Cowardly and Criminal-Minded NRM Politicians: Retired Bishop Accuses NRM Of Attacking Bobi Wine In Gulu

In a strongly worded and unusually forthright letter dated 10th December, the retired Anglican Bishop of Kitgum Diocese, Rt. Rev. Macleod Baker Ochola, has issued a stinging rebuke to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, demanding urgent action over the violent scenes that unfolded in Gulu City on Saturday, 6th December. The violence erupted as National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu arrived in the city to campaign, leaving several civilians injured and the political atmosphere deeply unsettled.

Addressed directly to the President in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief, Bishop Ochola’s letter calls on Gen. Museveni to personally order investigations, establish culpability, and punish what he describes as fellow National Resistance Movement (NRM) leaders who allegedly planned, financed, and executed the street violence. The Bishop asserts that the attacks were not spontaneous but deliberate and orchestrated, aimed at intimidating citizens and suppressing political participation.

The two-page letter, which was also copied to Electoral Commission (EC) Chairman Justice Simon Byabakama and Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Chairperson Mariam Wangadya, pulls no punches. Bishop Ochola boldly declares that the violence was carried out by a group of young people—children of the long and brutal Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) war—who survived one of Uganda’s darkest chapters but remain economically vulnerable, socially dislocated, and therefore easy targets for manipulation by what he terms “self-seeking politicians” within the ruling NRM party.

Without naming specific individuals, the Bishop describes these politicians as “cowardly and criminal-minded,” accusing them of deliberately intoxicating and manipulating traumatised young boys into attacking peaceful residents of Gulu City. According to Ochola, these citizens merely wanted to attend the rally, listen to Kyagulanyi’s message, and freely determine for themselves whether he deserved their vote in the forthcoming presidential election.

In a particularly revealing passage, Bishop Ochola informs President Museveni that these war-affected youths have been organised into a group known as “Yellow Boda-Boda,” locally referred to as *Aguu*. He implies that this structure was deliberately created to serve political ends, turning vulnerable survivors of war into instruments of violence rather than helping them heal and reintegrate.

The Bishop is categorical that these acts do not, in any way, reflect the will, values, or political culture of the Acholi people. Having endured decades of devastating LRA insurgency, he argues, the Acholi would be the last community to endorse or celebrate political violence of any kind. On the contrary, they understand too well the cost of violence and suffering.

He further stresses that the people of Acholi—particularly residents of Gulu City—are cosmopolitan, politically mature, and tolerant. As such, he insists there is no conceivable reason why they would wish to harm Robert Kyagulanyi or any other presidential candidate simply because of ethnic background, regional origin, or political affiliation.

Bishop Ochola cautions the rest of the country against being misled into believing that the events in Gulu represented collective Acholi hostility toward Kyagulanyi. He firmly states that the violence was the work of a few rogue-minded politicians and should not be attributed to the Acholi ethnic or tribal community as a whole.

In some of the strongest language in the letter, the Bishop castigates—and openly curses—NRM politicians who have resorted to weaponising what he describes as “delinquent children.” He notes that these young people are not criminals by nature but victims of war-induced trauma who need genuine rehabilitation, economic empowerment, and psychosocial support to overcome the vulnerabilities imposed on them by the LRA conflict.

Turning his attention to the Electoral Commission, Bishop Ochola calls upon Justice Simon Byabakama to fully appreciate and assert his constitutional and legal mandate as EC Chairman. He reminds Byabakama that it is his sole responsibility to regulate all campaign activities and processes under the 2026 election roadmap—a roadmap that Byabakama himself officially proclaimed.

The Bishop strongly implies that failure by the EC to act decisively and impartially will not only endanger the electoral process but will also leave Justice Byabakama personally accountable in the court of history. Posterity, he warns, will judge him harshly should the electoral process collapse into violence and illegality as Ugandans count down to 15th January 2026.

Importantly, the letter is not a lone voice. It is co-authored, signed, owned, and validated by several influential non-political Acholi leaders. Among them is former Supreme Court Justice Galdino Moro Okello, who serves as Vice Chairman of WANG-OO-Heritage Ltd, an organisation chaired by Bishop Ochola himself.

Other signatories include former Chua County Member of Parliament John Livingstone Okello-Okello, currently Chairman of the Executive Committee of WANG-OO-Heritage Ltd; Okello Otto, Chairman of BILA-AWAK; and Gulu City Woman MP Betty Aol Ocan, who signed for and on behalf of the Acholi Parliamentary Group.

Despite this unified and authoritative condemnation, some political pundits have opportunistically attempted to spin the Gulu City violence as evidence that NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi is unwelcome in Acholi sub-region. Bishop Ochola’s letter directly challenges and dismantles that narrative.

And yet, as political observers grimly predict, President Museveni will most likely ignore the protest letter altogether, choosing instead to remain focused on his overriding priority: securing re-election on 15th January 2026—and dealing with the moral, legal, and political consequences later.