By Aggrey Baba
Former Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo has mocked the National Unity Platform (NUP) for what he calls a desperate and ideologically confused decision to seek membership in Norbert Mao’s Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD), saying the move exposes the party’s opportunism, appetite for money, and lack of political grounding.
In a hard-hitting statement in today’s Weekendvision, the NRM flagbearer for the MP for the elders, Eastern Region, described NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) and party secretary general Lewis Rubongoya as “political merchants” chasing financial gain rather than genuine dialogue, saying, “Ideologically depraved Kyagulanyi, sly Rubongoya, and their clutter in NUP have learnt nothing useful from the fall of the FDC, especially its failure to manage money and internal contradictions.”
Opondo noted that NUP’s sudden reversal, from openly rejecting IPOD as a government trap to now seeking entry, shows that the party is motivated by material benefit, not principle.
“This week’s U-turn by Bob, the political entrepreneur, and his accomplices in NUP, writing to join IPOD mostly for money, is a classic lesson in political theatre where stupidity meets NRM brinkmanship,” he added.
The former media center boss compared NUP’s current actions to the FDC under incarcerated Dr. Kizza Besigye, which also walked away from IPOD years ago in protest against meetings with Museveni. He recalled how Besigye’s hardline stance crippled the FDC’s relevance and marked the beginning of its downfall.
“Besigye and his group rejected structured engagement, choosing belligerence instead. They believed that refusing to meet Museveni would bring them victory, but time proved them wrong,” Opondo wrote.
He said NUP had fallen into the same trap of arrogance and short-term thinking, only to realize later that political engagement was unavoidable.
“Like FDC before them, NUP built its support on sympathy and falsehoods rather than substance. Now that foreign funding has dried up and their lies are catching up with them, they are running to IPOD for survival,” he said.
Opondo further claimed that international backers of NUP had reduced their support after a change in global politics, particularly following the rollback of U.S. funding policies under Donald Trump. He said those who used to fund NUP from abroad have tightened the taps, and Kyagulanyi didn’t see it coming.
“That’s why he’s suddenly interested in IPOD, because the free money is gone,” he added.
Outspoken Ofwono also accused Kyagulanyi of arrogance and immaturity, saying the NUP leader behaves like a child laughing at his own silly jokes. He argued that Kyagulanyi has been moving from constituency to constituency, dictating who should or shouldn’t be elected, much like Dr. Besigye did during his peak, but with even less success.
Opondo urgued that NUP is repeating the mistakes of FDC, relying on emotion, tribal incitement, and self-pity, adding that Kyagulanyi has turned into an unpleasant figure, branding everyone who disagrees with him a traitor, which, according to him, is not leadership but desperation.
He contrasted NUP’s political confusion with what he described as the NRM’s renewed energy under Secretary General Richard Todwong, Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, and Government Chief Whip Denis Hamson Obua, whom he credited for revitalizing the ruling party’s grassroots structures ahead of the 2026 elections, saying the NRM’s momentum is real and countrywide, and that the youthful energy the public sees now is anchored in the party’s solid achievements across the country.
Opondo warned that Kyagulanyi’s attempt to join IPOD for convenience would not save him from political isolation, adding that when you build politics on lies and self-glorification, you end up trapped in your own web, and that NUP is discovering too late that shouting from rooftops doesn’t translate into power.
“Engagement, not ego, wins politics,” Opondo said. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
