NUP Cries Foul After Foreign Funders Declined To Fund Party, Several Candidates Risk Missing Nominations

Last week, NUP principal Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine made another public appeal for funding after the fundraising drive launched months ago failed to yield any significant dividends.

”As you have all seen these past days, we have hundreds of parliamentary candidates all over the country. Nominations have drawn so close. Unfortunately, we are receiving so many calls from our candidates, especially from Western and Northern Uganda, who risk not being nominated because they don’t have the required 3 Million Shillings.’‘

”As you all know, Gen. Museveni and his regime made it so expensive to nominate candidates simply to lock out the opposition. The NRM pays for its candidates, because they use tax payers’ money for their activities, we have seen so many candidates who had wanted to run for MP but they simply cannot afford this money.

”Given that our party is barely three months old and mostly supported by volunteers, we are not able to pay nomination fees for all candidates, but we believe there are friends out there who are willing to support this cause. Please reach out and support in any way”. Bobi Wine explained

Information  from  the Kamwokya based National Unity Platform (NUP) indicates that several candidates are on tension as various efforts to raise funds for the nomination fees of their candidates have hit the rocks with less than a day left to the nomination dates.

A source in the party has  revealed that despite the numerous calls to their foreign funders to sponsor the major activity, it’s surprising that until now, the party has not yet received the funds as it was expected.

As such, the respective flag bearers has been asked to devise means for self-sponsorship, an announcement that comes on a short notice for majority of the outfit’s hassling candidates spread across the country.

NUP is just the only opposition political party in the country to have identified MP candidates for all Constituencies in the country save a few where there are close allies like in Asuman Basalirwa’s Bugiri Municipality, Democratic Party recently announced it was set to sponsor about 300 MP candidates , 200 for Mugisha Muntu’s ANT while FDC has 290.

Unfortunately, it’s only NUP among all the parties that could fail to provide their flag bearers with money for nominations kept at Shs3 millions which could find many of them kicked out of the race for being unable to raise the fee on their own.

One of NUP flag bearer in Northern Uganda expressed fear that he could find himself automatically eliminated from the race since Shs3 million is a lot of money for someone to raise on such a short notice.

” I am scared many of us could find ourselves note on the ballot for lack of that money. Whoever participated in this process was confident there would be sponsorship for the nomination and posters because parties have such an obligation, by asking our poor people to raise that money at this time is too unfair.” he cried out.