Amuriat Accuses NUP of Misleading Teso War Claimants

Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president Patrick Oboi Amuriat has launched a blistering attack on the National Unity Platform (NUP), accusing Uganda’s main opposition party of manipulating elderly war claimants in Teso for political mileage.

Amuriat, who hails from the region and once represented Kumi County in Parliament, said the NUP leadership—led by Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine)—was playing "cheap politics" by raising expectations among vulnerable victims of past insurgencies without offering a concrete path to justice or compensation.

“This is a mockery of our old people,” Amuriat posted on social media Tuesday.

“Play better politics. Like @KagutaMuseveni and @NRMOnline, false agreements and playing mind games on our desperate elders. Cheap politics just!”

The sharp remarks come in the wake of Kyagulanyi’s recent tour of Teso, where he met communities affected by historical conflicts and pledged to advocate for their compensation in future NUP-led governance.

But Amuriat dismissed the engagement as deceptive, comparing it to what he called longstanding manipulation by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).

“Cutting the crab,” he added in a colloquial jab—suggesting NUP was no different from the regime it opposes when it comes to exploiting public suffering for political theatre.

The FDC leader’s rebuke signals rising tensions between Uganda’s two main opposition blocs.

Once viewed as allies in the struggle to unseat the NRM, FDC and NUP have increasingly clashed over strategy, messaging, and regional engagement.

Amuriat’s comments echo concerns expressed by some leaders in Teso who argue that war claimants—many of them elderly survivors of cattle raids, rebel attacks, and displacement in the 1980s and 1990s—have been used by successive political actors to score points without delivering meaningful redress.

While the NRM government has faced multiple lawsuits over its failure to compensate victims in Acholi, Lango, and Teso, the processes have been marred by legal delays, questionable verification exercises, and allegations of corruption.

As recently as 2021, the Attorney General’s office acknowledged that thousands of claimants remained uncompensated, even after a Shs150 billion payout plan was announced.

Amuriat argued that raising hope without a viable framework only worsens the trauma.

“It is not enough to show up with cameras, hold hands with survivors, and make promises. If you have no plan, you are doing harm,” he said in a separate radio interview.

NUP has not formally responded to Amuriat’s criticism, but party officials have previously defended their grassroots tours as vital to understanding the country’s struggles and building trust ahead of the 2026 elections.

Kyagulanyi’s camp says it is engaging forgotten communities to build a bottom-up governance model.

Still, the FDC president’s remarks have sparked debate over how opposition leaders should relate to marginalised groups without reinforcing the same cycle of promises that has eroded public faith in politics.

Analysts note that Amuriat’s strong tone may also reflect frustration within the FDC over being sidelined in national debates by the rising influence of Kyagulanyi’s youthful movement.

“For many in the traditional opposition, NUP's fast rise has disrupted long-established narratives,” said political commentator Sarah Bwiino.

“What we’re seeing now is a contest for moral credibility, not just popularity.”

With elections just over a year away, such internal rivalries could sharpen, even as calls grow for unity against the entrenched ruling party.

But for now, the war claimants of Teso remain caught in the crossfire of political rhetoric—still waiting, decades later, for real justice.