I petitioned  at the NRM secretariat at  Kyandodo I was not heard, instead they  trashed my petition documents to the dust bin, Majegere said.

In 2021, both Majegere and Kubeketerya contested in the party primaries and Majegere lost in both party primaries and general elections but passed over the  blames to  NRM and security for allegedly  conniving  with his rival to  throw away ballot  boxes and beat up his supporters in areas of Kyoga in Kigandalo sub county a place which is a strong hood of the opponent.

However, in 2024, Majegere announced his new political journey to NUP where he invited the party’s president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu cum Bobi Wine to witness the colourful defection.

“I didn’t defect out of anger but the poor governance, human rights violence, the poor education system, brutality by the security agencies against the lay man pushed me  hard to  join the opposition where we
see H.E  Robert  Kyagulanyi with a very clear manifesto to retrieve Ugandans from slavery” Majegere said.

Who is  Kyewalabye Majegere?
Waira James Kyewalabye Sitingo Majegere   born on 28th day of  June, 1969 to Mzee Isabirye Mudachi (RIP) of Mpumu, Mpungwe sub county in Mayuge district and Barbra Naisiga Nalumansi (RIP) of Nankodo Kasasira in Kibuku district.

Majegere, a Mukenye by tribe, grew up in a staunch catholic family with his father who died in 1983 and his step mother late Matilina Nambi Nanzala Nabirye whom Majegere loved and cared for more than any other person.

Waira started his education journey in 1976 and sat for his PLE in 1983  although he had passed to Secondary level  but because of his size , he was advised to repeat in   1984.  

He joined Bunya secondary school in Mayuge district between 1985 to 1988 where he sat for his Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) finals.

Due to financial constraints, Majegere  failed to join A level at that time and instead started burning and selling charcoal in Mayuge district.

“Here life became hard and I never knew that one time I would be a member of parliament, I abandoned the charcoal business and went to Entebbe at my uncle’s place mzee Kafuko Michael who hails from Nankondo in Kibuku district was working wit Uganda civil aviation authority (CAA)” Majegere ranted.

He added that this was after he had walked a 30km journey from Mpumu to Musita   and boarded a bus to Kampala with his cousin brother Javiira Ronald.

 Life at Mzee Kafuko’s home

At this time Zhang Yiming the developer of the Chinese technology company ByteDance had not come up with Tiktok otherwise   Majegere could have been seen in the CAA staff quarters gardens digging on Tiktok as he started as a casual Labourer in the gardens of the airport
staff with the purpose of making money.

Here life changed as his pockets could smell some new bank notes from the CAA staff who were paying him.

 He became a don over his fellow young men whom he left in the village and those undermining casual labouring.

 Pursue   Education

 Much as Majegere was enjoying the little   earnings from his digging sweat, he looked forward to pursuing at least a bachelor’s degree given that all his friends had studied to be degree holders and other certificates.

Like any other blessed and disciplined person, Majegere was appointed as a Porter at the airport in charge of cleaning and slashing. From this point, he was promoted to a Gardener and later appointed as a concession clerk at the road toll.

He was also appointed as a Personnel Clerk where he was sponsored to Uganda Management Institute (UMI) and MTAC where he pursued certificates in Records Management, Supervisory Management,
Records and Archives Management and then Trainer of trainers.

At this point, Majegere was appointed and promoted as a Registry Assistant at Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA).

Yearning for a bachelor degree to fit in the elites society, he went back did a diploma in business administration at Kampala college of business, then a  second diploma in Personnel management and industrial relations at London college of professional
Management long distance  and later  pursued a diploma in Archives Management at Makerere University in the year 1999.

In 2005 Majegere got a  bachelor  degree in Library and Information Science at Makerere University before he was appointed the Registry Supervisor at the Uganda Civil aviation authority(CAA).

 He was later transferred to head the Air traffic Control Data Management department where he was forced to pursue a certificate in Air Traffic Control at the East African Civil Aviation School (Soroti Flying School).

In 2006 Majegere enrolled for a master’s degree in Information Technology with a bias in information security. He joined the ministry of lands where he headed the department of land administration registry and UMI as an associate assistant between the years 2008 and 2010.

 Politics
In 2011, Kyewalabye  resigned his UMI job to  join politics and it was at this time when his supporters code named him Majegere  (Bulldozer) following his overwhelmed support that  he could  bull doze and  oust the then longest time serving Bunya East MP and incumbent   James Kubeketerya.
 
His committed foot soldiers  by then helped him  win the heated contested campaign with a high margin and  he served for two terms 2011-2021 .
However in 2016, he lost the party primaries to his known  political rival James Kubeketerya  here he managed to  beat the rival  in the general elections.

In 2021, Majegere says both the NRM primaries and general elections were marred with vote rigging, threats and violence against his supporters and agents during election process Kubeketerya was declared a winner.

Last year 2024  Majegere  crossed to NUP denouncing NRM part and later  was appointed  the  Mayuge district NUP  party vice chairperson during which he
invited the party’s President Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu and  officially pronounced his conviction to the NUP
party, something that has left the incumbent Kubeketerya James and NRM party having  sleepless nights.

The former  legislator says that he  is committed to restoring the pride of Bunya East through consistent legislation, lobbying
and having social services accessible to his voters.
 
During his tenure as a member of Parliament, Majegere touched a number of issues not limited to distribution of free coffee seedlings to people with small pieces of land in a bid to fight the increased sugar cane growing in his area given the  challenges faced by rampant sugar cane growing, gave  out over one million trees for environmental concerns and advocated for electricity power to a tune of 70%  coverage.

During his reign, Majegere is proud of identifying and promotion of talents through sports (Majegere cup) where some youths are now players in Busoga United FC and advocated for compensation of
 victims in Bukabooli sub county.

When you talk about  education, he lobbied university sponsorships for students in every sub county , also the establishment of  Mpungwe seed secondary school was as a result of his endless lobbying.

  
 The tarmacking of Musita -Namayingo-Majanji road was one of his infrastructural development efforts  while as he enjoyed the privileges of sitting on same committee he found it easy to mobilise his colleagues at   Parliament to secure funds for  opening  and maintenances  of  most feeder roads in his  Constituency.
Community engagement

 Busoga traditionally in an African setting always gather during times of problems and happiness , to Majegere  attending funerals is part of   his personal  tradition and  social life aspect however, by doing so he goes  an extra mile of providing free public address systems, tents and chairs to all the aggrieved families  when death occurs, while as source pans, plate
and water tanks are provided to  every village.

  Coming back fresh and reloaded , Majegere  in the new NUP red colours has vowed to  concentrate on  one of his  private member’s bills to make it a law that the government sponsors  the education of students at universities on loan and gets paid when students are employed just as the ongoing University  education loan scheme .

He is considering registering  Majegere FC to continue identifying talents for national recognition, lobbying for Musubi and Bugoto tarmac road, engaging in social community services in all the 23 parishes, advocating for human rights in the country and the fishermen on lake Victoria.

Given the land wrangles in the community, Majegere looks at land titling in the constituency as a priority especially in areas of Bukabooli.

Once back in Parliament, Majegere wants cotton growth to be restored in Busoga region, raising a voice of  the sugarcane out growers, their workers and their product prices, and lobbying for piped water to most affected areas with no clean water.