The National Unity Platform (NUP) has launched a monthly initiative dubbed Bobi Wine Solidarity Day, aimed at strengthening community engagement and demonstrating solidarity with Ugandans facing injustice. The first commemoration, scheduled for November 1, will include a nationwide tree-planting campaign targeting 10 million trees.
Speaking to journalists at the party headquarters in Makerere-Kavule, NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya said community engagement was essential to the party’s survival, describing communities as its foundation.
Rubongoya said the initiative was inspired by the solidarity demonstrated by the party president, Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, while he was still in Uganda. He said the first Sunday of every month would be dedicated to standing with people experiencing different forms of injustice and participating in activities that benefit communities.
“The first Bobi Wine Solidarity Day will be commemorated on November 1, as part of our party activities. We want to inform Ugandans that no serious political party can exist without activities. There are even groups that are not officially registered as political parties but conduct activities, so we do not expect any disruptions. On that day, we shall be engaging in activities that benefit our communities.” Rubongoya said.
NUP Head of Mobilisation Abib Buwembo said Bobi Wine Day was not entirely new but had been expanded and reorganised to incorporate officially designated community activities. Buwembo said the party had already begun visiting families of political prisoners to offer support and call for the release of their relatives.
He said the activities would continue throughout the week leading up to the official commemoration on November 1. The week-long activities will culminate in a nationwide tree-planting exercise targeting 10 million trees.
Buwembo expressed optimism that the target could be achieved if supporters and other Ugandans who desire change participated in the campaign, with each person encouraged to plant at least one tree.
He said participants would wear T-shirts bearing messages of justice, take photographs while planting trees and share them on social media to demonstrate solidarity. According to Buwembo, the photographs and posts would also help organisers track the number of trees planted and assess the campaign’s impact.
The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, said environmental conservation was a responsibility shared by all Ugandans, explaining that the party had placed nature at the centre of its nationwide campaign.
Ssenyonyi expressed hope that security agencies would allow the activities to proceed, arguing that the initiative was intended to benefit the country through environmental conservation. He said it would be surprising if police intervened to disrupt what he described as a noble cause.
NUP interim president John Baptist Nambeshe said the large-scale tree-planting campaign would demonstrate the party’s commitment to Uganda and counter claims that its members did not love the country. Nambeshe urged participants to ensure that the exercise went beyond planting trees, emphasising the need to monitor and nurture them until they matured.
Previous campaigns organised by NUP have been blocked by security forces, with authorities citing reasons including failure to obtain the required authorisation. Some participants have also been arrested during such activities-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
