As National Unity Party (NUP) party officials warm up for countrywide tours this week, Police has warned that the suspension of the opposition party rallies that was issued last year remains in force.
Speaking to journalists yesterday at Police headquarters in Naguru, Kampala, Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said NUP officials are yet to notify the Inspector General of Police about their countrywide tour that is expected to kick off tomorrow.
“NUP is yet to officially inform Police about their planned rallies. Our reminder to them is that there are unresolved issues concerning public safety, among other matters, previously communicated to them,” Enanga said.
Enanga added that until these concerns are addressed, the suspension placed on NUP rallies will remain in place to ensure public safety and order.
He urged NUP leadership to engage in dialogue and provide the necessary clarifications so as to have the suspension lifted.
Last September, the outgoing Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Tumusiime Katsigazi, announced the immediate suspension of mobilisation campaigns for NUP, citing disregard for public gathering guidelines and continued use of hate speech by the party’s leaders.
The attempt to prepare the public for a potential insurrection is the other reason Katsigazi cited, noting that NUP party president Robert Kyagulanyi breached the initially agreed-upon principles and guidelines.
At the time, Enanga also said detectives had opened a general inquiries file to probe allegations that Kyagulanyi incited sectarianism and hate speech.
However, yesterday, the secretary general of NUP, David Lewis Rubongoya, said last Thursday the party had notified the Police about the countrywide tours.
“For the record, last week, we notified the Police about the upcoming NUP nationwide tour. We gave them our full schedule and the evidence of venue bookings,” he said.
The group, led by Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine), was expected to launch its countrywide tours in Masaka, but the emerging differences between Kyagulanyi and some NUP MPs from Greater Masaka have complicated the political ground for him.
According to the new schedule, Kyagulanyi is now expected to commence his tours in Kamuli district, Busoga sub-region, and then return to Greater Masaka next week.
The tours have also come at a time when there is growing internal political rife within NUP, with a section of MPs allying with the former Leader of Opposition, Mathias Mpuuga, who is also the Nyendo-Mukungwe division MP against Kyagulanyi.
Some MPs in Mpuuga’s camp, such as Kimaanya-Kabonera division lawmaker Dr Abed Bwanika, have already roundly called for the replacement of Kyagulanyi as party president, noting that:
“We are not going to tolerate the disrespectful and unbecoming conduct of Kyagulanyi.”
As a build-up to the anticipated full-blown split,Mpuuga is preparing a thanksgiving fete in Masaka on June 21 where the Katikkiro of Buganda Kingdom, Charles Peter Mayiga, will be chief guest.
At the event, Mpuuga said, he will announce his “next” political move as the jostle for political supremacy between him and Kyagulanyi continues to eat up NUP.
Mpuuga and Kyagulanyi fell out over the sh5oom service award that Parliament allegedly gave to commissioners of Parliament and the Leader of Opposition in May 2022.
The other battle that NUP faces rotates around the party constitution.
The founders of the party, led by Moses Kibalama, last week sued Kyagulanyi and the Electoral Commission over allegations that the current party constitution was forged.
Commenting about the countrywide tours, Kyagulanyi said on his X social media account that the tours will begin in Kamuli tomorrow.
