Ofwono Opondo is spot on Bobi and his appetite for money

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OPINION

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

I have seen Ofwono Opondo's written response to NUP's U-turn on IPOD, and he is spot on, saying "the move exposes the party’s opportunism, appetite for money, and lack of political grounding".

We have been informing people on various forums about Kyagulanyi's objectives in politics - making money is one of them. Please, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he now wants to officially join IPOD. 

Like I stated in 2021, NUP were getting IPOD money, and they have been getting it since. The only difference now is that they would be required to attend meetings, accept presidential election results, etc., in order to receive the funds, and they're willing to do that.

Ofwono Opondo, like most NRMs, likes belittling Besigye by comparing him to novice Kyagulanyi (aka Bobi Wine). Besigye has the “unique” intelligence - meaning better judgment - that Bobi lacks.

First of all, Besigye never used IPOD money for any of the FDC activities at all. FDC only started being part of IPOD after the Besigye group (now PFF) had moved to Katonga. This is something a lot of Nupians aren't even aware of.

None of the semi-legitimate arguments in favour of "Besigye's screw-up" theory genuinely benefits the side peddling the narrative.

Some in NUP, like Ssegona, Mathias Mpuuga, et al, now fully realise that the most significant "miscalculation" was placing complete trust in Bobi. All the years of attempting to make him look better than Besigye have been a waste.

Some of the former NUP leaders and supporters openly admit that change was never Bobi’s goal, and that the 2020-21 elections process was a delaying strategy to prepare to get rid of Besigye, squeeze life out of some veteran Buganda politicians and make money in politics. The current presidential participation is only meant to legitimise Museveni’s re-election. The so-called " protest vote" is a way to get Bobi’s supporters to participate in the elections.

With that in mind, change was never a possibility in 2021, as is the case in the current elections, but it is certainly not the message the authors of the narrative wish to convey.

In summary, the problem with the "Besigye’s screw-up" argument is that it de facto delegitimises any goodwill approach without even considering what would have been the correct course of action.

What we can expect in Uganda is more destitution, propaganda, and weak opposition leaders while continuing to be sucked dry by the oligarch parasites and selfish politicians.

Corruption will continue to be normalised and will be as routine as the sun rising in the East.

What is undeniably true is that some of the IPOD money finances political campaigns. In turn, the state which controls this money gets more access to legislators and political parties, access with which they can make their concerns heard, and those concerns in turn, come to dominate the legislative agenda.

The result is this pattern where the funder has a huge sway over both which policies get adopted and which policies get rejected, while the rest of the population scarcely has any influence.

The writer is a Ugandan living in the UK