By Aggrey Baba
In a land (Uganda) where silence is often bought with fear, security forces stormed plans for a youth uprising, blocking NUP’s campaign and abducting a key aide to the party president as the battle for 2026 heats up.
The Uganda Police Force has blocked the National Unity Platform’s (NUP) planned launch of the “Youth Protest Vote” campaign, scheduled for Monday, April 28, 2025, at the party’s Makerere Kavule headquarters.
Citing the need to maintain public order, Police Spokesperson Rusoke Kituuma announced the ban through a statement issued on Sunday, April 27, 2025, cautioning the public against participating in or supporting any activities linked to the campaign.
“The Uganda Police Force has reviewed the announcement regarding the planned youth protest vote and informs all concerned parties that the launch and related activities will not be permitted,” Kituuma stated.
But as the old saying goes, when the drums beat too loudly, the village prepares for trouble. NUP leaders, led by Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine), quickly accused the law enforcers of acting under political orders to stifle opposition voices.
In a post on his official X account, the singer-turned-politician condemned the move, saying the police were attempting to block their usual Monday press conference where the campaign was to be unveiled.
“We protest these double standards in the strongest terms and call upon all Ugandans to stand firm against this injustice,” he said.
The “Youth Protest Vote” campaign aims to rally Uganda’s young population to challenge the dominance of President Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) through the ballot in the 2026 general elections.
Kyagulanyi argues that it is a lawful and peaceful response to long-standing issues of corruption, poor governance, and service delivery failures under Museveni’s administration.
However, some political analysts have urged the opposition to tread carefully, warning that rushing without solid groundwork could be like planting seeds in a desert.
The police ban comes amid a sharp rise in arrests of opposition figures. On Sunday, Edward Ssebuufu, (Eddie Mutwe), the head of Bobi Wine’s security team, was reportedly abducted in Mukono by armed men wearing Special Forces Command (SFC) uniforms.
Eyewitnesses say he was forced into a “drone,” the type of van now synonymous with abductions targeting government critics.
Mutwe’s disappearance follows earlier arrests of NUP members Achleo and Gadafi, who are facing charges of aggravated robbery in Masaka, accusations which the NUP leadership has dismissed as politically motivated, intended to discredit the party and weaken its grassroots structures ahead of the elections.
Several other NUP activists, including Bobi Young, remain incarcerated under similar circumstances.
With every passing day, the political drums beat louder, and the country edges closer to a showdown (2026) where courage and resilience will be tested. A proverb reminds us that, “He who waits for the fight to reach his doorstep has already lost the first battle.” And for both the government and the opposition, the coming months will demand not just strength, but strategy. In Uganda’s political jungle, only the lions that roar, and move, will survive. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
