Untold secrets of how and why Fgt. Capt. Mike Mukula and now his rival Sanjay Tana fell out are today being exposed for the first time.
Mukula also NRM National Vice Chairperson for Eastern Region and Sanjay Tanna, a business mogul and NRM Mobilizer have been nursing a cold war that turned into an all-out war a few days ago during the campaigns for the Soroti City East by-election. Our Inspectors have landed on clues as to why the two men from the east can not share a plate even if their only survival depended on that one plate.
HERE WE GO!
Sanjay Tanna is former Member of Parliament Tororo Municipality (2011-2016.) He is also a leading businessman with many businesses in Eastern Uganda and contested against Mukula for the NRM National Vice Chairperson for Eastern Region in 2021.The contest for regional NRM Vice Chair was a grueling one and brought out many undertones with Mukula camp allegedly resorting to the racial card calling Tanna a ‘Muyindi’ which sounded as if Tanna was non-eligible to contest for any political position in Uganda.
None the less, Tanna thumped Mukula by a landslide in Eastern Uganda with his voters celebrating ‘an outright victory’ as early as 5:00 PM that day.
In a dramatic turn of events, after 12hrs later, Mukula was declared winner against protestations from many who saw it as an ‘outright rigging of results.
“He (Tanna) alleged that the NRM Electoral Commission aided Mukula’s win by delaying to declare the winner. Tanna claims the results were doctored the reason they were released 12 hours after the rest of the results across the country had been released.” says an Inspector.
Inspectors now suggest that the bad blood between the two men emanated from the debacle created by the NRM EC that announced Mukula!
BACK TO TORORO
While representing Tororo Municipality, Tanna generally sided with the Iteso in their quest for a separate district that would have its headquarters in Tororo Municipality, something that had the Japadhola swearing death.
Incidentally, most meetings called by Iteso leaders to strategize on how the Tororo Iteso could achieve their dreams were allegedly chaired by Mukula as the NRM Regional Vice Chairman Eastern and Tanna regularly attended them. In other words, at the time, the two were friends working for the same interests.
Furthermore, during the 2016 race for the regional NRM Vice Chair, Tanna campaigned for his buddy, Mike Mukula against stiff competition from the likes of Moses Balyeku who had laid a serious political ambush against him in Namboole. Finally, Mukula won thereby retaining his seat.
However, shortly after the Namboole elections, general elections followed with Tanna showing interest to retain his Tororo Municipality seat. The politics at Tororo Municipality was so polarized that there was a candidate for the Iteso and another for the Japhadola.Tanna presented himself as the pro-Iteso candidate and Apollo Yeri Ofwono was fronted as the Japhadola candidate. Here is when Mukula allegedly turned guns against Tanna and supported Ofwono.
Our Inspectors from Tororo Municipality claimed Tanna was a victim of alleged conspiracy between Mukula camp and the NRM EC whose head is a Japadhola, hence losing the NRM flag.
“For that reason, Tanna went ahead to contest as an Independent but as NRM leaning candidate.The events that followed only worked to make the hitherto friendly working relationship between the two worse and bordering irreconcilable limits. This is when Mukula disrupted Tanna’s after nomination rally at Tororo Lions Children Park in the last minute” says an Inspector.
It’s said Tanna had booked and paid for the venue but Mukula camp and that of Tanga reportedly used police to disperse the Tanna crowd and instead brought in Ofwono supporters with artist Bebe Cool.
In fact that day, Mukula flew in a chopper effectively scattering Tanna’s procession.
The Tanna team also discovered that the Mukula team did not stop at disrupting the Children’s Lions Club rally but also frustrated Tanna’s attempts at relocating his rally to St. George 1V Stadium.
“Geoffrey Emokol Opua, the Mayor Tororo Municipality said
“It was unfair for Ofwono to insist on the same venue knowing very well Tanna had cleared all financial requirements for the venue for two days with the Municipal council. I was shocked that Ofwono’s actions were not only provocative but inciting since there were several other venues he could hold his rallies like the Municipal stadium, Municipal gardens, Police grounds, Elgon view ground among others.” said Geoffrey Emokol Opua, the mayor of Tororo municipality following the incident.
Since that day, all Mukula’s utterances have been against Tanna, and it wasn’t surprising that in his recent attack against the Vice President Maj. Jessica Alupo, Mukula singled out Tanna’s involvement in NRM’s Ariko win in the Soroti City East MP by-election.
“It seems Mukula’s obsession with Tanna is premised on his fear that Tanna ‘has become too big.’ opines Micheal Eresu, a resident of Kumi district.
RACE FOR 2021 NRM SEAT
Prior to the 2021 general elections, there was high expectation that Tanna was getting back to reclaim his Tororo Municipality Seat and it was not misconceived; as Tanna was seen regularly mobilizing and being closer to his voters than before. However, he made a turnaround after research he carried out indicated that Mukula was too weak in the Eastern region including Teso sub region. In addition, he was pushed by many politicians whose relations with Mukula were similar to those of China and America over Taiwan.
Tanna made a decision that reportedly shook Mukula to the marrow since he saw him as a threat to what he kept referring to as ‘his thing’.
MUKULA Vs OTHERS
Meanwhile, around the same time, the now Minister of State for Fisheries, Hellen Adoa was crying her eyes out saying Mukula was campaigning for and facilitating her opponent, a one independent Woman MP Aspirant, Akiror Irene Suzan.
In Katakwi, Mukula was also not seeing eye to eye with Jessica Alupo then contesting to reclaim her woman MP seat. Indeed, in what was seen as the internal machinations within the NRM Party, Alupo was denied the NRM Flag but chose to stand as an independent and thumped her opponent Viola Akurut.
A closer scrutiny of the Teso Ministers and Members of Parliament who worked closely with H.E Jessica Alupo in canvassing votes for Herbert Ariko either have or have had issues with Mukula.
“You see during the election for the National NRM Regional Vice Persons, Mukula lost badly to Tanna in the East which is his constituency and so whenever he sees Tanna around, he knows the real bull is in the kraal” a Senior NRM leader who did not want to be named told us.
Another echoed Tanna’s earlier assertion that Mukula engineered a rigging mechanism that helped him narrowly take the CEC seat.
Tanna insists that votes in Central Uganda were doctored and gives examples of Rubaga where there were 68 registered voters but total number of votes cast were 150, majority of which were in Mukula’s favour.
Other districts where votes were over and above the registered voters are Mpigi, Kalangala and Masaka. This according to Tanna is the reason the declaration of results for the Eastern region was done 12 hours after declaration of all the other regions.
It is important to note that the voting by the NRM District delegates for the President, National Vice Chairpersons and the National Regional Vice Persons was done on the same day, same time and by the same delegates.
The system was such that the first booklet was for the President, the Second was for National Vice Chairpersons and the third was for Regional Chairpersons.
Ideally the total number of votes cast for all positions are supposed to tally. This however was not case.The total number of votes for the Second National Vice Chairperson was 10,719, Vice Chairperson Kampala 9,833, Vice Chairperson Central 10,126, Vice Chairperson Western 12,543, Vice Chairperson Eastern 10,142, Vice Chairperson Northern 10,410 and Vice Chairperson Karamoja 10,363.
“I think the question that could be haunting Mukula camp is why the discrepancies in totals yet this was a college with the same voters for all positions?” Says James Okurut an NRM mobilizer in Bukedea.
