Every time something comes to an end, something else begins. For a long time, there has been a brewing mistrust and suspicion amongst senior leaders within Uganda’s leading opposition political party, the National Unity Platform, which has erupted into a bitter split within party members, leaving the political elites with scattered opinions on whether it is the end of a beginning or the beginning of the end, to the collapse of the National Unity Platform.
At the beginning of March 2024, the National Unity Platform accused Hon. Mathias Mpuuga of corruption and abuse of office by accepting to receive Shs500 million from the Parliamentary Commission as a service award, an issue that has caused tension in the party.
During an interview on national television, the NUP party president, Robert Kyagulanyi, affirmed that if standing against corruption and calling out politicians will divide the party, so be it.
Well, I do support him on this because corruption should not be tolerated by any political party or by anybody.
According to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party Secretary General, Richard Todwong, the party is yet to initiate investigations on their party members who received the ‘dubious service award’, an award that is not recognized under the law, which in its actual sense is corruption!
In 2022, the NUP survived a dispute over party ownership by the initial party founder, Nkonge Kibalama, who went ahead to open up parallel NUP party offices in Kabowa-Rubaga Division. This was not the end of the internal bruises within the NUP but rather set a sequence for the less publicized internal grievances and power struggles that were brewing in the infant opposition party.
Well, there has been a sharp mistrust and power struggle within the National Unity Platform between the Party President and the members of the infamous DP block.
It is very right to say that the mistrust and power struggles have reached a boiling point, and therefore, the ‘dubious (illegal) service award’ just acted as an accelerator. The NUP alliance with the political elite from the infamous DP block, which was first perceived as a genuine alliance in a bid to overthrow the long running presidency of the National Resistance Movement, has turned out to be ‘an evil’ alliance, with members of each faction blaming each other for political inefficiency.
The alliance, to a certain degree, achieved its targets by weakening and eventually defeating the ruling NRM in the Buganda and Busoga regions. Could the NUP maintain its municipalities in these two important regions? I believe the NUP is losing some points! Since the internal political atmosphere is still very tense, the future of the party and its members are still hanging in balance.
It’s quite absurd that the National ‘Unity’ Platform is now a divided ‘platform’ as opposed to the real meaning of ‘National Unity’ where a section of party Members of Parliament and other party members have forged fault lines between Hon. Mathias Mpuga plus the DP block and Robert Kyagulanyi Bobi Wine.
The larger suspicion could be about the possibility of the DP block members outshining the principal and contesting him for his party presidency hegemony or in the contest for the party flag-bearer race. With this continued mistrust and power struggles, we are yet to set up a bruised NUP with a massive exodus of party members to the ruling National Resistance Movement, and well, there is a possibility of Hon. Mathias Mpuuga and his faction forming a new political party.
Is there any possibility of reconciliation? Well, I believe not, because the mistrust has totally reached its boiling point and the disintegration of Uganda’s leading opposition political party is inevitable.
Could this be the end of a beginning or the beginning of the end of the collapse of the National Unity Platform?
