By Mulengera Reporters
Renowned political pundit Dr. Fred Mukasa Mbidde, who is also Deputy President for DP, has predicted bad days ahead for Bobi Wine and his entire NUP party. Mbidde says that he has credible intelligence that the Ugandan state is going to leverage the new provisions in the newly-amended Political Parties & Organizations Act to totally close the taps on NUP.
He says that the new amendments require NUP to become more actively involved in the activities of IPOD and in case they continue being defiant and staying away from apex IPOD level meetings, Gen Museveni will have clear justification to deny them access to the IPOD billions they would otherwise have been entitled to in the remaining time under the current term of government or Parliament.
Mbidde says that ordinarily, these are the billions NUP must have been counting on to fund it’s 2026 campaigns and all Gen Museveni is going to do is to quickly ascent to the amendment bill so that it becomes law and begins to immediately operate.
“Alternatively, President Museveni can call the IPOD Summit which NUP will be placed between a rock and hard place to boycott. If they boycott, the taps will be closed and if they turn up Museveni will get the photo opportunity and kulabisa [exposing] them by telling the country that you see these guys have been about money all along,” Mbidde elaborated during Adam Kungu’s show on Radio 4.
Mbidde predicts that the abrupt closing of the taps, which is impending and inevitable, will create chaos inside NUP because the party must be having debts contracted in the normal course of business and its operations because the top leadership was certain of getting the next IPOD instalment. Mbidde, a veteran of the anti-Museveni struggle, adds that besides all that, there are projects and planned activities of the party that are going to stall as a result of Museveni closure of the taps.
That even Secretariat staff who had been recruited and put on fat salaries because of the anticipated coming in of IPOD billions will have to be retrenched or asked to become volunteers and work for free without expecting any payment. He fears that all this will kill or significantly diminish the momentum and vibe around NUP activities.
Party offices in districts and regions upcountry are going to be harder to maintain and keep running, and the same could leave the party in extreme debt. Mbidde maintains that a larger proportion of the NUP budget has been reliant on the IPOD billions more than on any other source. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
