The National Unity Platform (NUP) Commissioner of Parliament and Nyendo Mukungwe lawmaker, Mathias Mpuuga, has maintained his position that he is a founding member of the party and therefore will not be forced out or pressured to step down as Commissioner of Parliament.
“I am here to affirm that I am not leaving NUP, a party I founded with my colleagues consciously,” said Mpuuga,” adding, “I am not here to destroy or kill it.”
The development marks a significant escalation in the showdown between Mpuuga, who is fully backed by Buganda Kingdom royals and elite that played a key role in the mobilisation of political support for Bobi Wine’s 2021 presidential candidacy and NUP.
Mpuuga, who previously served as Kabaka’s Minister, warned of a protracted battle against his rivals right from within the political party.
“At least nobody has moved to the level of even thinking about deserting a party I founded. So, whoever thought that they were hounding me out of NUP, I am here to assure them that whichever indiscipline, mismanagement, or mischievous maneuvers, we are going to be in. If you are a leader, a foot soldier, and you have bought data to abuse and insult, insult me from within,” said Mpuuga.
Mpuuga made the remarks on Tuesday, just hours after his party, the National Unity Platform, made public a letter it wrote to Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, notifying her of the party’s decision to withdraw his secondment to the Parliamentary Commission and replace him with Francis Zaake (Mityana Municipality).
In that letter dated March 18, 2024, NUP Secretary General, David Lewis Rubongoya, tells Speaker Among, “You will recall that on December 22, 2023, I notified you of the Party’s decision to nominate Hon. Mathias Mpuuga as Commissioner of Parliament in accordance with Section 2(2b) of the Administration of Parliament Act and Rule 11(4) of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament. The Party has now decided to withdraw its nomination of Hon. Mathias Mpuuga and consequently recalled him from that position. Accordingly, the Party hereby nominates Hon. Zaake Francis, who was unconstitutionally removed from that position on March 10, 2022 (as confirmed by the Constitutional Court in Const. Petition No. 6 of 2022).”
NUP’s letter to the Speaker further reads, “If Hon. Mathias Mpuuga remains in the Parliamentary Commission as a Member, he will do so without the mandate of the Party and the opposition platform.”
Corruption
NUP accuses Mpuuga of engaging in acts of “corruption and abuse of office” when he, together with members of the NRM Parliamentary Commission, irregularly allocated themselves 1.7 billion shillings as “service awards” in a meeting chaired by Ms. Anita Among.
Of the 1.7 billion, Mpuuga is said to have received 500 million shillings.
By that time, Mpuuga was the Leader of the Opposition in the House before he was dropped from the position and appointed Commissioner of Parliament.
NUP asked Mpuuga to return the money he received, apologize to Ugandans, and step down, all of which he has fallen short of doing.
NUP says that Mpuuga’s action goes against the mission, values, and objectives of the party.
Mpuuga fires back
In response to NUP’s letter to Among, Mpuuga said his position on the matter is well known and that he would not step down as Commissioner of Parliament.
“I have seen a copy of a letter circulating on social media; the owner of the copy is visible from the bottom of the letter. The letter is addressed to the Right Honorable Speaker of Parliament. And I am only informed of the contents by copy. I will not respond to that save to restate my position as stated earlier to the party and the nation that I have found the facts that I confess no wrongdoing, whether in law or common sense,” said Mpuuga.
“The position of the law has been clarified to whoever wishes to understand but not to deliberately slander, and to those who want to deliberately slander me or gain short-term political capital out of the current situation. So I did state my position; it is the question of the law and common sense,” he said.
He added, “I wish to reassure all comrades in the struggle for a fair Uganda that my commitment has never waned. I am not and shall never be part of any form of corruption. I have never been indicted of corruption, I am never corrupt, and nobody will invite me to corruption.”
The internal bickering in NUP has raised concerns that the biggest opposition political party is headed for a split just two years ahead of the 2026 elections.
The law is on Mpuuga’s side. NUP would need a third of MPs to oust Mpuuga from the position of Commisioner of Parliament.
Mpuuga also rebuked NUP’s methods of work, including exposing its dirty linen in public.
“When we find ourselves disagreeable on anything in our midst, as a party, as change-seeking forces, we must find the mechanisms for mature resolutions, which are different from grandstanding and the desire to settle political scores at the expense of the reputations of comrades, with whom we struggle to offer the country better leadership,” said Mpuuga, a lawyer by profession.
Source chimp reports