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Rukungiri, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has ended a 40-year opposition hold on Rukungiri Municipality after its candidate, Boaz Kansiime Matita, was declared the duly elected mayor.
According to the Rukungiri District Electoral Commission Returning Officer, Abbass Namara, Matita won the mayoral race after polling 5,759 votes, defeating Denis Ngabirano of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), who garnered 5,126 votes, and Okito Barikudembe of the Justice Forum (JEEMA), who received 88 votes.
Matita replaces the incumbent, Charles Makuru of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), the long-serving and pioneer mayor of Rukungiri Municipality, who served for eight terms beginning in 1996. Makuru announced his retirement last year after nearly four decades in leadership.
He had been mayor of Rukungiri Town Council even before it was elevated to municipal status in 2010, meaning the municipality had never been led by anyone else before him. Throughout this period, Rukungiri Municipality remained under opposition leadership. Rukungiri District is widely regarded as an opposition stronghold, largely due to the influence of veteran opposition figure Col. (Dr.) Kizza Besigye, who hails from the district.
However, in the 2026 general elections, the NRM swept all top political positions in the district. These include Mathias Mwesigwa Rwabugumi (Rubabo Constituency), Rtd Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi Katugugu (Rujumbura Constituency), Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde (Rukungiri Municipality Member of Parliament), Mary Paula Kebirungi (Rukungiri District Woman Member of Parliament), and Andrewson Katebire, who was declared the duly elected LC5 District Chairperson. Boaz Kansiime Matita’s victory now adds the mayoral seat to the NRM’s gains in the district.
Speaking shortly after being declared winner, Matita thanked the people of Rukungiri Municipality for entrusting him with leadership and pledged to deliver on his development commitments.
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