NRM Government to investigate Bobi Wine NUP party’s source of funding

Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo has revealed the NRM government will investigate the source of funding for MP Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) party.

On July 22, Bobi Wine unveiled the NUP party, the political wing of his People Power pressure group.

Bobi Wine acquired NUP from former President Milton Obote guard Moses Kibalama Nkonge.

Read: Profile: Who is Moses Kibalama Nkonge, People Power’s Bobi Wine NUP Ally

The unveilling of the party caught many by surprise. Until NUP’s launch, Bobi Wine had struggled to resolve the puzzle of conducting primaries to pick flag bearers for the pressure group.

Some members of the opposition, such as Norbert Mao, the president general of the Democratic Party (DP) had mocked People Power, calling it a school without a centre number.

At the launch, Bobi Wine vowed to fish from existing parties. Norbert Mao’s DP, dogged by internal strife for years, is already facing defections in areas such as Masaka.

Political players reacted to NUP’s launch differently.

Read: Besigye speaks on Bobi Wine’s People Power Alliance with NUP

NRM, the ruling party, now says it welcomes NUP but Ofwono Opondo has told the Capital Gang show government would want to understand the party’s source of funding.

“This is good for us because Bobi Wine and his people will now be governed by the rules and regulations that have been collectively agreed upon by everybody,” he said.

“We are now going to examine everything that these actors have been doing; we will find about their funding, their leadership structure and how it is changed, and how people rise to certain positions in the party.”

Opondo is also yet to change his conviction that Bobi Wine and People Power are “a passing cloud.” further noting that NRM has previously worked with Kibalama, the man who ceded his party to Bobi to form NUP.

“I have always said that this People Power dust would settle down one day, and now it has settled down,” he said.

“We now know their address. I can now go to the Electoral Commission and ask to inspect all their records and all their finances.”