In 2021, National Unity Platform (NUP) principal Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) and some party leaders and supporters welcomed a move by the then newly elected Nakawa Division Mayor Paul Mugambe to appoint Mutoni Shiko as his deputy mayor.
Mutoni is a wife to celebrated musician turned politician Ali Bukeni (Nubian Lee) who was then in prison over treason charges before the military court.
Many were happy that Nubian Lee’s wife will use the position to solve some financial problems since the family’s bread winner was in prison.
However, the country was shocked when the mighty Grapevine online (now rebranded and Ono Bwino) exclusively reported that Lee had ordered his wife to back off politics and concentrate on taking care of their family.
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When he went out of prison, Nubian Lee immediately declared his interest to contest against Mugambe his wife’s boss and become the Nakawa Division mayor.
This investigative website can exclusively report that the decision was reached after Bobi Wine established that there was a clandestine political move orchestrated by Mugambe to take Lee’s wife to president Museveni’s young brother and also coordinator of the Operation Wealthy Creation Gen Salim Saleh for a deal.
Highly placed sources at Bobi Wine’s Magere home revealed that upon getting this information, Bobi Wine summoned his longtime friend Lee at his home and revealed the shocking information to him and they both agreed to first meet Mutoni before any decision was made.
“It was Lee who drove Mutoni to Magere. In the meeting, she admitted that it is true Mugambe told her that Gen Saleh was on his neck and he wanted to talk to her. He assured her that the meeting was going to be very secret and he even promised him that no one was going to know,” a source said.
Sources said that Bobi Wine asked Mutoni not to tell Mugambe that they had landed on his move. He also told her to make sure that he does not take her to Gen Saleh insisting that the State was planning to weaponize their meeting against them which was going to cost their political support.
Because Mutoni was shocked on how Bobi Wine landed on Mugambe’s deal, she decided to cut off her communication with Mugambe.
At the other end, Mugambe thought that she was planning to contest against him and on several occasions sent people to talk to her out of plans to fight him but she did not respond.
After, the matter was discussed by the party’s Deep State members who include; David Lewis Rubongoya, Benjamin Katana, Joel Ssenyonyi among other, a decision was taken to sideline Mugambe and other Nakawa Division councilors who they discovered were part of the Gen Saleh deal.
At first, Lee was not ready to enter into elective politics even though he was holding a powerful position in NUP leadership.
And they agreed to front Godfrey Luyombya the Division Speaker to oust Mugambe, but they later discovered that he was also among the group that is on Gen Saleh’s payroll and personally, Bobi Wine took a decision to front Lee to contest for the said seat assuring him of all his support
In the whole plan, it was also agreed to sacrifice Nakawa East legislator Ronald Balimwezo, who is a brother to Mugambe, by convincing him to contest against Ssalongo Erias Lukwago the incumbent Kampala City Lord mayor since they were very sure that he could not defeat him.
They calculated that for them not to lose Balimwezo’s Nakawa Division seat, Bobi Wine decided to front his blue-eyed boy Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro to contest on NUP ticket.
This website has established that even though Balimwezo agreed with the party leadership decision at first, he is very bitter and is clandestinely de-campaigning Mufumbiro and no longer moves with him on the ground as he mobilizes support to Lord Mayor seat.
Sources close to Mugambe revealed to this website that he has been in good relationship with Gen Saleh who helped him to establish a battery company that made him one of the richest politicians in Nakawa. He even recently finished his multibillion house and he has been challenging his elder brother Balimwezo to work hard.
“Because of the pressure, Balimwezo also secured a loan from the bank and he is finishing his multibillion house in Lubowa where he wants to shift to after the 2026 general elections,” a source said.
Source allege that Mugambe has a number of children some of who he sired from married councilors in Nakawa council and his opponents plan to use it as a weapon in the coming general elections if he decides to contest on independence.
During the course of investigating this story, this website established that even though Bobi Wine is fighting to sideline Mugambe and Luyombya, they are more popular on the ground than Lee and to defeat them, it was agreed that Lee should campaign together with Ssenyonyi and Mufumbiro as NUP flag bearers and it is the reason why they picked nomination papers from their party headquarters together.
Mugambe denied the allegation against him when contacted claiming that his opponents who are using this misinformation to decampaig him.
However, recently, Mufumbiro revealed to this website that his party president invested a lot on spying on president Museveni and other members of his Deep State and it is the reason he gets most of the confidential information inside State House.
