The Electoral Commission has advised the National Unity Platform (NUP) to desist from using the red as part of their party colours.
Deputy EC spokesperson Paul Bukenya says the red colour is already registered in their system as belonging to the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC).
Bukenya said they are not restricting NUP individuals on what to wear but rather cautioning the party as an entity. NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi said they are yet to receive any communication from the Electoral Commission. He said, however, their party constitution, a copy which the Electoral Commission has registered three colours – red, white and blue.
Last month, Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine surprised the nation including members of his own People Power movement when he unveiled the National Unity Platform as the political wing of the People Power.
Although Kyagulanyi initially dismissed off the relevance of political parties saying they were already too many and had for years failed to dislodge President Yoweri Museveni from power, critics and allies alike have been mulling over how the People Power leader managed to pull off such a secret political masterstroke after he secretly bought off Moses Nkonge Kibalama’s party, the National Unity, Reconciliation and Development Party. Moreover, Kibalama is a known longtime state ally.
It was Kibalama’s party that whose name was transformed into NUP and Kyagulanyi elected as its leader and presidential flag bearer. Kyagulanyi would later boast that the registration of the new political was a masterstroke that surprised even the state intelligence and led to the sacking of eight senior Electoral Commission officials. Electoral Commission chairperson justice Simon Byabakama however later said the officials resigned voluntarily.
At the unveiling of NUP, Kyagulanyi said they would have loved to register People Power as a political party but the state panicked at registered it as an NGO looking after the elderly.
