Sources in NUP state that since then, Nambooze has been on Kyagulanyi’s neck to reschedule his programme and visit Mukono, and that the Principal eventually yielded to Madam Teacher’s pressure.
As Mukono supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) prepare to receive the party presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi today Friday January 9, 2026, observers have evaluated his visit as a calculation to galvanize support for Mukono Municipality MP, Betty Nambooze Bakireke, which is seen as badly weakening following entry on the political scene of two former heavyweights in the party, vying for her position.
After losing the NUP tickets, the Mukono district chairperson, Rev. Dr. Peter Bakaluba Mukasa and Woman MP, Hanifah Nabukeera both resolved to stand against Nambooze, in a move seen by many as seeking vengeance against Nambooze for allegedly having influenced Makerere-Kavule officials to deny them the cards in their primaries.
Kyagulanyi visited Mukono on his campaign rounds on 25th November 2025 but was unable to cover some areas including Nambooze’s Mukono Municipality due to pressure exerted by security. He had been scheduled to meet voters at Ntaawo public grounds in Mukono Municipality but never made it.
This alteration in Kyagulanyi’s programme was a big blow to Nambooze and it subsequently gave her sleepless nights since, because she had looked at the rally as an opportunity for the big man to declare (from the horse’s mouth) that Bakaluba and Nabukeera who keep referring to themselves as revolutionaries supporting the NUP supremo for president, were actually self-imposed.
On the other hand, NUP supporters who did not get the party cards saw their party boss’ failure to hold rallies as a disguised blessing, and Goma Division Council speaker, Tonny Bwanika said point blank that this covertly denied card holders the impetus to tread down on those who were denied the cards.
And in Mukono South, NUP card holder Maseruka was inflicted by Kyagulanyi’s nonappearance for a rally in his constituency as the incumbent MP DP’s Fred Kayondo keeps telling voters that Kyagulanyi did not come to the constituency because he is his old buddy and did not wish to antagonize his bid to return to the august house.
Sources in NUP state that since then, Nambooze has been on Kyagulanyi’s neck to reschedule his programme and visit Mukono, and that the Principal eventually yielded to Madam Teacher’s pressure.
In a recent press statement at her home at Njogezi, in Mukono Central Division, Nambooze said Kyagulanyi’s decision to return to Mukono has revived party supporters’ hopes, and expressed optimism that this time round, security agents will not bring up a situation calling for confrontation between the two sides.
She appealed to supporters not to wait for their presidential candidate alongside roads but to go straight to rally venues. And although the rallies are scheduled to be held at St. Balikuddembe Nantabulirirwa, another one at Kalengeera in Mukono South and the main rally at Ntaawo in Mukono municipality, by press time unconfirmed rumours had it that the Ntaawo rally had been diverted to Lweza, a few kilometres outside Mukono town, for alleged security reasons.
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