The saga surrounding Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba, the MP for Nyendo-Mukungwe in Masaka, of receiving shs. 500million as classified award, is putting Uganda’s main opposition party, the National Unity Platform, NUP, at crossroads and if not properly handled, the party heads for disintegration.
The party’s policy takes Mpuuga’s acceptance of the booty as a violation of of the party’s core values of discipline, reliability, inclusiveness, integrity, patriotism and service and had asked him to resign his Parliamentary Commissioner’s position.
Mpuuga, though he accepted having made a mistake and apologised, he has vehemently refused to resign his post, putting the party on a test.
The saga came at a time when a clique in the party headed by the party’s head of mobilisation was in a campaign to dislodge and sack Mpuuga from the party’s vice chairmanship for Buganda region.
Mpuuga who has shown his strength of taking over the leadership of the party, said in a statement rejecting a call to resign his Parliamentary Commissioner’s position that he’s committed to the core values of the party among others.
Mpuuga went on to defend the booty he took as not a form of corruption, clarifying that every decision of the commission to confer or reward anyone under it’s charge is subjected to the relevant committees of Parliament for legality and relevancy and to call such payment as corruption is the highest level of spite and double standard. He added if such payment is mounted to corruption, the all current and previous MPs would be compelled to refund to the public confers monies paid as gratuity and honoraria.
“The campaign to character assassinate me is deliberate and am perfectly aware and lam ready for the worst”, Mpuuga vowed.
Towards the end of last year, Mpuuga critics under the ‘Kunga’ platform (which was aimed at mobilising party members and put up structures, traversed Masaka but the campaign was short-lived as Mpuuga put it to a halt after realising that it was instead undermining him. The program of Kunga in Masaka is still in balance. After the failure of this program in Masaka, the anti Mpuuga group, which comprises of the top four party leader, have been waiting for a chance to strike at Mpuuga and lower the supremacy he was building.
The issue of Uganda’s political parties being run as family clubs is on the rise with the ruling party, NRM, being in the lead, giving guidelines to other parties, hence NUP jumping on the wagon.
Insiders in NUP, say the principal of the Party, Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, Bobi Wine, in most cases working on orders of his elder brother, Chairman Nyanzi, who has already declared himself party candidate for Kampala Lord Mayorship.
Mpuuga’s refusal to resign the Parliamentary Commissioner’s post, puts NUP at a test. Although the party’s executive or the party’s Principal has powers to sack Mpuuga, the Speaker of Parliament can use her powers to defend Mpuuga since the booty given to Mpuuga was properly scheduled in accordance to the Parliament rules. This will have an impact on the party. But the dismissal of Mpuuga from the party or the mudslinging will definitely have a bad impact on his political carrier.
Mpuuga on the other hand, can use the prevailing saga to expose the tribal rot in NUP.
Thanks for the Democratic Party (DP), which is still in confusion but if it solves its troubles before 2026, NUP’s movie might wind up as the DP Block in NUP might decide to go back home.
Time will tell.
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