National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine has said that the incident that happened to him and some of his colleagues while in Arua is still fresh in his mind.
In 2018, Bobi Wine with several other opposition MPs had pitched camp in Arua to campaign for the former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) member of parliament Kassiano Wadri who stood as an independent candidate for the Arua municipality seat that fell vacant following the gruesome murder of former MP, Ibrahim Abiriga in June 2018.
On that fateful day, Kyagulanyi’s driver Yasin Kawuma was shot dead from inside his Tundra vehicle near Hotel Pacific in Arua town.
In an interview yesterday, Kyagulanyi narrated the tough times he faced while in Arua adding that he can’t easily forget what transpired that time where he almost lost his life.
“The day reminds us, me in particular of the seriousness of what we are dealing with, the extent in which the regime is ready to go,” he said.
According to Kyagulanyi, Bugiri by-election was the root cause of the brutality that ensued and got intensified more in the Arua by-election.
“This intensified more to the extent of killing some of our comrades and even taking a serious aim on my own life. I would not be a live anymore,” he said.
Kyagulanyi vigorously campaigned for Wadri during the Arua Municipality by-elections in 2018.
In fact, days before the election, that’s where they were brutalised by security operatives.
Some people had naturally expected Kassiano to join Kyagulanyi’s party given the tough times the two went through, this wasn’t the case and now he is seeking his re-election bid on the ticket of the Alliance for National Transformation.
Commenting on how he feels about Kassiano’s decision of not joining his party, Kyagulanyi said he was glad that although he failed to join him, they are all fighting for the change of the regime.
“We were not able to convince Hon Kassiano to work closely with us. I am only glad that he is at least working with the opposition. Unfortunately, we were not yet able to achieve an alliance with ANT as yet,” he said.
However, speaking after he was unveiled by ANT, Wadri said he initially identified with People Power (which later morphed into NUP) because it was a movement which was a home to all those aggrieved by the current political state of affairs.
However, he said, he decided to join ANT because he found its values and mission more alluring.
Wadri said that since he played part in the initial stages when ANT was being formed, he could not miss being a registered member of the party.
Bobi Wine and 36 other suspects were accused of stoning and smashing the windscreen of one of the presidential cars on August 13, 2018.
Bobi Wine was later on August 17 charged with two counts of illegal possession of fire arms and live ammunition contrary to section 3(2) (a) of the Fire Arms Act 299.
However, the General Court Martial that sat in Gulu surprising dropped charges against Kyagulanyi.
Bobi Wine, who entered parliament in 2017, has emerged as a leading critic of president Museveni who has been in power for over three decades and has faced multiple detentions while authorities have frustrated his efforts to perform.
