Norbert Mao, the President General of the Democratic Party, will visit Kabale district this weekend to drum up support for his party. It is Mao's first visit to Kabale since he was elected to head DP. Mao says he intends to use his trip to share his party's specific views on national issues like poverty eradication, education, healthcare and security. He says he hopes it will lead to discussions on detailed proposals for progress in the run up to next year's elections. Five years ago Norbert Mao publicly declared his intention to stand as President of Uganda. It isn't clear, however, if he will stand in 2011 as his party's candidate for the national presidency or if he will unite with other opposition parties under one candidate. The Democratic Party is currently not a member of the Inter-Party Coalition, which is a loose alliance of several opposition parties in the country. Herbert Rutagwera, DP chairman for the Kigezi region, says Mao will engage with the people of Kabale through party meetings, rallies and radio talk shows. In the last presidential elections, the DP candidate John Ssebaana Kizito performed dismally in Kabale. He managed to obtain only 0.26 percent of the votes cast in the district, compared to 22.8 percent gained by Forum for Democratic Change's Kizza Besigye and 76.5 percent for Yoweri Museveni.