I was willing to support any other opposition candidate for Presidency- Bobi Wine

National Unity Platform (NUP) Presidential flagbearer Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine has said he was willing to throw his weight behind any other candidate that a united opposition would have fronted for the 2021 elections against President Museveni.

In a message from Bobi Wine, he claims that he and his party were so interested in a united force of change, but several members of the opposition were not willing to tow the same line.

“For about two years before the election, we sat in more than fifty meetings with leaders and comrades within different formations in the 'opposition'. Our view was that we needed to tackle Museveni with a single, strong candidate so that we would then scatter our energies across the country in trying to guard the vote. I was even willing not to be the joint candidate if an honest analysis had been made and it was established that we front someone else,” Bobi Wine said.

Bobi wine said that after the 2017 by-election in Kyadondo East, he set out to meet with all leaders of political parties, Civil Society Organisations, religious institutions, etc.

“When we formed the People Power Movement, we brought together Ugandans from all shades of opinion. This is because in principle we believe that all Ugandans (not just politicians) will need to come together and forge a way forward towards a #NewUganda,” he added.

He however said that the challenge to this objective was mostly dishonesty in some cases and inconsistency in other cases.

“Some actors have clearly placed personal interest ahead of the national interest. There are many lessons we have learnt in trying to forge this unity, most of which we do not make public, because giving certain details can easily lead to further mistrust and suspicion,” Bobi Wine said.

“Previously before we launched the National Unity Platform, some of the Party leaders kept telling us they needed to consult their party organs.   Others told us they needed to first elect their party flag bearers, who would then sit with us to agree on a joint candidate. Others claimed that they could not work with us because we were just a mere pressure group and not a registered political party,” he added.

“It later became apparent that some of the actors were in fact not interested in our unity at all, but were using those meetings and engagements to derail and delay us,” he said.

He however was quick to disclaim that not all members of the opposition have such an attitude.

“There are very many decent, clear-headed individuals whose objective is to see a change in Uganda.”