By Aggrey Baba
On his final day of presidential campaigns in Busoga, National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, (Bobi Wine), stirred fresh political waves in Busoga’s Bugiri Municipality when he openly asked voters to reject incumbent MP Asuman Basalirwa, a man he once helped rise to political prominence again (after several failed trials).
Bobi Wine told supporters that Basalirwa had lost track of the struggle and betrayed the values that once united the opposition, Urging Bugiri residents to instead rally behind Egesa Maserino, whom he described as a true son of the struggle and a man who stood by them even during their most difficult times.
The remarks, made on Friday (last week) as Kyagulanyi wrapped up his Busoga regional tour, rekindled memories of the 2018 Bugiri Municipality parliamentary by-election, when Bobi Wine (then a political newcomer himself) threw his full weight behind Basalirwa, a JEEMA candidate struggling to gain traction against NRM’s Francis Okecho and FDC’s Eunice Namatende.
At the time, Bugiri was a political battlefield watched by the whole nation (if not the entire world). President Yoweri Museveni who also doubles as the NRM Chairman, had backed the hisbparty flag bearer, while Dr. Kizza Besigye supported FDC’s Namatende. In the middle of those political giants stood Bobi Wine (a musician-turned-politician with youthful energy and grassroots appeal) who camped for over a month in Bugiri’s ghettos and dusty villages, rallying the youth around Basalirwa’s candidature.
Against all odds, Basalirwa won, a victory many credited to Bobi Wine’s mobilization, his message of liberation, and his influence among Uganda’s urban youth.
But like a house built on sand, the alliance soon eroded. After Basalirwa entered Parliament, cracks began to show. He was accused by sections of the opposition of aligning with the NRM regime on several legislative decisions, often taking a moderate tone when the oppressed Ugandans expected confrontation.
For years, Kyagulanyi maintained silence, until last week, when he finally broke it in Bugiri (where his political dominance began from), telling the voters that he regretted ever asking them to vote for Basalirwa. He recalled how supporters were beaten, arrested, and even killed by security agencies during the 2018 campaigns, but when Basalirwa entered Parliament, he forgot those who walked barefoot with him.
He further narrated how Maserino, the now NUP candidate, had once offered him and his team free shelter in his guesthouse in Musongola as they hid from police harassment during that campaign.
Kyagulanyi’s statements have since drawn sharp criticism from JEEMA, the party Basalirwa leads as president. In a press release issued today (10/7/2025), JEEMA accused Kyagulanyi of inconsistency and political opportunism.
The statement, signed by Dr. Swaib Kaggwa Nsereko, the party spokesperson, noted that while Kyagulanyi has often preached unity, his decision to turn against a fellow opposition leader contradicts that very message. JEEMA questioned how attacking Basalirwa, a veteran of the opposition struggle, would strengthen the opposition side.
The party likened the move to the 2021 incident in Koboko, when another opposition coalition fell apart after one camp endorsed a candidate from the ruling party.
“Will the endorsement of Hon. Kadaga of NRM delivered Busoga to the opposition?” the statement rhetorically asked, warning that undermining Basalirwa would only “strengthen the regime and weaken the opposition front.”
JEEMA maintained that it would not engage in “tit-for-tat exchanges” but called on Ugandans to make informed decisions based on principles, not personalities.
Observers say the clash exposes deep fractures within the opposition, especially among parties that once marched shoulder-to-shoulder under the People Power wave, saying what began as a marriage of convenience between NUP and JEEMA in 2018 has now turned into a cold divorce. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
