By Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) President Jimmy Akena has urged Ugandans to focus on unity and national reconstruction following a surprise visit by National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, to his ancestral home in Akokoro, Apac District, where he laid a wreath on the grave of former President Dr. Apollo Milton Obote.
The visit, which drew wide public attention and online debate, came as Kyagulanyi traversed the Lango sub-region for his presidential campaign trail. Akena said while the gesture was significant, it had also sparked unnecessary speculation that needed to be addressed calmly and maturely.
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“I’ve seen many comments on social media and elsewhere,” Akena said at a press briefing held Thursday at the UPC headquarters in Kampala. “Leadership should not be about echoing emotion but about steadying the nation. The test of leadership is not how loudly we respond but how faithfully we continue to serve.”
Akena described Kyagulanyi’s gesture as one of respect and reconciliation, saying it reminded Ugandans of the need to honour the nation’s history and those who contributed to building its institutions.
“My father’s enduring legacy is not in political quarrels but in the hospitals, schools, and institutions that continue to serve Ugandans,” Akena said, citing Nakaseke, Kayunga, Kawolo, and Gomba hospitals as part of Obote’s vision for national development.
He added that the visit should inspire leaders across political divides to put the country’s interests above partisan differences. “True nationhood lies not in the quarrels of yesterday but in the quiet, daily work of improving every citizen’s life,” he said.
Akena also revisited the political debates surrounding the 1980 general election, defending his father against accusations of electoral manipulation. He clarified that Obote returned to Uganda only six months before the polls and was focused on rebuilding the nation rather than consolidating power.
“Obote came at the end of May 1980, barely six months to the election there was no time to manipulate the system or prepare to grab power,” Akena said. “Our challenge then was reconstruction after years of turmoil that had scarred every family and institution.”
The UPC leader’s remarks come amid a campaign season marked by symbolic gestures and calls for national healing. Kyagulanyi has not publicly commented on his visit to Obote’s grave, but political observers have described the moment as a rare display of respect across Uganda’s generational and ideological divides.
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