former Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Mathias Mpuuga, has made scathing remarks likening his own party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), to a cult.
During a candid appearance on a morning talk show aired by a local television station in Kampala, Mpuuga didn’t mince words, expressing his disillusionment with the party’s leadership.
“If you are going to have a political party of others worshipping others, with those who can speak and those who can’t, that’s not a party; that is a cult,” remarked the Nyendo-Mukungwe MP, alluding to NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, the musician-turned-politician.
Mpuuga’s dissatisfaction extended to the issue of corruption within the party’s ranks. He criticized the leadership’s approach, stating, “When they say that if you accept and apologise, we shall forgive you, who speaks about corruption and forgiving in the same line? Who are you?”
This outspoken critique comes on the heels of Mpuuga’s suspension from his position as deputy NUP president for the central region earlier this year, amid allegations of corruption and abuse of office leveled against him by Kyagulanyi.
Despite the suspension, Mpuuga remained defiant, suggesting that Kyagulanyi was grappling with challenges and he didn’t know how to extend support or assistance.
During the TV interview, Mpuuga, also a parliamentary commissioner, lamented the lack of cohesive leadership within the Opposition, asserting, “The Opposition is not being led. If it was being led, we would be having a different conversation.”
In addition to his political woes within NUP, Mpuuga and three other parliamentary commissioners face allegations of corruption, accused of sharing a substantial sum of money as a one-off service award worth about half a million dollars (American) from the parliamentary commission in May 2022.
These allegations have sparked outrage among some legislators, including Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo, who has spearheaded efforts to censure Mpuuga and his colleagues over the alleged misappropriation of funds.
