Bobi Wine’s NUP Appoints Committee to Decide on Flag Bearers

Uganda’s main opposition National Unity Platform (NUP), which is led by Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, has unveiled a committee that will guide the leading opposition party’s choice of flag bearers in the 2026 elections.

In almost all Ugandan political parties — as in several struggling democracies — primaries to choose flag bearers end up causing divisions instead of members being united behind the flagbearer.

Some even choose to stand as independent candidates after not being picked as flagbearers.

In the 2021 elections, NUP’s first under Bobi Wine, the top leaders of the party (then headquartered at Kamwokya) met to vet and select candidates.

As is expected of competitive elections, a number politicians who had hoped to get the coveted NUP flag of missed out since the party needs only one flag bearer per elective position.

Some of these complained about the process, calling it unfair

To cure this, the NUP National Executive Committee (NEC) has unveiled a new Election Management Committee and a roadmap for the 2026 elections.

The Election Management Committee is expected to guide internal processes to choose flag bearers as the National Unity Platform prepares for the 2026 elections.

Approved by the National Executive Committee of NUP in a meeting chaired by Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine himself at Makerere Kavule, the Election Management Committee is expected to use party structures established in 2021 to choose flag bearers that have potential to win and ones that will be loyal to the struggle to end Museveni’s rule of four decades.

“This team will help us identify strong candidates within their respective regions based on the existing party structures,” noted NUP secretary general David Lewis Rubongoya.

“In 2021, we experienced challenges when some aspirants claimed they had been unfairly left out during the selection process conducted at the headquarters.”

He then unveiled the Election Management Committee whose chairperson will be Harriet Chemtai, who has been mobilizing for the NUP in Sebei sub region.

Chemtai will be deputized by Ivan Ssempijja, a former Makerere University guild president.

The NUP Election Management Committee will also have Alex Rovans Rwanyaga as a Technical Advisor,
John Mary Ssebufu as its Buganda Region Representative and Freddie Egesa Achoka as the Eastern Uganda Representative.

Patrick Laum will serve as the Northern Uganda Representative, while Julian Kabagambe is the Western Uganda Representative.

Salim Sultan is the Publicity Secretary of the NUP Election Management Committee, Jonathan Eloto is its Legal Advisor while Eddy Kayabula is its Secretary.

NUP will be seeking to make inroads into several other regions of Uganda while consolidating its central Uganda base where a group led by Mathias Mpuuga appear to want to take some of its votes. (See related reporting Here and There).

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