Bobi Wine, Besigye Meeting with Tanzanian and Congo Former Rebels in Kenya, a Question of Terror Affiliation

NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi and his political ally Kizza Besigye on 17^th October 2022 were in Kenya to meet with civil society organizations and some members of the opposition from different East African countries to discuss Security and collaborative engagements.

The two opposition leaders travelled along with Dr. Bireete Sarah, a founding Partner and Executive Director for Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG), Godber Tumushabe, Associate Director of Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies (GLISS) and NUP Secretary General, David Rubongoya. 

Bobi Wine tweeted posing with former convicts from Tanzania and Congo. His tweet reveals the pride he has in associating himself with Freeman Mbowe and Moise Katumbi all former treason convicts in Tanzania and Congo respectively.

“Common challenges unite common victims. As oppressors come together to strategize on how to plunder more and more, we too must come together and build synergies for change. Our struggles will end in victory,” he tweeted.

According to sources from NUP, Bobi Wine’s tweet followed a separate and private meeting between Katumbi and Mbowe where they discussed measures to create and increase an ever-flowing sources of funding for their political activities. His tweets’ claim of coming together has raised many questions among supporters on why there was no official statement for such an ‘important’ meeting.

Bobi Wine’s political associates and friends are concerned why he chose to meet with Katumbi and Mbowe who are both former convicts and their criminal records are well documented in the East African region for arms smuggling and illicit mineral dealings.

Bobi wine met with Moise Katumbi, an opposition politician in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a dealer in illicit minerals and former governor of Katanga province in the South-east of Congo who buys most minerals from armed militias in Eastern DRC. He was once exiled for fraudulent business with Belgium and funding the ADF which was plundering resources and killing people in Katanga, DRC. His connections with the Belgians to fight President Kabila and now President Tshisekedi have continuously manifested in funding terror groups and opposition leaders in the area using returns from illegal gold trade. 

Sources from within have linked Bobi wine’s secret meetings with Katumbi and Mbowe to his current confessed support to ADF. In the past few weeks Kyagulanyi expressed his support towards all anti-government forces including ADF rebel group. He said the ADF rebel leader Jamil Mukulu is a brother, a political prisoner and freedom fighter who is fighting for democratic governance in Uganda. 

Freeman with whom Bobi wine also had a secret meeting with, has been facing terror charges in Tanzania until recently when he was pardoned by President Samia Suluhu.

According to reliable sources within opposition, Bobi wine was engaged in high level meetings with purpose of bringing civil society on board and hope they will yield good results. 

The writer of this article however, has since learnt that members of the Civil Society, Sarah Bireete and Godber Tumushabe were steering this meeting to connect Bobi wine with Mark Malloch Brown the leader of Open Society Foundation in a bid to actualize partnership between Bobi wine and the international civil society to enable him obtain funding.

Bobi wine’s meeting with members from Tanzania and DRC whose history is linked to anti-government and violence remains a time bomb question, considering his public support for violence and a recent arrest in Dubai over connections with the Hinnati Islamist terror group. However, the twist of the Civil Society involvement led by Sarah Bireete and her decision to connect Bobi Wine to the philanthropist community led by Open Society whose agenda in African Politics is not clear, leaves unanswered questions.