Hundreds of National Unity Platform (NUP) party youth leaders are still stuck in Jinja after the National Youth Convention Mobilizer and NUP Head of Youth Affairs, Francis Bateebe Zaake, abandoned them when the party youth festival that was held on Friday, October 25, 2024 was done.
While talking to the media at Jinja Show Grounds on Saturday, October 26, 2024, Michael Wandera, the Busia Youth Chairperson, who doubles as the Eastern Youth Coordinator for NUP, said that they were promised a transport and accommodation refund, which they didn’t get, stating that Zaake is the one who was in charge.
“Zaake called us as district coordinators and promised us UGX 500,000 to cater for every member’s accommodation and meals for two days while in Jinja, which we haven’t seen up to now and all his phones are off,” Wandera said.
The NUP Youth Coordinator for Western Region, Martin Mulumba Kambale, said that they were asked to cater for accommodation, meals, and transport, and the money would be refunded later by the chief coordinator, Zaake.
“We called the NUP secretary general, and he assured us that all funds were released as agreed and were given to Hon. Zaake, the NUP head of youth affairs, and after the convention all his phones were off, which left many of us stranded,” Kambale said.
He further stressed that it’s not just the western region youth leaders who are stranded but even the eastern and northern youth leaders.
“Apart from us, the western youth leaders, our fellow comrades from the North and Eastern region are still stranded; Zaake only managed to cater for university guild leaders mobilized from Kyambogo and Makerere and promised to sort us later,” Kambale added.
The NUP convention was attended by youth leaders from all over the country, and the theme was “The Role of the Youth in Redeeming Uganda.”
The convention was the second of its kind and was mobilized by Zaake, the Mityana Municipality MP and Head of Youth Affairs, at the National Unity platform.
The event, which was attended by the party president, Robert Kyagulanyi, and other party leaders, was to convene all NUP youth leaders countrywide, listen to the needs and aspirations of young people from all regions, and inform the NUP manifesto as we head for the 2026 elections.
