By KT Reporters
This may sound strange to a lot of people yet the bitter truth is its 100% a true story. A tendency has emerged among a section of the NUP top leadership to the effect that Museveni is politically too entrenched to be defeated hence the need to begin considering joining and working with him.
The disclaimer is that this isn’t yet a dominant view inside NUP but a strong clique into the party’s politburo is of the view that after 2026, it will be time to join Museveni and play ball with him since it will have become clear there is no way anyone can beat him out of power be it through the vote or even street protests.
Well briefed inside sources say that a clique close to secretary general David Lewis Rubongoya believes that NUP should act promptly should they retain the number two position and enter some power-sharing deal with Museveni so as to avoid individual officials getting old and dying in opposition without ever getting into government.
The idea is for NUP, in case it remains the leading opposition in Parliament, to get some cabinet positions and other lucrative parastatal positions inside a government that is led by Museveni whose invincibility the Rubongoya clique keeps referring to in NUP top meetings.
“Guys let’s be practical we have done our part and the Principal has done his part too but overcoming Museveni won’t be happening anytime soon which is why we need to read the writing on the wall and become pragmatic and have some talks with him,” a Rubongoya clique member suggested during a recent meeting at Kavule.
Members were further told: “The man has become so powerful to the extent that he can even determine who becomes the opposition MPs at EALA and who wins elections and gets declared in Uganda. Remember we missed out on the EALA slots because we knew he was going to come hard on us. It has come to a point where you can’t make any contribution to nation building even in opposition stronghold areas like Kampala unless he considers you objective and acceptable.”
Sources say that, having realized and confirmed that Museveni is invincible, several NUP insiders have become agreeable to cutting personal deals with Museveni’s people so as not to be left out totally.
“These Rubongoyas and even Bobi Wine himself were nothing until 2021 elections. Its politics which has made them rich and they are all stinking rich. Bobi owns properties in Nairobi, South Africa, Zanzibar and a lot more inside Uganda. He will never be poor again. Not in a million years and the billions coming in since NUP won the opposition leadership in 2021 have made him complacent and he isn’t prepared to take any risks to remove Museveni,” said a frustrated NUP insider.
This same source added that people like Rubongoya and Joel Senyonyi who had nothing are today property moguls in Kampala and they own a lot of apartments just like the other Kyagulanyi cronies in Fire Base. “Yet they are the very people who are going to benefit and eat big in that power-sharing deal that is being proposed.”
Insiders clarified that because they are convinced there is no way Museveni can be overcome unless it’s an act of God, the Kavule group doesn’t have any political plan for 2026 beyond fielding candidates and seeking to remain dominant in Buganda and remaining the main opposition party in Parliament.
Some sources say that Bobi Wine has psychologically prepared himself to be satisfied even if NUP MPs reduce to 40 as long as it remains the main opposition party in Parliament. That way the IPOD billions will continue flowing into NUP coffers for his enjoyment and material satisfaction.
“Ask them of the plans they have beyond charging people into the 2026 elections. Ask them in case of outcome A or B, what’s your plan? They don’t have any yet many leaders are going to be sacrificed through denial of NUP party tickets in favor of weaklings like Nubian Li,” says an insider.
That in the intended power-sharing plan with Museveni, Bobi Wine will bless the same but tactfully keep away from any government positions so that he can eat his cake a keep it at the same time.
That some party members and officials or leaders will be cleared to go take up positions in government which Bobi Wine, based at Kavule, will continue criticizing even when his own members are officially part of it.
One source likened this to eating and keeping one’s cake at the same time.
“That’s how it’s going to end because those guys aren’t used to hard life and none of them is prepared to sacrifice and keep suffering and being publicly humiliated by security like Besigye and others have been enduring for more than 20 years.”
Another insider referred to a recent meeting at Kavule where some of the Rubongoya clique members spoke with so much authority and indifference, exhibiting readiness to normalize such deal-making with Museveni, to the extent that some key party officials got heart-broken and tearfully walked out of the meeting convinced about the extent to which their once beloved NUP party had been infiltrated by the invisible hand of the state. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
