HENRY H. SSALI: Chameleone was always NUP’s step child, signs that he was unwanted were clear

SoNational Unity Platform (NUP) has released its list of party flag bearers for mayoral offices and singer Jose Chameleone has been denied a party flag.

Apparently the reasons are that NUP wasn’t sure of his academic credentials and that he didn’t have a national ID. These are perfect scapegoats, like the Baganda say “kyewayagiliza embaazi, kibuyaga asudde”.
Anyone who didn’t see this coming is a political novice and I’m sure Chameleone himself is not surprised. It has always been a battle of him trying to fit into the NUP outfit and the signs that he was unwanted were always clear.

Perhaps the clearest sign of all was Chameleone launching his Mayoral bid offices. Even if the offices were painted the NUP red, NUP was conspicuously absent. No individual in the “annointed” NUP fold was present!!!
On top of Chameleone’s task force list was Lubega Mukaku, a man who had been recently been booted from NUP by none other than party head Bobi Wine. You cannot have a priest who has been banished from the Catholic Church perform a baptism on you and think the church will accept you and offer you other sacraments.
Other notable figures at Chameleone’s event were the likes of Mabikke who has also since said he is leaving NUP and returning to DP.

If Chameleone had NUP’s blessing, Bobi Wine would have been present. Or at least the likes of Zzake, Nambooze and Ssegona or Bobi’s brothers Chairman Nyanzi and Eddie Yawe. But Chameleone’s event was a collection of NUP outcasts (some not sure they were outcasts), those who were not sure of their position in NUP and those who had no idea what the wishes of NUP were.

From the time former Kampala Mayor Nasser Ssebagala indicated he wanted to stand for the Kampala Mayoral Seat on an NUP ticket, it was clear the flag had not been ring fenced for Chameleone or worse still but truthfully so, he was unwanted. Now it turns our Seya’s younger brother Latif Sebagala has been granted the flag. An arrangement was reached among the Sebagala brothers, but Chameleone was ex-party to this.

The reasons are simple and these are thoughts in public domain. One of them is that Chameleone being Chameleone, no one is sure of his colour .. whether it is yellow, green or red. He has been all at a certain point in time. In the 2016 elections, he was drumming a yellow jerrycan as lead singer in the Tubonga Nawe song. Then he was DP green, received the party card and crossed over to red. Well, politics has no permanent friends and enemies, but one thing you can be sure of is that a Chameleone will always change colours.

Another reason Chameleone couldn’t be endorsed by NUP( and this is just my thought) is that there has always been a battle for supremacy between Chameleone, Bebe Cool and Bobi Wine. It was an entirely musical battle for over a decade. Now Bobi feels he is finally supreme and what a better way than have your nemesis come clinging on you and you push them away … (this is just my thought … that it is a never ending battle of egos … but it could still have a grain of truth). Musically Chameleone has always reigned supreme but the political tide isn’t blowing his direction yet.

Either way, Chameleone was always an NUP step child and you wouldn’t expect him to get any of the NUP inheritance (read party flag). If you thought he could get an NUP flag, you need to purchase political spectacles to clearly see the political tide.