Bobi’s Worries Deepen As Muwanga Suddenly Vanishes

The newly appointed deputy president for the Buganda region, Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi of the largest opposition National Unity Platform (NUP), has seemingly vanished into thin air, hardly a month after Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, unveiled him to supporters.

This sudden disappearance has raised eyebrows among the party’s top leaders and loyal supporters, sparking concerns about the deputy president’s loyalty and commitment to the party.

Just close to a month ago, Muwanga was basking in the glory of his new role, hosting a victory party in his constituency that was attended by the party president, Secretary General Lewis Rubongoya, LoP Joel Ssenyonyi etc, fellow politicians, although with a lukewarm reception at Bulo sub-county.

Muwanga’s appointment was the culmination of a tough year-long campaign, during which he faced stiff competition from other contenders, including Mukono Municipality’s MP, Betty Nambooze.

Despite his reputation as a renowned theorist, the deputy president’s leadership skills have been called into question, particularly concerning strategy and implementation.

His record of accomplishment as a Buganda Parliamentary caucus chairperson over the past four years has been somewhat dull, leaving many to wonder if he has the resolve to excel in his even more demanding new role.

Disappearance Explained

Speaking to his circle of friends who were worried about the tense situation ahead of him working with the possessive and patronizing party president, deputy president Muwanga candidly said, he would not be beholden to Bobi, emphasizing his busy schedule as an MP, caucus chairperson, and deputy president, not to mention his personal business interests.

“I am not that cheap to always follow Bobi around,” Butambala MP said, “For your information, I am a very busy person in my everyday life.”

He went on to elaborate on his various roles and responsibilities stating, “I am the MP for my constituency Butambala, I am the chairperson of the Buganda parliamentary caucus, I am the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and I am now the deputy president of Buganda region. Besides that, I have personal businesses to run, especially my hotel, and I am the commander-in-chief at my home and the family at large.”

The deputy president pushed back against expectations that he would be constantly available to the party president who is fond of having unlimited company by his party leaders and supporters wherever he goes.

“Where on this planet earth can anyone with a real human being’s brain expect me to get time to perform all those duties concurrently?” he asked.

He also reportedly took a swipe at his critics within the party, dismissing them as “political novices.”

“I can only laugh at those political novices in that young party who can expect me to be controlled by their remotes, yet they made me pay a huge price to be given this position,” Muwanga was quoted as saying.

The deputy president also a 3-term MP revealed that he had paid a weighty price to secure his new role, including paying NUP leaders large sums of money.

“I paid leaders huge amounts of money over Shs150m,” Muwanga said, also speaking of sacrificing his friendship with a childhood friend, who had been a key financial supporter.

“I was degraded to the level of becoming Bobi’s teddy bear, to the extent that I could fetch his children to and from school, and at times took them to the beach using my money!” Muwanga said.

He expressed regret over sacrificing his friendship but emphasized that it had been a necessary step to achieve his goal.

“But most regretfully, I sacrificed my friendship with my childhood friend who looked after me when those so-called political kingmakers today were in the showbiz business,” Muwanga said.

The deputy president seemed determined to assert his independence free from undue pushing by the president, and his cronies.

“It’s time for Bobi Wine to know that he used me as a pawn to play his divide-and-rule politics, and I painfully fed him with the unnecessary information against my friend, and I got what my target was. If he did not know, I was in a campaign which made me a victor, I am not in campaign anymore, he should leave me breath,” Muwanga said.

He emphasized that he had been in opposition politics for over twenty years, and was now a veteran leader who deserved respect from new kids on the broke, Bobi Wine inclusive.

He asserted, “I have been in opposition politics for more than twenty years, which is enough for me to be a veteran leader to be consulted by the NUP leaders who are all new converts when it comes to opposing the 40-year dictatorship, rather than just making me a toothless deputy president who can be tossed around like those of the Northern region, Western region, and Eastern region.”

The deputy president also took a swipe at his fellow party leaders, implying that they were not as intellectually equipped as he was.

“I am not that regular; those political novices in NUP should be aware that I am a super economist who read my books, yet some of them have just earned genetically modified degrees in areas they cannot even understand their basics,” he said.

The NUP principal, however, seems less than impressed with his deputy’s newfound assertiveness. “That guy thinks he has grown wings, but I can clip them off anytime,” Bobi was overheard saying. The president’s comments have sparked concerns about a potential power struggle within the party, and it remains to be seen how the situation will develop.