The problem with PLU’s standby generator: was it fuel or someone poured salt in it?

Op-Ed: On June 29, several PLU supporters escaped limping after the stage collapsed at Hoima Booma grounds, beating their legs during an event organized to celebrate the appointment of General Muhoozi Kainerugaba as the Commander of Defense Forces (CDF) in a reshuffle that, I argued, marked the beginning of the grand demolition of the PLU tower by Mzee Tibuhaburwa.

In the reshuffle, PLU’s civilian cream dela cream, Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi, and Lillian Aber ate big ministerial appointments, whereas others like Michael Mawanda were treated as collateral damage and sent to prison in the months that followed. A wise farmer, when he sees an eagle flying in the skies around his homestead, quickly chases his chicks into the house for safety.

Over the weekend, for various reasons, General Muhoozi closed the PLU 2026 political chapter in style by a mere poston X, formerly Twitter. He totally denounced his intentions to be on the ballotpaper come the next general presidential elections. This news was not good news in the ears of some PLU members. It hit them hard to appoint that up to now others are still keeping their phones in flight mode.

The first son in the episodic posts thereafter also commanded all the PLU forces back to the yellow base. This includes, but is not limited to, the wannabe political candidates in the 2026 elections who he advised to negotiate for seats in the NRM gaali ekozeko under the control of Mzee Tibuhaburwa. The politics of selling passengers to other moving vehicles is very common on Ugandan roads, although it also has its known problems.

During my last trip to Dokolo, I was a victim of passenger trafficking. When I got to Lira bus park en route to Kigumba, I found a bus that looked to be about to get full. Inside it, there were people stationed already and behaved as if they were ready for a long trip to Kampala. I paid for my ticket and sat comfortably, thinking that I would leave the northern city in the next 30 minutes.

As we waited for more passengers to come, I suddenly started to observe strange movements. When a new passenger would board, one of the guys I found in the bus station would immediately leave. It happened until the bus had only new faces in it.

The passenger who sat close to me told me that the group is part of a big gang in Lira, which is intended to hoodwink impatient travelers who prefer to board buses that are about to leave the station.

Anyway, that was not a big issue. My only problem came when they asked us passengers to vacate the bus and move into another one, which had parked just adjacent. Life on the second bus was a bed of thorns. The bus was old, dirty, and sticking with metals that tore my trousers as I attempted to find a seat.

One guy told me that I was even lucky. In some instances, passengers are sold to vehicles that are already at full capacity, and they enter to receive insults from those they find comfortable and start to ask to squeeze themselves so that they can fit on the limited seats. He told me that he had seen cases when passengers chase trafficked passengers from cars.

Well, there are known reasons on Ugandan roads as to why vehicles sell passengers to other vehicles. Usually these are barabara vehicles, so when they see that the passengers are not enough to get them good business in the journey, they stop on the way and eat commission. Whereas, in some cases, it can be a breakdown issue as a result of dangerous mechanical conditions.

Whichever the case with PLU, I foresee chaos in the old yellow bus come 2026. Colleagues in the PLU minivan at one point declared the yellow bus DMC and felt entitled to a fresh ride in a new car. The loyal NRM passengers were patient enough. They kept motivating their old driver with songs such as’mzee tova ku main’, to keep him awake.

Now that the old yellow bus is the only means of transport available, the PLU group should go slow on front seats. They should accept to sit on top of the wheels and bear the wrath of the humps on the bumpy Ugandan political roads.

The author is Nelson Byaruhanga, an indigenous journalist, social critic, and novelist.

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