Johannesburg, South Africa: Ugandan Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, over the weekend rushed to South Africa barely a week after Hajjat Hadijah Namyalo, the Senior Presidential Advisor and Manager of the Office of the NRM National Chairman (ONC), visited the same country and converted over 1500 of his diehard supporters to the ruling NRM party.
During his engagements in Cape Town and Pretoria over the weekend, Bobi Wine posted on his official social media pages on Sunday, July 20, in what many saw as a veiled counteraction to Namyalo’s gains:
“Still in South Africa, I had an interaction with comrade Ugandans living in Cape Town and Pretoria concerning the struggle to defeat dictatorship back home in Uganda,” Mr Wine, who is also the President of the opposition NUP, wrote on his official X handle.
“I appreciated them for their contribution to this cause, but also reminded them that it can only be sustained to its logical conclusion through the united, collective effort of everyone concerned instead of just a few individuals or leaders. One day, Uganda shall be free!” he added.
Bobi Wine’s visit to Pretoria came days after Hajjat Namyalo’s highly publicised mobilisation drive in Johannesburg on Saturday, July 12, where she received 1529 defectors from his National Unity Platform (NUP) party at a function held in Braamfontein.
Namyalo’s Johannesburg meeting was part of her broader strategy to strengthen the NRM’s presence within the diaspora by rallying Ugandans living abroad to embrace President Museveni’s peace, stability, and wealth creation agenda.
During her visit, she told supporters that Uganda’s development could not be built on lies, protest politics, and divisionism, which swayed them away from the Kyagulanyi camp, many labelling it a failed opposition force, and pledged loyalty to President Museveni and the NRM party. Namyalo, while addressing the jubilant crowd, emphasized that NRM remains the only party capable of securing Uganda’s future and stability.
Following a viral story on the defection, first published by DailyExpress on Tuesday, shockwaves went through NUP circles and appear to have forced Bobi Wine to rush and salvage the situation through meetings aimed at reassuring his dwindling support base in South Africa.
Political observers in Kampala described Bobi Wine’s visit as a knee-jerk reaction to Namyalo’s strategic gains, with some analysts warning that the diaspora has become the next frontier in the fierce battle for votes and political legitimacy between the ruling party and the opposition.
“Hajjat Namyalo’s impact is already being felt beyond Uganda’s borders. Bobi Wine’s reaction shows the panic within NUP as the ruling party eats into their diaspora strongholds,” said one Ashraf, a political observer familiar with diaspora mobilisation politics.
ONC insiders told DailyExpress that the South African mobilisations are part of a bigger plan targeting Ugandans abroad in the UK, US, and key European cities ahead of 2026. The aim is to erode NUP’s influence and position the NRM as the preferred party even among those in exile.
During her recent engagements with the diasporas, Namyalo reminded Ugandans of the progress under Museveni’s leadership, citing infrastructure development, peace, and investment opportunities as reasons why NRM remains the party of choice.
Bobi Wine’s South African engagements, however, appeared more defensive than strategic according to sources with the Kavule-based party, with insiders revealing that the NUP principal was rattled by the scale of defections and the timing, coming just months to the start of the official 2026 campaign period.
But as Uganda edges closer to the 2026 elections, both Museveni and Kyagulanyi are expected to intensify their focus on expatriate engagement. With Bobi Wine now physically present in South Africa, the competition for diaspora legitimacy has taken a personal, public turn, and the next few months promise a heightened battlefield far beyond Uganda’s borders.
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