A section of National Unity Platform (NUP) on-ground mobilizers commonly known as foot soldiers have expressed dismay in their party president, Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, over his continued luxurious spending at the expense of the party members.
This follows Kyagulanyi’s frequent trips outside Uganda for tours and vacations with his family, which are allegedly fully paid for using the party’s funds.
Ssentongo Marcus, aka Lumba, a member of NUP foot soldiers, told our reporter that it is disheartening to see their party president, whom he referred to as ‘principal’, enjoying life on foreign trips while those doing ground mobilisation for the party go hungry and others rot in prisons.
“We only hear ‘principal’ is going abroad; we see pictures of him on vacation, but when it comes to facilitating our colleagues doing ground work, they keep telling us ‘tulimu struggle’, that we shall enjoy ourselves in the new Uganda, but it looks like ‘principal’ is there already,” Lumba said.
He added that the party is currently getting enough funding from the government under IPOD, party members, and foreign donors to fund all the party activities; however, all the money is being used to fund Kyagulanyi and his family’s luxurious lifestyle.
The NUP party president has travelled abroad over 20 times in 2023, with Amsterdam as his most visited destination; however, most of the times have been for personal business and family vacations.
A NUP councillor who preferred anonymity reiterated to our reporter that as politicians who were elected on the NUP ticket from local council level to Parliament, they pay nearly forty percent of their monthly salaries to the party; however, all this money seems to be benefiting one family.
“We make our monthly remittances, but we do not see where this money goes. Our party collects over Shs 200 million in total per month, but what is being done with the money cannot even account for ten percent of it,” he said, adding that even the party headquarters that were built are not worth what they were shown in the plan, asking where the money went.
When asked whether he has raised the said concerns to his party leaders, the councillor said that he wouldn’t dare because anyone who raises an issue about Kyagulanyi is branded a mole planted by the ‘dictator’ to cause confusion in the party.
Kyagulanyi has previously responded to those who criticise him for taking time off the struggle’ to enjoy quality time with his wife, Barbie, and friends, saying that he is human like anyone else and he deserves to enjoy life with his family.
“I know my responsibilities, and I fulfil them. The struggle doesn’t mean I shouldn’t go swimming or go on trips with my wife or children. Come on! I cannot deprive myself of things that make me and my wife happy,” he said.
Kyagulanyi’s excuse has however landed in the cold ears of his foot soldiers, who are bitter about the travels and have vowed to put up a fight against the self-enriching character, saying that they also have passports and would wish to travel.
According to sources, the foot soldiers say that they have reached out to the NUP leadership to check the extravagant spending on Bobi Wine’s travels, only to be ignored.
Bobi Wine is currently on vacation in London, UK, after his 10-year travel ban to the country was lifted earlier this month.
