National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential hopeful Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, on Monday pulled a massive crowd in Jinja City as supporters braved police deployments to welcome him.
Hundreds of residents thronged the Amber Court Gardens roundabout and lined petrol stations along Nalufenya Road West to catch a glimpse of the opposition leader.
Security operatives had earlier attempted to break up gatherings to preempt a political procession, but supporters used creative tactics to dodge dispersal—some hiding in Amber Court market stalls while others parked on motorcycles pretending to be casual riders waiting for passengers.
Excitement erupted shortly before 2 p.m. when Kyagulanyi’s motorcade drew closer. The crowd poured into Kyabazinga Way, a stretch of the Jinja–Iganga highway, with boda boda riders revving their engines as they joined the convoy.
Police quickly rolled out patrol vehicles to divert traffic and block intersections, but the swelling crowd proved difficult to contain.
At Wairaka Junction, a splinter group of Kyagulanyi’s supporters, whom he often refers to as his “foot soldiers,” merged back with the procession, briefly bringing traffic to a standstill before proceeding to Polota in Kakira Town Council.
From there, the candidate was ushered through winding paths of the Kakira sugar estates, with even bigger crowds joining in until he reached Busedde playground, the venue for his maiden rally in the area.
Addressing residents for close to 10 minutes, Kyagulanyi thanked them for what he described as their commitment to “change” in the previous elections, urging them to hold the same spirit as the country prepares for the 2026 polls.
He promised to prioritize grassroots development, improve access to social services, and uplift livelihoods across rural communities.
Also present was Maria Nattabi, the NUP flag bearer for Butembe constituency, who emphasized the plight of the youth in Jinja District.
She pointed out that many young people, though educated, remain jobless and underutilized.
According to Nattabi, the NUP agenda seeks to empower innovation, entrepreneurship, and employment, in contrast to what she termed as decades of stagnation under the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
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