Uganda Decides 2026: Kyagulanyi’s Busia Rallies Shine Light on Hope Amid Financial Strain
By Lawrence Mubiru
As the sun dipped over Busia’s dusty plains, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu — better known as Bobi Wine — stepped onto a creaking wooden platform at Mayombe Primary School playground. The crowd erupted in cheers that drowned out the faulty speakers and crackling microphones. What unfolded was not merely a political rally; it was a show of endurance — a campaign powered more by conviction than by cash.
A Campaign on the Move
Denied permission to campaign in Busia Municipality earlier in the day, Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) swiftly redirected its caravan to three rural venues — Mayombe, Butangasi, and Lumuli. Despite the abrupt changes, villagers turned out in large numbers, filling open fields and dusty roadsides with chants of “People Power!”
Supporters, many barefoot and waving hand-painted placards, ran beside his convoy, their energy defying the visible scarcity of resources. “They can take away our money,” Bobi Wine told the cheering crowd at Lumuli Primary School, his voice rising over the weak sound system, “but they can never take away the people’s will.”
Struggling but Steadfast
Behind the scenes, NUP officials spoke candidly about the financial hurdles crippling their campaign. Party Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya said the government’s move to block the party’s parliamentary funding was “a deliberate attempt to suffocate opposition activity.”
“We are running on community support,” Rubongoya explained. “Everything you see here — from transport to sound — is improvised. Villagers lend us chairs, carpenters make our stages overnight, and our sound systems come from churches.”
Despite these hardships, the energy on the ground remains unbroken. At every stop, supporters greeted the convoy with songs, ululations, and dance — turning what could have been a modest event into a moment of political defiance.
The Funding Freeze
Government sources have reportedly defended the suspension of funds, citing NUP’s refusal to participate in the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD), a platform for registered political parties. But NUP maintains that under the Political Parties and Organisations Act, it remains eligible for state financing regardless of its IPOD membership.
“The ruling regime has weaponized bureaucracy,” Rubongoya asserted, “but Ugandans have learned to organize without permission.”
Hope as Currency
As night approached, Bobi Wine’s convoy wound through Busia’s border communities, greeted by chants, ululations, and the waving of red berets. The fatigue was visible — in the faces of the campaign team, in the worn-out sound equipment, in the patched-up vehicles — but so was determination.
For many in attendance, the rallies were about more than politics; they were an act of belief. Amid financial drought, the will for change remains a currency that cannot be devalued.
As Bobi Wine’s final words faded into the evening wind, the message lingered across Busia’s fields:
“The struggle is not about money. It’s about a future that belongs to all of us.”