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Will Bobi Wine party hurt NRM after winning court case?

Thursday October 29 2020
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Robert Sentamu Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine (left) during the launching of his new political party, the National Unity Platform in Kamwokya, Kampala on July 22, 2020. PHOTO | ALEX ESAGALA | NMG

By JONATHAN KAMOGA

The political future of the National Unity Platform (NUP), a party led by musician-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, is now clearer after a court in Kampala last Wednesday dismissed a case challenging the legality of its current leadership and name.

The court dismissed the case with costs, ruling that it was not brought under any known court procedure and was time-barred, being three months over the time for an application for judicial review.

This now clears Bobi Wine, to face incumbent Yoweri Museveni on a NUP ticket in next year’s general election.

“We told the world that this was a bogus case and we are glad the court has agreed with us. This case has been brought to disorganise us and indeed our detractors were partly successful,” Mr Kyagulanyi said.

Founding members Difas Basile and Hassan Twala had gone to court August 25, alleging a fraudulent change of the party’s name and leadership from National Unity and Reconciliation Development Party (NURP) to National Unity Platform, while naming Mr Kyagulanyi, who is also the Kyadondo East MP as its leader.

The case had threatened to derail the young party’s progress especially in constituencies where the opposition failed to field candidates.

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In July, the People Power Movement surprised both the opposition and ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party when it announced that it had acquired an already registered party and taken over its leadership. A number of sitting members of parliament defected to NUP.

But aggrieved NURP members went to court seeking to reinstate the old party leadership and its name.

By the time the court case was being filed, the party was in the process of vetting its flagbearers for both parliament and local government, but the lawsuit cast a shadow of uncertainty over the future of the party, causing some followers to opt to run as independent candidates, claimed NUP officials.

Political mischief

While celebrating the court victory at their Kamwokya based offices in Kampala on Wednesday, NUP said it lost about 50 aspirants across all levels of elective seats.

Party spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi told The EastAfrican; “Generally it was a political case to discourage those that wanted to associate with us.”

The party says it will field candidates up to 80 per cent of the electoral positions countrywide, and its 238 parliamentary candidates have been cleared by the Electoral Commission under the NUP ticket, effectively making it the only opposition party to field that many number of candidates.

In the last general election, NRM had 91 unopposed MPs because the opposition failed to field candidates.

This year that number has dropped to six, according to the Electoral Commission.

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