The National Unity Platform (NUP) flag bearer and presidential aspirant Robert Kyagulangi Sentamu, now also known as “Musinguzi Robert”, a name bequeathed to him by the natives of Mbarara as a sign of welcome as one of them, arrived at Kakyeka grounds alongside his wife Barbie Kyagulanyi followed by a bunch of his supporters in red clothing and cloud of bluish choking smoke (tear gas) that followed them.
NUP was on Saturday launching its party manifesto in Mbarara City western Uganda, an event that had seen not one, but two changes in its date of occurrence and of the venue too from the party headquarters in Kamwokya in Kampala to Kakyeka Stadium in Mbarara City on 7th November 2020.
Multiple road blocks were set up by the security forces to ensure the event followed the COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) with tear gas and rubber bullets being fired to disperse crowds from occupying Kakyeka Stadium.
“The greatness of any nation does not lie in the beauty of a manifesto or many beautiful policy documents that have been written, but rather in the commitment of leaders to say what they mean and mean what they say,” Kyagulanyi spoke to the crowd at Kakyeka.
Multitudes watched the event via television and others listened in through radio to hear what NUP has in store for them. Bobi Wine stated that NUP’s manifesto entails what he termed as the “Fist Five” as its core, an ideology we came to learn is representative of the symbol of the People Power Movement, the ‘clenched fist’ with each finger representative of something.
The Fist Five represents these five key areas.
1. A people centered governance.
2. Equal access to quality education and health services.
3. Inclusive economic development.
4. Land natural resources and environmental protection
5. National security and international relation.
Kyangulanyi concluded his speech by reminding everyone that as much as he is standing for presidency, he still is a musician and then went ahead to invite his musical “side-kick” and friend Nubian Lee to sing a song of reckoning to Ugandans.
“Uganda! Wake up motherland,” he finished as his crowd cheered on.
