Dr. Stephen Malinga's Widow plots to replace husband.

In what may seem to be the newest trend in Uganda's politics, Dr. Stephen Malinga's widow Beatrice Asire Malinga, 50, has declared her intention to run for the Butebo Member of Parliament seat in the forthcoming by-election. 

The seat fell vacant after the death of Relief and Disaster Preparedness Minister, also husband to Asire, Dr. Stephen Malinga on 12 April. 

She says she intends to join the race for the Butebo constituency in Pallisa District to finish her late husband's term of office and not to keep in the seat for as long as the constituents may wish to vote her back.

Beatrice Asire Malinga at her Husband's burial.

Before his death, Malinga had stated that he would never seek re-election in the 2016 general polls and that none of his family members - the nine children and wife, would take over from him.

"Before his death, my husband had started the process of consultation with the electorate to identify somebody who would take over from him in 2016. He died before accomplishing that task. That's why I have stepped into the race to accomplish what he had started. In strict adherence to his will, I will only, if elected, serve his remaining term of three years and retire from politics," said Asire.

She stressed, "They say behind every successful man, there's a woman. I was the main person behind his political success. We used to draft his political plans together. I even retired from teaching service two years back because I realised the weight of shouldering the needs of the constituency were too much on him, which required a reliable helping hand,"

Asire and Malinga had been married for 17 years and have two children.

 Malinga collapsed and died at his home in Pallisa from what is said to have been a short heart attack and was laid to rest on Thursday at his ancestral birth place in Butebo.