Kyadondo East Member of Parliament who doubles as the patron of People Power Movement Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu commonly known as Bobi wine has launched a political party dubbed National Unity Platform (NUP) with an umbrella as its symbol.
This follows leaks that government was in final stages of banning People Power Movement before Mr.Kyagulanyi would use the movement for nominations for president.
At the end of 2018, the People Power legal team tried to reserve the name ‘People Power’ however as expected, they found that this name had been reserved and flagged so that we could not register it. Since then, they have continued to struggle as a political and social movement advocating for change.
“I announce to the nation that we are unveiling the National Unity Platform as the political wing of the People Power Movement. The National Unity Platform is a political organisation duly registered with the Electoral Commission and our symbol is an umbrella.” he announced at people power officers in Kamwokya.
He said the symbol is definitely one of the things that attracted us to this political organisation. “We believe in national unity. We believe in having a platform that will bring in all oppressed Ugandans, and that is why we are launching the National Unity Platform whose symbol is an umbrella.”
As Mandela taught us, “A freedom fighter learns the hard way that it is the oppressor who defines the nature of the struggle, and the oppressed is often left no recourse but to use methods that mirror those of the oppressor.” Having realised that the People Power Movement itself would never be registered by the Museveni regime, it became very urgent and expedient to find a solution.
In the coming days, Kyagulanyi said the Party shall embark on the process of formalising the People Power Alliance. The People Power Alliance shall comprise of different political formations which we have been working with and those that will be willing to join us. Formal engagements with many of these brothers and sisters have already been ongoing and they will continue.
Throughout history, liberation strugglists have often found themselves having to run their course with a political wing and an activist or military wing. The ANC is a political party in South Africa, but circumstances demanded that they form an armed wing called uMkhonto we Sizwe.
“We are a non-violent movement and we have no plans of establishing a military wing. What we are doing today is to launch a political wing of our Movement so as to ensure that our mission to use the election as a strategy within the liberation struggle succeeds.”
