Uganda’s rebranded and seemingly new political party continues to gain momentum day by day. A fort night ago musician politial activist and Kyadondo East legislator Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine took over the leadership of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party as president.
The party was previously headed by Moses Nkonge Kibalama, who said this was a merger between NUP and People Power at the party’s delegates conference on 14th July.
However, a few days after Bobi Wine unveiling the NUP, several Members of Parliament (MPs) that belonged to President Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) have since abandoned their party and joined NUP.
Today during their weekly press conference at their head quarters in Kamwokya, NUP unvieled new members that included; John Baptist Nambeshe (NRM, Manjiya County), Patrick Nsamba Oshabe (NRM, Kassanda County) and David Kalwanga (NRM, Busujju County).
Other legislators that joined Bobi Wine’s NUP include; Latif Ssebaggala (Independent, Kawempe North), and Francis Zaake (Independent, Mityana Municipality).
The party also fished Makindye Division Mayor Kasirye Nganda Ali Mulyanyama and his Nakawa counterpart Ronald Balimwezo Nsubuga. Kawempe Mayor Dr. Emmanuel Serunjogi has also joined NUP.
Speaking at the event at the People Power offices in Kamwokya, Bobi Wine said this is just the beginning of the party’s plan to become the biggest opposition party in the country.
“This is just the beginning and many more MPs are going to be coming here to declare their defection, membership and allegiance to NUP,” Bobi Wine said.
“We want to become the biggest opposition party now and not 2021. Let’s keep mobilizing the rest of the sitting incumbents to come to Kamwokya and join us,” he added.
“Having realised that the People Power Movement itself would never be registered by the Museveni regime, it became very urgent and expedient to find a solution. And so, a few months back, when we predicted that we would find ourselves in this situation, we embarked on finding a solution. We set out to silently identify a Platform which we would use to answer this question.” Bobi Wine further said.
Although many political parties and organisations had reached out to us, our first and most important criteria was to look out for a formation which shares our values, aims and objectives. And there are many which do, but there was a political organisation whose message and objectives rhymed well with those very close to us.
The presidential hopeful also disclosed that in the coming days, they shall embark on a process of formalising the People Power Alliance to cater for their comrades and political leaders who belong to other registered political organisations.
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