By Mulengera Reporters
Chief Opposition whip in Parliament JB Nambeshe of the NUP Party on Friday was interviewed by CBS journalist Alex Nsubuga Katabalwa about several things including the whereabouts of Bobi Wine, the Yusuf Nsibambi defection and the race for Speakership.
He also asked him why he never gets arrested. Nambeshe, the NUP Deputy President for Eastern region, said he keeps surviving being arrested because he keeps running into hiding and fleeing the scene whenever he sees Museveni’s soldiers and policemen. Nambeshe said he is a wise coward just like Mr. Wine, who is supposed to be the standard bearer for the NUP party. Bobi Wine has been in hiding for now more than a month on grounds that the Museveni regime agents want to arrest and harm him.
Nambeshe claimed that there was an attempt to grab him recently when he led a team of lawyers and leaders to visit Mr. Wine’s Magere home but he survived because he was able to take off into his car which sped off to safety. He said this cowardice is how he has been escaping being arrested even at the time all NUP Deputy Presidents got arrested, except him. These are Buganda’s Muwanga Kivumbi, Northern region’s Rena Zedriga and the Deputy President for Western Region Jolly Tukamushaba. Nambeshe is DP for Eastern region in NUP and many foot soldiers have been wondering why all NUP DPs got locked up except himself.
He told Alex Nsubuga that much as one gets publicity and thereby becoming more known, there is nothing good about being arrested. He defended his boss Mr. Wine’s decision to hide; asserting that freedom fighters like Kyagulanyi can only effectively fight for freedom when free and at large, as opposed to being under detention.
Asked by the interviewer to critique the performance of incumbent Speaker Annet Anita Among, Nambeshe, who always freely criticizes President Museveni and other top officials, said that he can’t do that because he doesn’t want to invite problems to himself.
Alex Nsubuga then asked him whether he thinks Parsis Namuganza and Aringa County MP Yorke Odria Alioni are right in their rabid criticisms of Anita Among. Nambeshe responded by imploring the interviewer to leave him alone and avoid luring him into problems.
He was reluctant to declare who NUP, which has 40 MPs, will be endorsing for Speakership and instead revealed consultations were ongoing to get one of the senior NUP caucus members to stand for Speakership. He didn’t disclose who this is going to be.
In 2021 May at the dawn of the 11th Parliament, then FDC’s Semujju Nganda stood against incumbent Speaker Kadaga and Jacob Oulanyah but NUP shunned him and instead flocked with NRM’s Rebecca Kadaga who ended up scoring 190 votes and finishing second to Oulanyah, a thing that perturbed Gen YK Museveni in his capacity as the ruling NRM national chairman. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
