By Mulengera Reporters Bugiri Municipality MP Asuman Basalirwa has calmly responded to recent criticism that Bobi Wine levelled against him recently claiming that he had diverted from the original ideals of the struggle and that he doesn’t serve the genuine interests of regime change anymore. Speaking on CBS radio on Saturday, Basalirwa said, as far as he is concerned, he isn’t aware of any fundamental differences between himself and Bobi Wine, who claims to have single-handedly made him win the 2018 by-elections after which he became MP for the first time. Basalirwa, who is also the President for Justice Forum party (JEEMA), said that what he is aware of is that Bobi Wine and those he leads with at Kavule have resorted to perceiving the anti-Museveni struggle as an opportunity to make money. He told Dr. Samuel Kazibwe, who was moderating the program on CBS, that the reason why Bobi Wine attacked him at his Bugiri rally, instead of marketing his own agenda as a Presidential Candidate, was because he badly wants his NUP candidate to win and become the new Bugiri Municipality MP. “And once that happens, he is sure to increase the number of MPs for his party at least by that one seat. And the idea is to get more money through the IPOD arrangement because they have realized that the more MPs you have in the House, the more money you get per quarter under the IPOD arrangement,” said Basalirwa. He went on to explain that his party Jema only gets Shs25m per quarter or every three months because they have only one MP who is himself. In contrast, Basalirwa elaborated that Mr. Wine’s NUP every quarter gets Shs1.4bn out of the more than 55 MPs it has in the 11th Parliament. This simply means that every year (comprising of four quarters), NUP gets Shs5.2bn from the GoU under the IPOD arrangement, as Jema gets just Shs100m. Each MP a political party has in Parliament earns or fetches them Shs25m per quarter (every three months), which comes to Shs100m per year. Asuman Basalirwa said that it’s appalling to see NUP, which is already pocketing so much money, being so uncomfortable having his Jema taking Shs25m and Shs100m annually, which is mere crumbs. He also described this as being pervasive because the original objective people like him had when they joined anti-regime politics more than 20 years ago was never about using platforms like IPOD to get money and self-aggrandize, but to advance the cause and struggle for a better-governed Uganda. He said that as far as he is concerned, there is no other reason why Bobi Wine continues to be hostile to him beyond mere false imagination that he is a political weakling in Bugiri who can be forced out so that his MP seat gets taken by someone from his NUP party. He called on Ugandans to become politically more sophisticated and realize that what is currently at stake is something much more than just political parties coming together to share money under arrangements like IPOD or even the National Consultative Forum. He said he remains composed and not angry against Bobi Wine and his Kavule colleagues, even when they have been haranguing him, because he is broad-minded and well-possessed with a thick skin, which is a good thing for every politician to have. He made it clear that, according to the IPOD arrangement, NUP’s written desire to join IPOD has to be considered first by the Council of Secretaries General, which currently is headed by DP Secretary General Gerald Siranda. That after considering and accepting the application, the Council forwards it to the Summit of Presidents which currently is headed by Norbert Mao of DP. He last month took over from Gen YK Museveni of NRM. Basalirwa said that, whereas Siranda’s Council can sit anytime, it’s harder when it comes to the Summit because it ordinarily sits only once every 6 months. “But we also have the arrangement of special sitting which means we don’t have to wait for 6 months. We can sit sooner and it’s my view that we should because this NUP application is serious business which should be treated as urgent,” Basalirwa asserted making it clear that these are concerns he had already shared with both Mao and Siranda imploring them to move faster. All this means that NUP may not be able to access the badly-needed IPOD billions between now and January which is when elections will be taking place. Basalirwa, who has been part of IPOD from the very beginning, also used the occasion to educate NUP MP Erias Nalukoola Luyimbazi who too was in the studio, about the workings of IPOD and why the processing of a party’s application seeking to join can’t be rushed. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).