OPINION: Why Minister Jim Muhwezi deserves another term as MP for Rujumbura County?

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OPINION-The 2026 election season is almost coming; if you look closely, you can see the smoke plumes in different parts of the country.

Though slowly, via rumors among the populace, things are starting to take shape in Rujumbura County Rukungiri district.

Maj. Gen. Jim Katugugu Muhwezi, the minister of security, currently holds the Rujumbura parliamentary seat. However, a number of candidates, including Ambroz Kibuka, Mr. Arineitwe Frank Rukanirwa, and the Hon. Fred Turyamuhweza of the FDC, have expressed interest in challenging him.

For his services to the nation, Minister Jim Muhwezi has received accolades from citizens not just in Rukungiri but also nationwide.

WHO IS MAJ. GEN. JIM KATUGUGU MUHWEZI?

Maj. Gen. (retired) Jim Muhwezi Katugugu is a Ugandan lawyer, politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the Cabinet Minister for National Security, in the Ugandan Cabinet, since 8th June 2021.

From March 2015 until May 2016, he served as the Minister of Information and National Guidance in the Cabinet of Uganda.

He had been appointed to that position in a cabinet reshuffle on 1st March 2015, replacing Rose Namayanja, who was dropped from the cabinet.

Also, he is the Member of Parliament (MP) representing Rujumbura County, Rukungiri District whereby he regained that seat in 2021, having lost it for five years between 2016 and 2021.

Hon. Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi was born in Rukungiri District on 23 August 1950.

Jim Muhwezi holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LLB), from Makerere University, Uganda’s oldest and largest public university.

He also received Senior Military Police and Security Intelligence Training from Tanzania and the former Soviet Union.

In July 2009, the Law Development Center in Kampala awarded him the Diploma in Legal Practice, the prerequisite to enrolling as an advocate in Uganda and for obtaining a license to practice law in the country.

WORK EXPERIENCE.

In the 1970s, Jim Muhwezi worked as a policeman in the Uganda Police Force and was one of the combatants in the war (1981–1986) that ushered the National Resistance Movement into power.

After the war, he served as a member of the National Resistance Council (NRC) from 1986 until 1996.

During the same period, he concurrently served as the first Director General of the Internal Security Organization (ISO).

As head of ISO, Muhwezi is credited with cleaning up the reputation and image of the security police apparatus and during his ten-year tenure at the agency; no allegations of torture were raised against the agency.

Between 1994 and 1995, he served as a member of the Constituent Assembly that drew up the 1995 Ugandan Constitution.

From 1996 until 1998, Jim Muhwezi served as Minister of State in Charge of Primary Education and was also appointed Minister of Health in 2001, serving in that capacity until 2006.

MINISTER JIM MUHWEZI’S TOP KEY SUCCESS STORIES.

In the area of health, he advocated for the services provided by the Aids Support Organization (Taso), which is based in the Rukungiri municipality at Rwamahwa hill and serves, among other districts, Mitooma, Buhweju, Sheema, and Kanungu.

Jim Muhwezi, the former Minister of Health, contributed to the construction of two health center IV’s in Rujumbura County, which is uncommon in other parts of the country.

Minister Jim Muhwezi lobbied and aided the construction of Kyabahanga Bridge under the Rural Bridges Infrastructure Development Project fully funded by the government of Uganda and implemented through the Ministry of Works and Transport.

To sum up, nevertheless, since his reelection as the Rujumbura County Member of Parliament in the general elections of 2021, he has accomplished a great deal in the areas of health, education, infrastructure development, and religious assistance, among other things. These accomplishments include the following:

Minister Jim Muhwezi supported renovation of Kahoko Primary school, roofed Rugarama community church, donates cement to Kitunguru Church School, and gave support to revive Kubumbu SACCO, donated 100 iron sheets to Rwamarengye Full Gospel Church, 310 iron sheets to Rukungiri’s Bwambara SS, and also roofed dilapidated Burembo Catholic Church.

Other contributions include donation of Ugx. 34M towards renovation of school structures at Bugangari Senior Secondary School, distributed 2,500kg (2.5 tons) of maize seeds to his constituents, donated Ugx. 60M to schools in Nyakagyeme, lobbied long-waited emergency basic life support ambulance to Bugangari and Bwambara, donated over 1,140 timbers to Nyarubare Catholic Church and 268 iron sheets valued at over Ugx. 12M to be used in roofing Rwabagumira Catholic Church, both in Buhunga Sub County Rukungiri district.

Speaking with our reporter in the meantime, Hon. Jim Muhwezi revealed that he intends to continue serving his constituents in Rujumbura by improving the quality of services provided to them.

He also stated that he plans to run in the general elections of 2026 in order to carry on doing so.