NUP Leader Wine Accused of Exploiting Released Olivia To Enlarge Personal Financial Base

Ugandans online, Bobi’s fertile ground, have unleashed their fury on the National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine after he solicited financial support for Olivia Lutaaya, one of the 19 party supporters pardoned by President Yoweri Museveni.

Bobi Wine’s X post on November 24, 2024, read: “Many of you have reached out to our teams asking how you may support comrade Olivia Lutaaya after 4 years of illegal detention without trial. You may use the information on this flyer to send in your contribution for her, using mobile money.”

He added, “To support other political prisoners who are still in detention, as well as those who were released and still identify with the struggle, please reach out to our Welfare team on +256700 195 101.”

Hard Roasting

However, many commenters roasted Bobi, accusing him of being “exploitative, stingy, selective, and seeking to use Olivia’s situation” to make money for himself and his closest allies.

Amorim Baby commented, “You have all the money to support her, do not show us your hearty poverty.”

“But honestly, with the money you have, can’t you give her at least Shs 200m from the party just for her to begin?” Edwin said.

Ugandans’ questions to Bobi Wine may have some water as it is widely known that based on its numerical strength in Parliament, NUP earns at least Shs 31,000m (3.1bn) annually from the Electoral Commission.

It’s also on record that each of the NUP 57 MPs makes a monthly contribution of Shs 1,000,000 on top of the substantial amounts of money being contributed to the party by varied NUP diaspora chapters, and various undisclosed foreign donors.

In unleashing their rage on Bobi, other angry Ugandans pointed out that Bobi has earned substantial amounts of money from international film festivals and musical shows featuring NUP prisoners.

Kitenda Alex suggested, “But you got a lot of money worth 6m US dollars in a movie where Olivia was the main actress. Give her her portion, and then we’ll start from there.”

“Use the documentary money,” Amoscut Fitness added.

They were reinforced by Hash Apiyo who accused Bobi of exploiting Olivia’s situation, saying, “You want to take 80% and give her only 20%? You get a lot of funds but you choose to neglect others yet they are fighting for what you will benefit from the most.”

Others like Moses Kagaba asked, “So she [Olivia] is the special one, only her? All these lads you all have forced to lose 4 years in the name of politics, you only get to highlight her?”

Mike Nuwa wondered, “Doesn’t NUP have a treasury? Why don’t you use part of the money you spend on your unending overseas travels to lift her?”

Why Not Olivia’s numbers?

Many commenters felt that Bobi was privatizing the fundraising effort by providing phone numbers belonging to a party officer, Sarah Nambi, a close friend to party principal rather than Olivia’s personal number as a ploy to show his manipulative style. This led some to accuse Bobi of seeking to use the funds for personal gain.

Joy asked, “Why not Olivia’s number?”

Mugasho Sole echoed this sentiment, saying, “Just put Lutaaya’s contact, they send the money directly to her.”

It should be noted that Olivia is an adult above 18 years, and a mother to a son, and thus expected to be in a position to directly receive the funds on her own without going through the party first.

In the past, there have been allegations that many of the candidates who got the NUP ticket had to dig deeper into their pockets to procure tickets from the party officials notably, Fred Nyanzi, the senior brother to Bobi Wine.

It has also been widely alleged that all NUP MPs were asked for a kickback of Shs10m, which allegedly went to Bobi directly, as part of appreciating him for having given them the NUP, ticket that delivered them to parliament.

However, the few who defied the kickback directive faced Bobi’s verbal wrath, as they have had to endure sustained public blackmail aimed at character assassinating them.

Bobi Likened to Kampala Fake Pastors

Some Ugandans drew parallels between Bobi’s approach and that of manipulative pastors who exploit their followers for financial gain.

“The line between you and the pastors is very thin,” Twesi Fred commented.

Indeed, despite the backlash the X post enlisted, some fanatic supporters responded positively to Bobi’s call, with some sending as little as Shs 5,000.

However, many others demanded accountability, with Deno saying, “After we want accountability.”

It should be recalled that during the formative days of Bobi’s political career, he ran a fundraiser dubbed “muda ku munda” which required each of his supporters to raise Shs 10,000, but he never bothered to account for it among his supporters.

The controversy has raised questions about Bobi’s leadership style and his handling of party funds, and one commenter put it, “I no longer blame pastors. Some pastors and politicians are the same.”