The popularity of Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobiwine’s party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), has continued to decline in the Buganda Kingdom, which has left him in dire fear as the Kingdom’s affiliation is important for the success of the NUP party.
Bobiwine, before joining active politics, used to call himself “Omubanda wa Kabaka,” which implies a bad man of the king, but along the way, upon joining active politics, he got himself lured to compete with his master (Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II) to gain popularity and his influence in the Buganda region, like it was between Lucifer and God.
His continuous behavior of seeking public attention at the expense of the Kabaka was brought to an end at the recently concluded Masaza Cup finals at Namboole National Stadium, where the Kabaka intentionally ignored him.
The deteriorating relationship between the Kabaka and Bobiwine has been caused by a number of issues, one being the recent bringback of the Kabaka Saga that saw Bobi Wine’s supporters claim that Kabaka Mutebi had died and his body was being hidden somewhere in Namibia.
Despite all the social media bloggers talking ill about Kabaka’s health being NUP supporters, Bobi Wine didn’t see it prudent enough to condemn their actions nor disassociate himself from their false accusations.
Upon the Kabaka recovering and returning back to Uganda, in response, the Katikiro of the Buganda Kingdom, Peter Mayinga, declared a war on all social media bloggers and their associates. He went on and revealed that they will not look on as the kingdom is under attack.
“There are enemies of Buganda, and some include those who are sponsored to endlessly attack Buganda on different social media handles to undermine the King of Buganda,” Mayinga said during the 30th coronation of the king in July 2024.
On behalf of the King, Mayinga called upon his subjects not to just be seated as the kingdom and the King were under attack and also ordered the Baganda to denounce all people involved in such acts.
This left Bobi Wine and his hooligan groups to soon or later face the wrath of the Kabaka, who was clearly not interested in him at Namboole.
Bobi Wine, through his allies, led by Lumbuye, an online blogger, pushed the agenda that the Kabaka had died. All these actions and utterances were seen as undermining the Kabaka and his kingdom administration.
After several attempts that have seemed not to yield results, Bobi Wine and his party embarked on firing, sidelining, and distancing themselves from all the people that were groomed or aligning to Buganda Kingdom, like Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba, the former Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP).
Bobi Wine, after realizing that Mpuuga is a potential threat to his political career and holds vital attributes that make a leader and was getting more popular both in the Buganda region and before the Kabaka, forged away to immediately fire him on falsehood accusations.
Additionally, Bobi Wine’s provocation and undermining of the kingdom of Buganda have been ongoing way back in 2017 when he attempted to steal the kingdom’s land through dubious means, which didn’t go well for him. This led to the demolition of part of his Busabala beach by the Buganda Land Board team.
Whenever they appear on several television shows, several NUP leaders confessed how they don’t need the kingdom of Buganda in order to capture power, saying that power is derived from people, not anyone.
As the country gears up for the 2026 elections, the NUP party, whose support mainly comes from Buganda, is said to continue to decline as a result of the continuous disrespect of the Kingdom of Buganda and its King. This is something that has put them in the red books of the Kingdom and is likely to affect their political support in the Buganda region.
