The Kampala Woman MP Shamim Malende of the National Unity Platform (NUP) has remained bedridden for weeks battling an acute illness arising from possible poisoning at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.
Doctors working on her have since confirmed that the NUP female legislator was poisoned.
This was revealed by Ibrahim Sematimba, Malende’s elder brother; Ssebunya Shamilu, her boyfriend; and James Mubiru, the City Lord Councilor.
Sources within NUP have linked her poisoning to the current fighting between her and other senior NUP legislators and leaders.
The source has revealed that MP Malende’s apparent dominance in the NUP legal department and her receipt of huge sums of money from well-wishers to aid her legal struggles to save NUP stalwarts in prison have never gone down well with her haters within the party.
Another source within NUP’s top organ has further revealed that MP Malende and another female NUP MP whose identity has been concealed have been engaged in a fight for a man who is also a member of NUP organ.
The duo is said to have been fighting over the principal and secretary general’s attention.
According to the source, MP Malende’s enmity and grudges with other NUP gurus escalated when it became clear that Bobi Wine and the NUP’s top organ were clandestinely fronting her to replace the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, LOP MP Mathias Mpuuga.
Ibrahim Sematimba, MP Malende’s brother, has been concerned about the manner in which her sister’s condition is being handled by the NUP top organ.
“This is so suspicious to us, and we demand an explanation from the NUP’s top leadership: why are they hiring a photographer to follow my sick sister around? If not for accountability from donors and the people who wish my sister dead, how can one’s mother be denied taking care of her child? Do you find it normal?” said Ssematimba.
According to a colleague of Malende who preferred anonymity, Shamim is the only woman on the legal team of the NUP; this places her close to the principal and the SG but also places her at a disadvantage with other female NUP ladies, who will fight tooth and nail to bring her down, given her notable popularity, which has grown due to her resilience in representing the jailed MPs Ssewanyana and Ssegirinya.
“We are aware of the friction among NUP ladies; my colleague has always shared with me her fears, especially about Kalule Flavia and Bagaya Joyce, who have been fighting her, so why is this Mubiru at her bedside? We know he is there to finish her off, at the orders of such people,” revealed the colleague.
The infighting intensified when her name came up for succeeding Mpuga in Parliament for the position of Leader of the Opposition (LOP), a position in which Kalule and Bageya have shown interest but feel disadvantaged since Malende is a lawyer by profession and is much favoured by the top leadership.
“You will be surprised at how much they are fighting each other in that party for supremacy and financial gain, they will stop at nothing to turn it to their advantage both locally and internationally to please the donors.They’re even hiring a photographer to follow the sick Malende!!” said Sematimba on the U-TUBE channel.
Malende’s family has posed a number of questions that the public has responded to and commented on, including why her mother and family were side lined in being by her bedside and why no ticket was given to any family member to travel with her for further treatment, yet tickets were given to people who are not related to her.
