By Mulengera Reporters
Speaking on a Kampala Radio station a few days ago, Kimanya-Kabonera MP Dr. Abed Bwanika accused Bobi Wine of being a ‘dictator’ who fears internal democracy and competition inside NUP to the extent of making flag bearer decisions while sleeping and having sex with his wife in the comfort of their bed room at Magere.
Bwanika says that, much as NRM has been in power for 40 years and Ugandans have serious grievances against it, President Museveni’s ruling party is far much more democratic and more genuine about putting decision-making powers in the hands of the ordinary people than the Kavule party.
He claims that the alleged vetting process for the 2026 flag bearers inside NUP is a mirage because in actual sense, it doesn’t exist. These are merely random decisions of Bobi Wine, his wife and a few of his cronies.
That all flag bearer decisions are personally made by Bobi Wine whose views on any flag bearer can only be altered or influenced upon intervention of his wife Barbie Itungo and no one else. That Itungo is actually more powerful and consequential in the party than Muwanga Kivumbi, the Deputy President or any other party official with a formal position.
In contrast, Bwanika says that Museveni’s NRM has demonstrated better democratic credentials by allowing grass root party members to be the ones to choose their own flag bearers even though the exercise is far from perfect. Still, Bwanika says that by putting in place a tribunal to inquire into all primary election disputes, the NRM has proved to be better organized than NUP-and calls on Bobi Wine to humble himself and learn from how NRM has been practicing internal democracy.
That the imperfections notwithstanding, the NRM has demonstrated clear intentions to be democratic, inclusive and transparent regarding how one becomes a flag bearer. He predicts that by failing to allow ordinary party members in the constituencies to be the ones to choose their flag bearers, Bobi Wine is digging his own grave because one day he is going to regret the moment aggrieved losers of the party flag bearer races revolt while demanding for answers from Kavule.
Bwanika fears there might be an implosion at Kavule as aggrieved flag bearer losers take matters in their own hands. He says when that happens Bobi Wine, who has denied people a chance to choose their flag bearers, should blame himself and no one else.
He says its better to decentralize flag bearer decisions so that leaders organically emerge from the communities they are seeking to lead or represent as opposed to being decided inside Robert Kyagulanyi’s bed room at Magere.
That fear for internal elections and competition inside NUP is a clear indication that Kyagulanyi can ban national elections while claiming infiltration into the country’s democratic processes by hostile foreign governments, which are hostile to Uganda if he were to ever become President of Uganda at all.
“If he is so dictatorial, paranoid and intolerant to the extent of blocking elections inside his own political party, what will stop him from prohibiting national elections in the country saying this is meant to protect Uganda against infiltration by foreign hostile governments through funding some of his opponents. Remember he keeps saying that if we allow competitive elections, we shall be infiltrated by the dictator yet in actual sense its self-serving; its about self-preservation for Kyagulanyi,” said Abed Bwanika during a Radio panel discussion which comprised of fellow MPs Mpindi Bumali of NRM and Abdullah Kiwanuka of NUP.
Refusal to allow internal elections is one of the governance questions that critics will ceaselessly keep putting to Bobi Wine who in the process is being diminished and exposed as being lukewarm towards real and genuine democratization. Many are wondering how NUP can give the country democracy when it actually doesn’t have guts to practice it in its internal processes.
The likes of Betty Nambooze, who used to naturally oppose and criticize Mao for such deprivation of the franchise rights when still in DP, are now quiet cowardly fearing Kavule reprisals in case they spoke their mind. In fact, they are busy justifying lack of internal democracy, party elections and corporate governance ideals inside NUP simply because they want to appease the Principal (who likes flattery very much) in order to be given the card so that they keep their jobs going into 2026.
The job of leading the public in pushing back against Kyagulanyi on lack of democratization and internal elections inside NUP has been relegated to be managed by the fearless ex-Rubaga North MP Moses Kasibante who is also the national spokesperson for Mathias Mpuuga’s Democratic Front party. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
