<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Joachim Buwembo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever motivated Andrew Mwenda to join People Power whose registered version is called NUP, the veteran journalist has given his new leader, Bobi Wine a wonderful early Christmas present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now Andrew Mwenda has joined NUP, possibly the first political party whose card he is holding in his life, and he is gunning for its nomination as presidential candidate to stand in the next elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So unlike the ruling NRM with its perennial sole candidate, now NUP (trading as People Power) is taking off with a democratic face as Robert Kyagulanyi faces off Andrew Mwenda for the party\u2019s leadership and candidature. With the possible exception of FDC whose leadership has been hotly, democratically contested since inception, NUP will now stand alone above all Uganda\u2019s parties as far as internal democracy for the top post is concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did Andrew Mwenda set out with the intention of legitimizing People Power, a movement he has been criticizing sharply since Bobi Wine \u2018became\u2019 Robert Kyagulanyi and started his quest for the national presidency? Or has (more plausibly) Andrew just wanted to provoke People Power and sought to subject them to an academic\/intellectual test? If this is the case, People Power has risen to Andrew\u2019s challenge and graciously issued him their membership card without objecting to his stated objective of taking the party\u2019s top job and candidature. A third (highly unlikely) possibility is that Andrew and Bobi have secretly connived to create this challenge to cause serious competition, with the People Power founder being challenged by a man perceived as his worst critics How more Ugandan can the party\u2019s face get, in comparison to most other parties which are seen as serving tribal interests and only using other tribes as in their ranks for window dressing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Kyagulanyi and Mwenda are highly detribalized Ugandans with Andrew\u2019s credential deeply rooted in the media and intellectual world while Kyagulanyi\u2019s are in the struggle of the urban dispossessed and music. A face off between the two could be the first genuine ideological political contest in independent Uganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is Andrew Mwenda laying an obvious trap for Robert Kyagulanyi by calling for a presidential debate between the two of them? Andrew would be assuming that he would shred Kyagulanyi in a debate. He could be basing this on a question Kyagulanyi misheard or misunderstood in a certain TV interview. How big a deal was that? History is strewn with memorable answers given to misunderstood questions. Che Guevarra is remembered for saying he was a good communist when Fidel Castro said he had no good economist in his team. Noble Mayombo was asked about Liverpool (an alleged water torture method) and he said he was not a football fan. People Power strategists and Kyagulanyi himself must already be warming up to the mental wrestling match between Mwenda and his new leader. That debate would certainly serve Kyagulanyi better than Mwenda. And (social) media will stop until it is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The worst thing People Power can do to themselves is to refuse the debate challenge. And It is also too late for Mwenda to lose interest in the debate he has called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course Ugandan elections are not based on issues. It is even hard to spell out what the issue of the 2021 election is about \u2013 and cynics will say it is not even about changing the presidency as there will be no change of president. But the Kyagulanyi \u2013 Mwenda debate will at least present a view of the future options forward for the nation. For Mwenda is not really as old as he jokes about his age; he is the same generation as his new leader with just a ten-year difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Joachim Buwembo Whatever motivated Andrew Mwenda to join People Power whose registered version is called NUP, the veteran journalist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-party-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/mwenda.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1517,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/bobi-wines-new-party-blunder-or-a-smart-move\/","url_meta":{"origin":1614,"position":0},"title":"Bobi Wine\u2019s new party; blunder or a smart move?","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"July 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Bobi Wine\u2019s new party; blunder or a smart move?By Special CorrespondentRobert Kyagulanyi\u2019s sudden declaration on Wednesday that People Power has now formed a political party took even the most alert pundits by surprise.\u00a0 Many people were quick to start writing off Bobi Wine and his People Power movement for what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/politics-national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2074,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/police-raid-bobi-wines-nup-offices-seize-govt-stores\/","url_meta":{"origin":1614,"position":1},"title":"POLICE RAID BOBI WINE\u2019S NUP OFFICES SEIZE GOVT STORES","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"October 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"By Our Team Police has raided Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine \u2018s \u00a0National Unity Party (NUP) offices in Kamwokya, arrested several people and impounded office materials and red berets which government says were gazette as \u201cgovernment stores\u201d. \u201cThe military, police and other security agencies have laid siege on the National\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Breaking News"","block_context":{"text":"Breaking News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/breaking-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/NUP-OFFICES-1.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/NUP-OFFICES-1.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/NUP-OFFICES-1.jpg 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2006,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/mengo-to-remain-apolitical-katikiiro-mayiga\/","url_meta":{"origin":1614,"position":2},"title":"MENGO TO REMAIN APOLITICAL-KATIKIIRO MAYIGA","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"October 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Ahead of what is expected to be a heated 2021 general election , Buganda's Katikiiro Charles Peter Mayiga has come out to say that the kingdom will not endorse any presidential candidate to ensure peace and unity . 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This after last week's similar warning by the Inspector General of Police ,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/download-1.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9992,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/police-should-arrest-those-who-are-using-the-mk-movement-to-terrorize-ugandans-says-spokesperson-mwenda\/","url_meta":{"origin":1614,"position":4},"title":"Police should arrest those who are using the MK movement to terrorize Ugandans","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"September 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"After complaints from many Ugandans about the impunity of some gangsters who are using the MK movement to terrorize Ugandans , the Movement's spokesperson , Andrew Mwenda has used his official twitter handle to call upon the police to arrest such criminals . \"Many thugs are using the name of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/87cd4805-92f9-4472-9cbc-06cda38aed36.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/87cd4805-92f9-4472-9cbc-06cda38aed36.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/87cd4805-92f9-4472-9cbc-06cda38aed36.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/87cd4805-92f9-4472-9cbc-06cda38aed36.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0aOV-q2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1616,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions\/1616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}