By Odeke Julius
For the purpose of this article, I would like to punch holes in the unfounded, misleading allegations Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi, the NUP presidential candidate made towards Gen. Salim Saleh without the due regard to the sacrifice and contributions the Gen. has made towards the betterment of Uganda in democracy, defence, security, economic recovery etc etc.
While campaigning in greater Luwero Hon. Kyagulanyi ,instead of sharing with the locals what his vision is for Uganda and why they should view him as the most suitable candidate for the presidency come 15th.January.2026, he went ahead and made a unfounded allegation and misplaced attack on Gen Saleh as a land grabber in Kapeeka, Namunkekera Industrial park among other areas which is not the case.
In due regard, there is no way Afande Saleh can grab hundreds of hectares of land in Kapeeka and it goes unnoticed in current Uganda, where every person with a smart phone is a journalist, so long as he can photograph and accompany the picture with a few sentences the whole world would have known what you are trying to allege. Therefore, Hon Kyagulanyi you miss the point here.
In Uganda, one of the most straight forward ways of acquiring land is through outright purchase, lease, hire etc though Kapeeka land was acquired through willing seller-willing buyer no complaints and the sellers managed to get new niece homes through the proceeds and they are working within the factories etc.
After realizing that this time round he is climbing a slippery hill and does not have that steam and aroma of 2021 among the voters, he resorted to politics of blackmail, backstabbing, and pointless allegations against innocent Ugandans especially those ,who have made their contributions.
Anyway, they say that when a liar has nothing tangible to tell his target audience, he resorts to attention seeking and indeed this came true of our Hon Kyagulanyi.
In any case, in MDD class, they teach attention seeking as an alternative to attention grabbing message and I think this is where Hon Kyagulanyi got this vague tactic from.
As voters, we expect you to tell us what your vision is on how to grow the tax to GDP ratio, how to manage the current domestic arrears, how to pay off foreign debts of Uganda, how to attract investors, how to reduce burden of unemployment etc, not petty talks which even an ordinary Ugandan can laugh it off as absolute lies from your candidature.
For your attention, Kapeeka Industrial Hub, has got more than 35 factories as a result of Afande Gen. Saleh’s initiative. As Hon Kyagulanyi ,you have been to all the six continents of the world as a musician, as politician etc. , how many friends with benefits have you ever brought to Uganda to create life time impacts for your would be voters?. This is not time for kiwaani, this is time for serious business, without room for lies.
Let us commit our energy and focus on campaigns of clear plans and message to Ugandans instead of unfounded talks.
The Sacrifice of Afande Saleh and Elder brother Gen. Museven plus others.
For your information, archives and records have it that Afande Saleh as a daring young man in his early 20s paused his education and joined his elder brother , the current president in the bush to fight for freedom, good governance, leadership and democracy. Have you ever, asked yourself if both of them died in the bush, the permanent, lifetime trauma the parents, wives and children would have for life?. This is what we call sacrifice based of patriotism as the natural love for one’s country.
Gen Saleh, the Peace builder, not land grabber.
Be it Congo, South Sudan, Central Africa, Somalia among others, Gen.Saleh is a formidable peace negotiator, broker and a pan-Africanist in the whole continent.
Kyagulanyi and hooliganism.
Hon. Kyagulanyi, to tell you the truth, as voters we have carefully observed, surveyed your message and for a right thinking person, you don’t have the right agenda for Uganda and Ugandans, instead you thrive where there is hooliganism and chaos.
Can you imagine, right now people associate and view you as a person who thrives where there is chaos and hooliganism (kavuuyo) the behavior of S.3 students in secondary school, nothing else .From the onset of the presidential campaigns everything was very smooth for all the candidates for the first two weeks, not until your team went ahead and created a chaotic scenario purposely to grab attention and sympathy in Mbarara around Bwiziibwera, how do your foot soldiers go ahead and block the police from doing their work?. By the way what does NUP school of Leadership teach in regards to instilling the right ideologies to respect state institutions among its members?.
As my young brother, let your team stick to issue based campaigns instead of wasting time on personalities, like the Gen Salehs, who have made their contributions for Uganda as a whole.
Don’t make me to believe what other observers, like Hon, Mawanda ,who aaserted that your crowds are music related not political crowds because there are young Ugandans who are meeting you for the first time.
Let us honour our patriots and freedom fighters and accord them respect to enjoy their retirement, instead of making unfounded lose talks towards them.
In adult education every answer is correct and therefore if someone asked me what politics is, I would answer it differently as;
Politics is a game of numbers
Politics is a game where a candidate with an appealing message takes the day.
Politics is the only game with one winner and more losers.
Politics is a game where your opposers of today are yours fans of tomorrow.
Politics is a game where the loser of today is the winner of tomorrow and vice versa etc etc.
So, on Kyagulanyi, the point is you simply need to repackage your message and stick to issued based campaigns instead of okusiiba kiwanni on development oriented and innocent retired leaders like Gen. Saleh among others.
This is not time for kiwaani, because we are busy protecting the gains like peace, infrastructures, roads, economic recovery, our GDP etc.
In fact that falsehood took me back to your own song of 15 years ago, kiwaani, kiwaani, buliomuu asiiba kiwaani and I sensed that this alumni of mine was trying to kufeera voters with lies by grabbing attention using false approach, however, afande Saleh is innocent because he acquired the land through willing sellers ,willing buyer approach otherwise we would have read in news papers ,watched on TVs etc ,if there was underhand approach from the General.
You need to tell us about your self, the vision you have for Uganda, plans blaah blaah blaah, which you have for Uganda and Ugandans nothing else like those old kiwaanis of yours.
No one paid me to write this but we need trusted candidates, who are well armed with the right message for us, the voters.
Best regards to you and the entire team and continue hunting votes using a well-organized, better packaged message. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
