Musician-turned-politician, Bobi Wine, and the head of Uganda’s opposition National Unity Platform (NUP), has urged the US government and the EU stop funding the country’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Wine told his supporters at Busanga Playground that the money donated to the NRM government is being used to perpetuate oppression and violence.
He is on a nationwide tour to raise awareness of his presidential run ahead of the 2026 elections.
“This is a message to the EU and the Americans, we are not asking you to remove the dictator, we are asking you to stop sponsoring the dictator,” the politician said.
“This is the time to put to an end the puppets of neo-colonialism. Museveni is an agent of neo-colonialism. Museveni has turned us into slaves in our own motherland.”
Uganda, one of the EU’s most significant development partners in the region, continues to benefit from millions of dollars in EU aid.
In 2022, the East African country received more than €40 million in humanitarian funding for the more than 1.4 million refugees living in Uganda alone.
The EU’s Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP) for Uganda for 2021-2024, which includes funds to assist the country in transitioning to a greener and more sustainable economy as well as strengthening democracy and human rights, totals €375 million.
Meanwhile, Wine, who has had run-ins with Museveni’s government in the past, told supporters that his countrywide tours are not intended to popularize his presidential bid, but rather to bring an end to the NRM government, which has been in power since 1986.
Kyangulanyi, 41, believes the last general election was rigged. He has accused Museveni, 78, who has been in power since 1986, of stealing his votes.
The National Unity Platform (NUP) leader came second in the 2021 general election that saw Museveni win a sixth term.
He is currently on a tour of different parts of the country to strengthen his party’s grassroots structures in preparation for the next polls in 2026.
