The party Secretary-General, David Lewis Rubongoya told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that the money covered the basic needs of Kyagulanyi’s entourage such as lodging, food and fueling their vehicles.
The National
Unity Platform-NUP president, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine spent between Shillings
7 and 10 million per day during his presidential election campaigns.
The party Secretary-General, David Lewis Rubongoya told Uganda Radio Network in
an interview that the money covered the basic needs of Kyagulanyi’s entourage such as lodging, food
and fueling their vehicles. He revealed that they had a budget projection,
which he didn’t disclose.
The pandemic, disorganization of their campaign and
pre-campaign programs, he says greatly impacted the implementation of their
plans.
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Rubongoya argues that it’s difficult to budget for a campaign and monitor the flow
of money because many people were not channelling their financial support
through the secretariat. Money, he says would be sent directly to individuals
such as those who had been injured or families of supporters who were killed.
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The party has maintained that its campaigns expenses were bankrolled by
supporters both in the country and abroad. It’s these supporters, the party
says, who continue to give aid such as paying medical bills of NUP supporters
who were abducted.
Alliance for Finance Monitoring (ACFIM), an organization that monitors campaign
financing in a report before elections indicated that NUP had more than 60% of
their funding coming from foreign sources in form of donations. These were
chapters “in UK and US that believe in what NUP has called the struggle.”
Internally, before the start of campaigns, NUP was running a public fundraising
drive dubbed “Muda-Ku-Muda @10K We Can”. There were several campaigns both
online and offline geared at raising money for the party. And some are still
running.
For instance, End Museveni Dictatorship Mutual Aid, a Twitter account has been
mobilizing funds to support Bobi Wine supporters who are still in prison. The
account is currently fundraising Shillings 2.5 million to send Easter packs to
the detained supporters.
Operating in darkness
No political party declared its campaign budget projection or means through,
which they were going to raise money before the election. It has been the norm
even in previous elections.
Henry Muguzi, the Executive Director of Alliance
for Finance Monitoring, says political parties enjoy operating under no
scrutiny even when they are supposed to submit audited financial reports every
financial year as required under the Political Parties and Organization Act of
2005.
For the last five years, Muguzi says ACFIM has been writing to the Electoral
Commission requesting for reports submitted by political parties but they have
not gone any. These audited reports can be accessed by the public upon payment
of a reasonable fee prescribed by the Electoral Commission.
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Muguzi argues that there is too much darkness that shrouds the operations of
political parties in Uganda including those in parliament that receive funding
from the consolidated fund. He says there is a need to for a law that can force
political parties to submit reports of their campaign financing and
expenditures after elections.
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Who will support this bill? Muguzi admits that it’s hard for Members of
Parliament to support such a bill. “It like asking a monkey to decide the rules
of the game in the forest,” he said.
Blanshe Musinguzi
Freelancer