Kyagulanyi tasks NUP leaders with building resilient grassroots structures
“I understand the LC1 elections are around the corner. Get involved in village elections and take leadership right from the grassroots," said Kyagulanyi.
NUP leaders attending a virtual address while listening to their leader, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, at NUP headquarters, Makerere Kavule, on Tuesday, July 22, 2026 (Photos by Isaac Nuwagaba)
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The National Unity Platform (NUP) president, Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi, has tasked party leaders with building strong grassroots structures during the LC1 and Women Council elections, emphasising the need for a solid foundation to drive change.
Kyagulanyi said this would involve mobilising communities, recruiting members and identifying local issues to address.
Kyagulanyi, appearing via a virtual address projected at the party headquarters in Makerere-Kavule on July 22, 2026, made the remarks during the commemoration of NUP's sixth anniversary.
“I understand the LC1 elections are around the corner. Get involved in village elections and take leadership right from the grassroots. Take leadership in your villages to create a firm foundation and lasting pillars for our party to offer a democratic governance alternative,” he said.
NUP was formed in 2019, with Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, as its president. The party aimed to provide an alternative to Uganda's ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and promote democratic change.
He said the party had grown into one of the country's largest opposition parties despite numerous challenges.
"We were larger than any other opposition political party when we started NUP while facing numerous challenges, battling court after court, and we have been targeted not only by the regime sympathisers but also fellow opposition leaders," he observed.
By focusing on grassroots organising, NUP aims to increase its presence and influence across Uganda, particularly in rural areas.
NUP party treasurer Benjamin Katana, LOP Joel Ssenyonyi, Acting Deputy President John Baptist Nambeshe, among others, at the event.
Kyagulanyi condemned the government over what he described as the continued and "illegal" detention of the party's deputy president, Muwanga Kivumbi, whose whereabouts, he claimed, remain unknown following his alleged arrest by security operatives. The High Court in Kampala on Wednesday gave security agencies seven days to establish the whereabouts of the former Butambala County MP.
“The oppressed Ugandans who braved threats, arrests and brutality to be part of the revolutionary struggle shall one day become heroes and heroines. The nation shall be steered to victory. The voice of the oppressed shall triumph,” he emphasised.
He said the party had been denied funds it was entitled to but had nevertheless managed to establish regional offices.
"We have been denied funds that we were entitled to, but we managed to set up regional offices, and we want to use LC elections to establish governance that respects the rule of law and justice.
Kyagulanyi said the diaspora has historically played a key role in the fall of oppressive regimes.
"Historically, the diaspora has always played the cardinal role in the fall of all the oppressive regimes, and our generation is not going to be any different," Kyagulanyi insisted.
“I will come back home soon in victory, and I want to assure you that we are going to win and free all political prisoners, free Dr Besigye, Erias Lukwago, Hajji Lutale and all NUP prisoners,” he optimistically said.
NUP acting president John Baptist Nambeshe called on religious leaders to pray for Uganda during what he described as turbulent times, when opposition leaders are imprisoned because of their political views.
“The ongoing fear in the country has engulfed even religious leaders who have kept a deaf ear to what is happening in the country. If you see religious leaders panic to show up at political gatherings like this, you need to pray for them and the nation,” Nambeshe said.
Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi said the sixth anniversary was organised to honour people who had sacrificed for the party, those being held incommunicado, those who died during election-related violence and those still in detention.
“Our president is in exile – so many miles away, but no amount of distance has ever defeated the cause. Hon. Bobi is an idea whose time has come,” he added.
Jolly Tukamushaba, the NUP deputy president for the western region, said it had not been easy serving as a senior leader in the country's largest opposition party.
“It is not eating on a silver plate when you decide to join NUP and become a leader. I was arrested at Makindye barracks during elections while pinning posters in the village,” she claimed.