NRM chairman survives lynching over Museveni cash

KAMPALA. A section of youth claiming to be members of the ruling NRM party wrestled their chairperson to the ground and nearly lynched him after he failed to give them money he allegedly received from President Museveni.
The youth, clad in party colours (yellow T-shirts) suspected that their chairperson, Mr Kassimu Wasswa, had received cash donations from the President.
At a meeting in Kibuye, Makindye Division in Kampala yesterday, other enraged youth also accused Mr Wasswa of failing to lobby the President to give them money yet other youths had benefited.
“We expected the President to consider the NRM supporters first but it is pity that several groups were left out with no serious reason,” one of the youths said.
Mr Wasswa said he “tried” to lobby the people around Mr Museveni [to get money] but his efforts have not yielded any positives results.
His explanations fell on deaf ears as more youth descended on him. He was forced to sit on the floor as the mob hurled insults at him.
“We have tried several times to meet the President but all in vain and this fault is not only in Makindye but several youth groups were left out with no support,” Mr Wasswa said.
Mr Moses Kigozi, the coordinator of a group of youth calling themselves Banyiivu [angry] NRM ghetto youth, said they have supported NRM throughout their lifetime, but they are surprised that the government would sideline them when it matters most.
“We expected the President to consider the NRM supporters first. It is a pity that several NRM groups with genuine supporters were left out,” Mr Kigozi said.
He also said their efforts to reach Mr Museveni have not been successful and blamed the people around him for locking out NRM supporters.
The youth said they would defect to People Power, a loose political outfit championed by Kyandondo East Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, if they are not given money.
The chaos erupted at the time when the Minister for Kampala, Ms Beti Kamya, had just clarified on allegations that fake Saccos received money from the President.
“This programme is specifically in the office of the President and handled by the State House comptroller, Ms Lucy Nakyobe, and the President himself,” Ms Kamya said.
“I think these groups were carefully selected,” the minister added.
Ms Kamya said through the groups, many people will be empowered economically and scoffed at critics of the ongoing cash donations.
“We know there are haters who have dominated social media to pour their venom, [there] is so much negativity, it is not even good for their health, people who received that money are happy and moving on,” Ms Kamya said.
However, Mr Kyagulanyi, appearing on a radio talk show on September 24 castigated the President for allegedly bribing the youth in Uganda because of what he said is his generational disconnect from the common man.
“The money that Museveni is using to bribe the ghetto and common people out there is for their (Museveni’s) own liberation,” he said.

He said the regime is scared of people uniting for a common cause and that is why they deployed heavily in and around Kampala on the day he returned from the US.