Kyadondo East Member of Parliament, Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu, alias Bobi Wine has denied media reports that he adamantly declined to cut cake with the prime Minister of Buganda Kingdom, Charles Peter Mayiga at an event.
Bobi Wine was responding to an article by a local daily (New Vision) entitled "Bobi Wine declines to cut cake with Mayiga" which the youthful MP says seemed intended to portray him as an undisciplined and disrespectful leader which is not the case.
In a statement posted on his facebook page, Bobi Wine wrote;
“To set the record straight, I was invited as area M.P. to attend Gayaza Junior School's Day, celebrating 106 years!
At the same occasion, the Katikiro of Buganda Owek. Charles Peter Mayiga was the Guest of Honour.
I attended the function, received the Katikiro and together, we inspected different exhibition stalls for students' products and activities. We also had a cordial chat!”
He adds that it was disturbing that the News article says that he left the function without cutting the cake and suggested that he just walked away after being invited to do the same! “You surely know that is not true” he said.
Parliament’s newbie used the same platform to allege that he was denied opportunity to speak at an important function in the heart of Kyadondo East, his constituency.
Below is his statement on the matter;
“I was at the function from 10am to 3pm (5hrs) and as protocol was being 'observed’, many of the guests who were invited but didn't show up had their representatives speak on their behalf.
Just at the point when the area M.P. was to be invited to welcome the Guest of Honour, the C.A.O's representative was instead invited to perform that role.
My assistant tried to find out from the M.C. whether it was a mistake and they were bluntly informed that they had strict instructions NOT TO LET ME SPEAK.
Later, a friend who was one of the organisers apologized and told me 'they' couldn't let me speak because they
were not sure what I was going to say!
On the same day I had been invited to officiate at four different functions (Gayaza Junior School, Kinaawa Secondary School, Nangabo Youth Bicycle race and the Uganda cranes vs South Sudan football match at Lugogo KCCA grounds).
After the Katikiro’s speech at around 3pm, and owing to the many panic calls from the organisers of the other functions, I silently left and rushed to catch up with my other engagements.
I must say it was a humiliation to the people of Kyadondo East to have their elected representative seated at a function for almost five hours and not given any opportunity to say a word. I had prepared to use the occasion to suggest ways of improving our education system!
Therefore, by the time the cake was cut, I was long gone and I think it was more important for me to say a word to my people rather than cut that cake.
Had I been allowed to speak, perhaps what I was going to say would make a better headline than the cake.
It should be noted that I spent less than thirty minutes at the functions I attended later having spent the biggest part of the day at Gayaza because I could not leave the function before the Katikiro’s speech.
