The National Unity Platform (NUP) party president, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has apologized to Buikwe residents for having supported party candidates who later on abandoned NUP and joined other parties.
Kyagulanyi made these remarks while addressing Buikwe NUP supporters on November 14, 2024, at Butema playground in Njeru municipality in Buikwe district.
“There are some people here who used to be part of us, but because of greed they joined the dictator; please forgive us for trusting wrong people,” he said.
Kyagulanyi further noted that the people in question could have already been working for the current regime and just hid in NUP to acquire political positions.
“We trusted them because of experience, age, and history, but as you know, greed kept on growing. As we were looking for a new Uganda, some were looking for cars; have they just started trusting the dictator or were they already working for him?” Kyagulanyi added.
Vicky Nantaba, a resident of Njeru municipality, said that some NUP members who crossed to NRM taught them a lesson not to just vote leaders because of the party but to vote people according to capability.
“We voted for some of our leaders because they were contesting on the NUP party ticket, but moving forward, we need to listen to people, listen to their manifestos, and gauge what they have to offer,” she said.
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However, Said Muzafaru, a resident of Lugazi municipality, said that changing from one party to another is normal, and as NUP, they should be ready for people moving from one party to another.
“NUP is a new party, and all its members came from different political parties, and as it is, they should expect some NUP members to also cross to other parties,” he said.
Henry Ssebunya said that Kyagulanyi’s comments could have been directed to
Jimmy Lwanga, the Njeru municipality MP on the NUP ticket, who crossed to the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU).
Apart from Jimmy Lwanga, NUP’s Bukoto South MP Twaha Kagabo also crossed to PLU, a political movement headed by the first son, General Muhoozi Keinerugaba.
Kyagulanyi will proceed to Nakasongola on Friday, November 15, 2024, and will later proceed to WestNile next week, starting Tuesday, November 19, 2024.
