Museveni meets NUP coordinators; Bobi Wine laughs it off

President Yoweri Museveni has asked both the ruling party Members of Parliament and those in the opposition in the 11th Parliament to come together and harmornise on a framework for equal distribution of national resources for effective service delivery to the grassroot people.

The president was on Thursday speaking to a section of an opposition youth group codenamed ‘Red Top Brigade’ who approached him for reconciliation over threatening political violence following his victory in the recently concluded January general elections.

The group according to State House under the slogan “agenda Museveni Tajja kulayila” had vowed to cause havoc in the country by disrupting the forthcoming swearing ceremony slated for May, 12, 2021.

Speaking to the group, Museveni said that the opposition in Uganda is not informed.

“Its (opposition) direction of politics is divergent to national development, divisive and sectarian. For the opposition to keep people undeveloped means it is the enemy of its own people. The reason being that it lacks politically focused leaders who cannot even feel embarrassed to spread the falsehood against the NRM party,” Museveni said.

The president advised the group and other youths across the country that hard work was the only way to go but also addressing the social-economic advancement of the people.

“Whether you support or do not support NRM, you can still develop by individual innovation,” he said.

Museveni also commended the group for being open to government and welcomed them from the politics of ‘fakeness’ but also urged them to come together to build capacity for solving development hindrances as Ugandans.

He challenged them, that as youths, they should appreciate government for minding their health and ensuring they develop to their full potential because of its massive campaign against the six killer diseases through immunization for every child.

The Security Minister, Gen Elly Tumwine who was also part of the meeting said the group has accepted to drop the idea of being violent to government.

‘You disturb the peace of the country, you are in trouble,” he warned them.

According to Ambassador Joseph Ocwet, the External Security Organisation chief, who is also coordinator of the group, they have accepted to support government in ensuring peace and security.

The group’s mobiliser, Charles Mutaasa Kafeero said that in March, he convened a meeting with the group that later accepted to meet the president ahead of the swearing-in ceremony to cease the fire.

Bobi Wine laughs it off

However, in a tweet, the National Unity Platform leader, Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine laughed off the reports that some of his party coordinators had met President Museveni.

He insisted that the people identified as NUP coordinators had been staged by the state for its own selfish interests.

“Shameless! After killing, maiming, torturing and imprisoning NUP supporters, he has the audacity to pay and parade people and claim they are NUP! His usual methods! He's too desperate to cleanse himself,” Kyagulanyi tweeted.

“In the last elections, they went as far as getting soldiers and dressing them in NUP t-shirts so that they could say our people were crossing over to NRM. At times they will get one sell-out for the optics and parade him or her with other random people. It is very important for all of us to understand how dictators operate.”

The developments come a few days to the swearing-in ceremony for President Museveni’s sixth term set for May,12.

NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi, who was the runners up in the just-concluded January,14 polls has on several occasions said the election was not free and fair and consequently declared himself the winner.