National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine has called out Next Media Services subsidiary NBS TV for attacking Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party in a series of controversial special reports.
Being run by ‘investigative’ reporter Daniel Lutaaya, NBS TV has in recent days claimed to be digging deeper into whether the FDC, which Bobi Wine’s NUP replaced as the main opposition party in the 2021 parliamentary elections, can still make a comeback into Uganda’s political opposition.
In one of the reports run on May 05, NBS TV, whose boss is Kin Kariisa, attempted to analyze FDC’s quest for the presidency, whether the party can fight back or if it is a journey to nowhere. FDC leaders insist that even when NUP emerged as the main opposition party, the Najjanankumbi-based political organization retained most of its parliamentary seats and numbers.
FDC activists also insist that the party is the only opposition political group with a national outlook, with members from most of the regions across the country. Most of NUP’s MPs are from Bobi Wine’s central region.
In another report run on May 03, Lutaaya attempted to seek answers to the question: Has FDC run out of strategies to put pressure on this government?
Now, Bobi Wine has called out NBS TV for incessantly attacking the FDC. The NUP principal and singer-turned-politician also urged his supporters and other pro-democracy seeking forces to desist from cheering the Naguru-based station as it continues to shred the FDC into pieces.
Bobi Wine suspects that the regime could be using the media house to humiliate the FDC and its leaders with the sole intention of making millions of Ugandans lose hope.
“The continuous attack on FDC by this Media House must not be celebrated by anybody fighting for democracy in Uganda. Dictatorships always try to discredit, embarrass and humiliate opponents. The objective is to discourage and create hopelessness within the population,” said Bobi Wine.
The NUP leader also sought to call for opposition unity in the face of ‘attacks’ NBS TV has launched against FDC, whose former leaders include veteran opposition leader Col (Rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, and former army commander Maj Gen (Rtd) Gregg Mugisha Muntu who now heads the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT).
“The regime which uses money, violence, etc. to destroy opponents, turns around to blackmail them! We must reject it with contempt. We may fight from different fronts, but as long as our objective is the same, an attack on one of us is an attack on that joint objective! That is why we ought to stand in solidarity with each other, fully aware that our enemy is one and the same. We stand with FDC!”
For the first time since 2006, FDC failed to produce the first runner-up in a presidential election against long-serving 77-year-old President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni. It’s most prominent leader Dr Besigye opted out of the 2021 poll after four unsuccessful bids, leaving party president Patrick Oboi Amuriat (POA) to run. Amuriat came third after Museveni and Bobi Wine.
In a recent interview, Dr Besigye answered the question of whether he will run in the 2026 presidential election. (Read Story Here).
