The National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu on Monday told multitudes of supporters at Butema Playground in Njeru Municipality, Buikwe District that Uganda’s political moment has gone beyond routine campaigns and turned into a national struggle for liberation.
Addressing thousands who braved heavy security deployment to listen to him, Kyagulanyi said Ugandans must understand that the fight is not for him or for individual Members of Parliament, but for citizens “redeeming themselves” from decades of bad governance.
“We are not in campaigns, we are in a struggle,” Kyagulanyi declared. “I want everyone to leave here knowing you are not fighting for Kyagulanyi or your area MP, but for your own redemption.”
He accused the current government of abandoning its duty to build infrastructure and quality public services, arguing that most of the country’s key roads and hospitals were established under past regimes. He said the NRM administration had instead “mastered the art of embezzlement” and mismanaged institutions that once served the public.
Kyagulanyi pointed to what he called systematic marginalisation of communities around Lake Victoria in Buikwe. He said the district has 52 landing sites, “yet residents have been denied access while foreigners take over,” adding that some locals had been beaten, drowned or rendered jobless in the resulting conflicts.
The NUP leader further criticised the poor working conditions in nearby factories, where he said some workers earn less than Shs5,000 a day. He accused the government of deliberately refusing to address these challenges “to keep Ugandans poor and easy to govern.”
The NUP candidate blamed the heavy use of teargas and violent dispersal of supporters on the state’s fear of public mobilisation.
“They teargas us because they don’t want you to converge in big numbers and expose that you are tired of the regime,” he told the crowd.
Kyagulanyi alleged that security forces had intensified arrests of NUP supporters and media persons in an attempt to “keep the country and the world in darkness” during the election period. He warned residents to expect more intimidation but urged them not to back down.
“I won’t tell you they won’t come for you,” he said. “But this is the time we have. Let us canvass for votes, turn up for voting and protect our votes on polling day.”
He also claimed the government planned to use Democratic Party president Norbert Mao to alter the country’s voting system, saying the public needed to be alert. “This might be the last time for voting the president,” Kyagulanyi said. “I don’t want it to appear new when it happens.”
Kyagulanyi urged residents to vote only for candidates aligned with NUP’s “umbrella” symbol, dismissing both NRM and independent candidates. Without providing further justification, he told the crowd not to vote for Jimmy Lwanga or the incumbent woman MP Diana Mutasingwa, whom he accused of torturing residents.
Earlier, the NUP Buganda Region Vice Chairperson, Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, introduced the party’s flag bearers in Buikwe. These included: Waliggo Kanga – Njeru Municipality MP, George Wasswa – LC5 Chairperson, Stephen Sserubula – Lugazi Municipality, Jimmy Kanaabi – Buikwe South, and Faridah Nabatatanzi – District Woman MP
Nabatatanzi, addressing the same rally, criticised the regime for restricting local access to the lake, failing to extend affordable electricity despite communities living close to the power source, and allowing exploitation of factory workers. She urged residents to entrust her with the mandate to “oust Diana Mutasingwa who is part of the tormenting regime.”
Ukasha Ssemakula, the NUP mayoral candidate for Njeru Municipality, called on residents to turn up in large numbers on voting day and “take responsibility for protecting the vote” as a safeguard against electoral malpractice.
Like in Mukono the previous day, security forces continued to block supporters along Kyagulanyi’s route. At several trading centres in Buikwe, police and military officers were seen pushing back and assaulting residents who stood by the roadside to wave at the opposition candidate.
Despite this, the NUP convoy moved slowly through Njeru as crowds broke through security barriers to cheer and take photos, further underscoring the heightened tension surrounding the ongoing presidential campaigns.
