Former National Resistance Movement (NRM) campaigner David Lewis Rubongoya has opened up on allegations that he joined Bobi Wine’s ‘People Power’ to spy on the political group.

About three days ago, a photo of Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) and Lewis donning red berets at a political rally in Hoima.

Bobi Wine, the Kyadondo East MP, was campaigning for Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) candidate Asinasi Nyakato Kamanda in the Hoima woman MP byelection that fell vacant after its former representative, Tophace Kaahwa Byagira, chose to become a representative for the people of Kikuube district, a new district carved out of Hoima.

The photo of Lewis and Bobi Wine took many by surprise. But Lewis says he has been working with People Power for a long time and was one of the founder members of the political group.

“Interestingly,some people think I joined the People Power movement two days ago,” notes Lewis.

“No. On the contrary, I was privileged to be one of the founding leaders of the movement and therefore have been on its leadership right from the start.”

He also revealed that he was one of the people “that have always worked behind the scenes to grow the movement and give it direction” because “not all of us must be on the frontline at the same time”.

But Lewis has had to deal with claims that he is a mole for the NRM, the party he has been previously known to belong to from his days at Makerere University where he was a students’ guild speaker.

In 2016, Lewis unsuccessfully contested for a seat to represent Uganda at the regional parliament, the East Africa Legislative Assembly, performing dismally in the NRM primaries.

Now, Lewis has reiterated that he left the NRM.

“It is true that for the longest time I belonged to NRM… my support for NRM was never premised on anything else except conviction… Like several Ugandans, I supported NRM genuinely when I did,” wrote Lewis in a statement published online.

He said he supported the NRM for as long as he ignorant of the “extent to which its leaders long abandoned its professed values and principles”.

Lewis was further disappointed with the party’s leaders’ failure to “realise the importance of having a transition in its rank”.

“In 2016 I came to a conclusion that these guys do not care any bit about our country but about what each one is able to grab in the shortest period of time,” further wrote Lewis.

He added that the removal of the presidential age limit was the straw that broke the camel’s back in his decision to quit NRM.

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