A group of self-seeking individuals comprised of journalists Joel Ssenyonyi, Raymond Mujuni, and then lecturer David Rubongoya took advantage of the prevailing political environment in 2020. A wave dubbed the People Power Movement was sweeping across the country to forge a rare political grouping aimed at ousting the reigning President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, whom they refer to as “the dictator.”
The group brought onboard Firebase hoodlums led by Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, under the People Power Movement, who had no clue about politics but resonated with the youth and music fanatics. There were also opportunistic DP political careerists who have been labeled ‘political prostitutes,’ the likes of Mathias Mpuuga, Medard Ssegoona, and Betty Nambooze, among others, who had running battles with DP President Nobert Mao. These were easily convinced since they were also eager to jump on the People Power wave to further their political careers.
A political party was purchased, which was later rebranded as the National Unity Platform (NUP), and an alliance of political opportunists and excited fame-loving ghetto dwellers, forged by journalists who had undergone fellowship programs from the west on how to cause regime change through advocacy and mass upraising, found themselves operating under one umbrella.
With such a unique coalition formed, those behind it were optimistic that it would definitely cause regime change due to its mode of operation, dubbed ‘robadoba’ style, which saw it behave slightly differently from the traditional political parties in their struggle for regime change.
However, the struggle didn’t go as planned, and in no time the coalition developed cracks when the party failed to agree on what course of action to take after their presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi, lost in the 2021 elections. The Firebase faction was pushing for mass protests, while the DP bloc insisted that they concede defeat and build party structures in preparation for 2026. Many other approaches were adopted, including taking President Museveni to the International Criminal Court and calling on the international community to stop giving Uganda aid, among others.
Nonetheless, all the approaches didn’t happen, and that marked the end of the struggle to remove ‘the dictator.’
From there, lines were drawn, and it was evident that experienced politicians from the DP were not going to allow ghetto armatures to sit in the driver’s seat; thus, an intraparty fight ensued and has sprouted into an all-out battle for supremacy with a complete neglect of the struggle for regime change, which was the initial goal of the party.
The NUP has since suspended all mobilization efforts across the country that were initially aimed at enhancing their political struggle and focused on fighting themselves with the Firebase faction led by Kyagulanyi. This was determined to kick-out DP bloc members led by Mpuuga while the latter is trying to overthrow Kyagulanyi from party leadership, leaving political enthusiasts streaming a free movie.
One of the NUP members, Joyce Bagala, has been quoted saying that ‘for now, let the dictator reign; the focus is on removing dictator Kyagulanyi from NUP,’ who has been accused of turning the party into a family entity by embezzling party funds and using them in his family endeavors.
It is now evident that the NUP claiming that they were up to remove the dictator was just mere sloganeering for opportunistic politicians to gain political mileage, but time has proved that the only fight they can manage is amongst themselves.
