Emmanuel Lumala Dombo the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party spokesperson has confirmed that president Museveni has banned serving food and drinks at his presidential campaign rallies.
Highly placed NRM sources told Ono Bwino online that Museveni took the decision after studying his presidential campaign budget which is being managed by the party Secretariate.
He noted that his opponents will spread malicious propaganda that people come to his rallies to get food instead of listening to his message.
Sources said that NRM top leaders including the youth and children affairs minister Balaam Barugahare were not happy with the decision because they were the ones controlling food, drinks and entertainment budget.
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He added that Museveni further told his people that if they continue giving people food and drinks, it will help his opponents as evidence if they challenge his victory at the Supreme.
In 2021, sources disclosed that Museveni spent more than Shs10bn on lawyers who defended his win which was being challenged by National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine).
The law firms which represented Museveni in that suit included; his son-in-law’s law firm of K&K Advocates which allegedly pocketed Shs7bn, others were Byenkya, Kihika & Company Advocates and a number of others
Lawyers from the Attorney General’s chambers, Kampala Associated Advocate (KAA) a prominent Kampala law firm which represented Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama also pocketed billions of shillings
Justices of the Supreme Court who sat on the panel that presided over the petition also pocketed huge allowances, staff including justices’ research assistants, clerks, drivers and their security plus the service providers who provided them with food, drinks, tents
Sources said that the President no longer wants such spending to happen once he is announced winner and it is the reason why he cut his campaign budget by 50% when compared to what was prepared by the secretariat and also directed that the money in circulation in the country is controlled.
“Those candidates you see doing door to door campaign, it is not because they want to do so but they don’t have money to facilitate their campaigns. The President wants this campaign to be silent as his Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Norbert Mao announced earlier,” a source said.
He added that during this election period, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development is very careful when releasing money because they are scared that it can end up in the hands of the opposition especially Bobi Wine’s camp.
The source revealed that the president was briefed that some of his government officials have been funding the opposition especially when he made it difficult for funds from abroad to enter into the country.
“That man Frank Bulira is not lying, his bank accounts were frozen. He was even briefed of how Bobi Wine sent his confidants to his contacts abroad to get for him some money but the problem is how to smuggle it into the country because all the routes he used in the 2021 campaign were closed,” a source said.
