MASAKA — A dramatic political contest at Tropic Inn Hotel in Masaka ended with Nagawa Milly Phoebe, one of the prominent young NRM mobilizers and community leaders in Masaka District, losing the battle to retain the position of Masaka District Women Council Chairperson.
In a tightly contested race, Joanita Nalule reportedly secured three votes against Nagawa’s two, giving Nalule the narrowest possible victory and bringing to an end Nagawa’s immediate bid to continue leading the district women’s council.
But while the result represents a defeat in one political battle, it may have opened another chapter in Nagawa’s political journey.
For a politician whose influence has been built through mobilization, grassroots engagement, agriculture, community development and NRM activism, the question now being asked in political circles is whether Milly Nagawa will use the setback as a stepping stone toward a much bigger ambition — the Masaka District Woman Member of Parliament seat in 2031.
From The Grassroots To The Political Arena
Nagawa Milly Phoebe has developed a public profile that extends beyond electoral politics.
She is known as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mirembe Green Park, a community-based agricultural initiative in Masaka promoting horticulture, environmental stewardship and inclusion of marginalized communities in addressing food and household financial challenges.
The Young Farmers Champions Network describes her as a leader involved in farmer training and sustainable agriculture.
Her agricultural work has provided her with a grassroots platform through which she has interacted with farmers, women, young people and community development actors.
That community presence has increasingly intersected with her political mobilisation activities.
Nagawa has also been associated with the National Resistance Movement (NRM) as a young leader, mobiliser and supporter, and is identified in the user’s account as the Masaka District Coordinator in the Office of the National Chairman (ONC).
The Five-Vote Showdown
The contest at Tropic Inn Hotel was anything but ordinary.
With only five votes determining the outcome, every vote carried enormous political weight.
According to the results provided to Gateway News, Joanita Nalule obtained three votes while Nagawa Milly Phoebe obtained two.
Final reported tally:
Candidate Votes
- Joanita Nalule 3
- Nagawa Milly Phoebe 2
Nalule therefore emerged victorious by one vote.
The narrow margin is significant because it demonstrates just how competitive the contest was. There was no overwhelming rejection of Nagawa; instead, the contest was decided by a razor-thin difference.
For Nagawa’s supporters, the two votes can therefore be interpreted as evidence that she retains meaningful support within the electoral structure.
NALULE: A Political Rival With Her Own History
Joanita Nalule is not a newcomer to Masaka’s political arena.
She previously contested for the Masaka District Woman Member of Parliament position.
In the 2021 general elections, Electoral Commission results show that Nalule contested as an independent and obtained 11,303 votes, finishing behind Joan Namutaawe, who won with 12,541 votes.
Nalule’s political credentials therefore extend beyond the latest council contest.
More recently, reporting on Masaka’s 2026 political landscape has again placed Nalule in the parliamentary contest, with Daily Monitor reporting that she challenged the election of Masaka District Woman MP Joan Namutaawe in court.
That background makes her victory over Nagawa particularly interesting.
The two women now represent competing political trajectories within Masaka’s highly competitive women’s leadership space.
Milly’s Defeat May Not Be The End Of The Story
Politics is rarely a straight line.
For Nagawa, today’s defeat could become tomorrow’s political launching pad.
The loss of a district council position does not necessarily erase the networks, relationships, community programmes and political experience accumulated over years.
In fact, political defeats sometimes provide leaders with the opportunity to reassess their strategy, consolidate their grassroots structures and pursue a larger platform.
And for Nagawa, that larger platform could be the Masaka District Woman MP seat in 2031.
The argument is simple: if the district council chairpersonship is no longer available, her long-term political ambition may once again become the centre of her political strategy.
The 2031 Question
Could today’s defeat actually strengthen Nagawa’s determination to contest for Parliament?
That remains speculation until Nagawa herself declares her intentions.
But the political mathematics are already attracting attention.
Masaka District has historically produced highly competitive contests for the Woman MP position. The 2021 race, for example, saw Joan Namutaawe win with 12,541 votes, followed by Joanita Nalule with 11,303 votes — a margin of only 1,238 votes.
The 2026 political environment has remained equally competitive, with Daily Monitor reporting that Nalule challenged Namutaawe’s victory in court.
Against that background, a potential 2031 contest involving established women leaders such as Nagawa and Nalule could become another major political battle for Masaka.
The Mirembe Green Park Factor
Nagawa’s political strength is not based solely on party mobilization.
Her work through Mirembe Green Park provides her with a separate community-development identity.
The organisation promotes horticulture, environmental conservation and inclusion, while Nagawa has been profiled as an organic farmer working from a five-acre mixed farm in Buwunga Sub-county.
This agricultural identity could become an important component of any future political campaign.
Women farmers, youth, environmental activists, agricultural entrepreneurs and rural communities constitute an important constituency in Masaka.
A political message built around agriculture, women empowerment, environmental sustainability, youth employment and rural enterprise could potentially give Nagawa a distinct political brand.
From Council Leadership To Parliamentary Ambition?
The political irony of the Tropic Inn contest is therefore striking.
Nagawa may have lost the position she wanted to retain, but the defeat could force her to look beyond the council.
If she decides to pursue the Woman MP seat in 2031, the current setback could eventually be remembered not as the end of her political career, but as the moment when she redirected her political ambitions.
However, the road to Parliament will not be easy.
She would face established political actors, party dynamics, potential primary elections, grassroots competition and the broader political realities of Masaka District.
A New Chapter For Masaka Women’s Politics
The contest between Nagawa and Nalule also illustrates a wider development in Masaka politics: women are increasingly becoming central actors in determining the political direction of the district.
Both women have demonstrated willingness to compete for leadership positions rather than remain spectators in the political arena.
Their journeys also show that women’s political leadership in Masaka is no longer confined to community mobilization or local council participation. It increasingly extends into parliamentary ambitions and high-level political organisation.
The Battle Is Over — But The War May Just Be Beginning
For Joanita Nalule, the three votes represent victory.
For Nagawa Milly Phoebe, the two votes represent defeat — but perhaps not political extinction.
If she chooses to pursue her long-term ambition of becoming Masaka District Woman Member of Parliament in 2031, she will have four years to rebuild, mobilize, expand her networks and transform today’s disappointment into a stronger political platform.
The question therefore is no longer simply who won at Tropic Inn Hotel?
Joanita Nalule did — by three votes to two.
The bigger question is:
What will Milly Nagawa do next?
Will she remain within district-level leadership, strengthen her work at Mirembe Green Park and continue her NRM mobilization?
Or will today’s defeat push her back toward the parliamentary ambition that has long been associated with her political journey?
Only time will tell.
But one thing is certain: the political story of Nagawa Milly Phoebe is unlikely to end with two votes.
For Masaka’s women, for the NRM grassroots network and for the emerging political generation, 2031 may already be quietly taking shape.By Don Edwarles MKM
