National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has said President Museveni will be protected if he peacefully hands over power. While addressing NUP supporters at Busubizi playground in Mityana District yesterday, Mr Kyagulanyi said Ugandans will continue to suffer as long as Museveni remains in power. ‘If Museveni peacefully hands over power, we shall protect him,’ he said.
Kyagulanyi rallied supporters to turn out in big numbers to vote the NRM government out of power come January 2026. ‘You can see the poor and impassable roads among other failed service delivery systems in Buganda, but for now, I will not talk much about this because they will say I am being tribal, yet this is the area that brought Museveni into power.
Let us just vote them out of power,’ he said. ‘The teachers’ salaries will be a priority as soon as we get into power. This time you should learn to get angry as Buganda as we force out the NRM government from power. Even the salaries of the security people will have to be enhanced because this possibly explains why many of them become brutal while handling civilians. We shall also create 10 million jobs,’ he added.
Mr Kyagulanyi urged NUP supporters in Mityana to vote strictly for party flag bearers, saying they represent the true values and identity of the party. He also asked voters not to re-elect Mityana District Woman MP Joyce Bagala and Mityana South MP Richard Lumu.
Mr Kyagulanyi began his Mityana campaign in Busunju (Mityana North). He rode on a boda boda as he approached Busunju playground, drawing cheers from supporters. He later moved to Busubizi playground, where he held his main rally. His campaign trail was partly disrupted by heavy rains that made roads slippery and by security personnel refusal to allow his convoy through the town centre, where he had planned to open a party office.
Earlier in the afternoon, there was a standoff between NUP leaders and district security officials over the venue of the main rally. NUP had initially planned to hold the rally at Mityana-Ssaza Grounds in the town centre, but the district security committee directed that it be moved to Busubizi playground, about five kilometres outside town.
He arrived at Busubizi playground around 5:30pm. NUP leaders had also planned to use the event to launch Mr Kyagulanyi’s campaign in Buganda Region, the party’s stronghold. Deputy Resident District Commissioner Prossy Mwanjuzi said the original venue was too busy and would have posed serious challenges for public safety and crowd management. ‘Our responsibility is to maintain order and ensure safety for everyone. The change of venue was purely a security precaution,’ she said.
However, NUP leaders accused the district authorities of political interference and deliberate obstruction of Opposition activities. ‘Our president has every right to meet his supporters. Mityana has always been peaceful. What we are witnessing is not security management.
It is political intimidation,’ Busujju County MP David Lukyamuzi Kalwanga said. Mr Kyagulanyi is currently on a week-long campaign tour across Buganda region. Tomorrow, he is expected to hold campaign rallies in Kassanda and Mubende districts. Abdul Ssali, a resident of Katakala Ward, said: ‘The new president should prioritise good education and health care. Our people are condemned to death whenever they visit public health facilities where they find no doctors and medicine’ he said. Akram Kakande, a resident of Mityana Town, said the next president should trim the Cabinet to 22 ministers and reduce what he called exorbitant taxes levied on businesses in this country.
Daudi Mutumba, the chairperson of Kayunga Central Village, decried the rate of corruption cases. ‘There is high corruption and impunity among government officials and politicians. If the next president addresses that, a lot of resources will be saved to deliver the desired services to ordinary citizens,’ he said. Sulait Ssengendo Mambo, the councillor for Central Division, Mityana Municipality, said: ‘Corruption among government officials is destroying our economy. The new president must crack the whip because they are misusing resources that could be used for national development.’