On UBC’s Behind the Scenes Program, Scholar Yusuf Sserunkuma Explains Why ‘Removing the Dictator’ Was The Best Campaign Slogan for Kyagulanyi.

Political theorist Dr. Yusuf Sserunkuma says it was a mistake for Bobi Wine to rebrand his political approach and seek to come off as a more issue-based Presidential Candidate going into 2026 campaigning season than he was in 2021.

Appearing on Behind the Scenes program, which Timothy Nyangweso ably hosts every Wednesday night featuring on UBC TV, Sserunkuma said there was no need for NUP, the leading opposition party, to be bothered about coming off as issue-based yet Gen YK Museveni, who has been President for nearly 40 years, is deliberately not that deep on policy issues.

He said that in the case of the NRM, the actual manifesto has always been Museveni and nothing more. That the so-called NRM manifesto is merely about ticking the boxes to serve a PR purpose. Sserunkuma asserted that Kyagulanyi’s 2021 campaign slogan of “We are Removing a Dictator” was more bold, easier to replicate and identify with, and easier for the populace to resonate with.

Sserunkuma regretted the fact that the “New Uganda Now” slogan Kyagulanyi has adopted for 2026, with a lot of emphasis going into the Presidential Candidate and his lower level candidates being required to go explaining the contents of the party’s campaign manifesto, is timid, more conformist and more complementary of the status quo, which explains why the young people are less inclined to find it emboldening and attractive than was the case with 2021’s “We are Removing a Dictator” slogan.

Sserunkuma also asserted that not many people are interested in policy articulation which Kyagulanyi has been attempting to prioritize because they are bored, fatigued, exhausted and worn out with the perpetual Presidency of Gen YK Museveni, who they badly want to see out.

He also predicted that the NRM is going to emerge comfortably victorious at both Presidential and Parliamentary elections. He also predicted that the opposition is likely to grow its numbers in the 12th Parliament though not to the extent of frightening the NRM’s numerical strength.

Sserunkuma also cautioned Ugandans not to have too much expectation in the 12th Parliament because nothing much is going to ever change for as long as Gen Museveni remains President. Sserunkuma stressed that on every issue, whatever Museveni wants and desires to see will end up becoming the majority view and official position of the country’s legislature.

NUP’s Benjamin Katana too disagreed with Patrick Wakida’s view that there is anything for Ugandans to be optimistic about the future because things predictably are only going to get worse for this country before getting better. He referenced on railway infrastructure which he said is worse off and more declined today than 40 years ago when Gen Museveni first became President.

“My mother, who is now deceased, was born on a train and yet today my children can only see the train on TV because we have none in place,” said Katana who was also prompted to explain why NUP hadn’t been able to print campaign posters and even pay nomination fees (of Shs3m per person) for their flag bearers.

The day’s theme was “Choosing Quality Leaders for Uganda’s New Parliament,” in order to raise the bar. One of the panelists (Dr. Gerald) lamented about the fact that the current Parliament had become synonymous with money scandals and police brutality each time citizens rise up to ask accountability questions.

He also castigated the Speaker of Parliament for being desperate to demonstrate loyalty to the President as opposed to seeking to portray Parliament as an independent arm of government, which citizens expect to keep calling out the Executive for its excesses from time to time.

Panelists advised that Parliament had better pass fewer laws of higher quality, with citizens being able to make their input, as opposed to the legislature’s leadership merely bragging about enacting so many laws in a short time regardless of the quality of such laws