We hold nothing against you, NUP tells Besigye
NUP vice president for northern region Lina Zedriga Waru and party secretary general David Lewis Rubongoya address a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Kampala on October 12, 2021. PHOTO | ISAAC KASAMANI
What you need to know:
- Option. “We didn’t join the new front of Dr Besigye because we do not have to [in order] to work with them. We are fighting to put an elephant down, so one has to hold the tail, another the legs and the head. So you don’t have to ask me why I am holding this part and not the other,” David lewis rubongoya, NUP secretary general.
The National Unity Platform (NUP) party has responded to four-time presidential candidate Col (Rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, saying they hold no fight with him and there is no need for an apology.
Mr David Lewis Rubongoya, the NUP secretary general, yesterday told journalists at their headquarters in Kamwokya, Kampala, that they are committed to working together with Dr Besigye’s new formation even without necessarily joining them.
“We have been working with Dr Besigye and continue to at any time. I have not personally seen the official statement from him for us to make a public apology but I think there is no need for that because there is no fight between us,” Mr Rubongoya said.
He said after the 2021 General Election, NUP invited the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party for talks but it did not respond.
“We sent out letters immediately after the elections to meet and see how to work with all change seeking forces but for some reason, these friends of ours didn’t respond. That shows we believe in working together,” he said.
On Monday, Dr Besigye said he had a chat with National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine who expressed concern over social media attacks by a section of opposition supporters against the new People’s Front for Transformation (PFT) he leads.
“There is someone who asked why these discussions we talk about are secret and why when I said that Hon Kyagulanyi told us that he regrets for those who attack us on different social media platforms. He says he regrets the actions. Someone asked why he doesn’t express these regrets publicly, I don’t know whether he talks about the regrets in public, I don’t have information about it. But it would be a good thing if he talks about those concerns to everyone who is doing these things. But I leave that to them,” he said.
The pressure group comes two weeks a er what political commentators have termed as the“unceremonious” disbanding of another political formation dubbed People’s Government, which was invented in 2019 following the disputed 2016 presidential elections.
The clash of the two political titans started with the formation of the PFT. The NUP supporters indicated that PFT is out to fight against the leaders of Opposition in Parliament.
While appearing on a local TV talk show, Mr Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro, the NUP deputy spokesperson, said Dr Besigye was leading a group of old and outdated politicians.
Mr Francis Zaake, the NUP party youth leader, urged youth on either side to focus on the ultimate goal of ousting President Museveni.
