National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has called upon all Baganda voters to support any candidate bearing the party’s umbrella symbol in the upcoming elections, regardless of their competence.
Speaking on July 30, 2025, during the unveiling of his official campaign poster for the 2026 presidential elections, Bobi Wine emphasized that supporting NUP was a mandatory obligation for every Muganda.
“As Baganda, NUP is our party, so it is mandatory for every Muganda to vote for whoever is contesting on the NUP ticket—whether they are capable or not,” he declared.
Bobi Wine further reiterated his previous statement that any Muganda who does not support NUP is “a fool.”
In his address, he also took aim at other opposition parties, particularly the newly formed People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), labeling them as agents of President Yoweri Museveni’s government intended to weaken the opposition.
“These so-called new parties are just puppets of the regime. Their mission is to divide us, but the Baganda know where their loyalty lies—with NUP,” he asserted.
This is the same strategy that Bobi Wine employed in the 2021 general elections. The approach saw the Buganda region elect several unpopular and incompetent leaders, including figures like Nyeko Derrick and Kazibwe Bashir, solely because they ran on the NUP ticket.
The areas that voted for these leaders have since suffered from poor service delivery and a lack of effective representation, with many constituents expressing regret over prioritizing party loyalty over capability. Local leaders have been accused of absenteeism, mismanagement of funds, and failing to advocate for their communities, leaving voters disappointed.
Political analysts doubt that Bobi Wine’s rhetoric will yield the same results in the 2026 elections, stating that, first, NUP’s strained relationship with the Buganda Kingdom has weakened its grassroots appeal. Secondly, several NUP leaders have been embroiled in corruption scandals, further eroding public trust in the party.
With growing dissatisfaction among voters, analysts suggest that the party’s previous strategy of tribal and symbolic loyalty may backfire this time, as more Ugandans demand accountability over blind partisanship.
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