The hope for an Opposition coalition in Uganda took another setback following the recent Buganda Parliamentary Caucus elections that saw former Democratic Party member Betty Nambooze walk-out in protest following the endorsement of Muwanga Kivumbi for leadership of the caucus by NUP Party President Robert Kyagulanyi.
Nambooze said that she had the best credentials for the job and had sacrificed enough for NUP to be given a fair shot at leadership of the lucrative group. However, it was not to be as the NUP decided that loyalty to party President was a key criteria and not past record of service.
Hardly had the dust from the caucus elections settled than the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga of NUP announced the shadow candidate which was constituted of largely NUP members and ignored all other parties.
This decision solicited ridicule from Forum for Democratic Change strongman Semujju Nganda who hit out at his fellow party members that had accepted positions in the shadow cabinet and threatened them with expulsion from the party if they did not renounce the appointments. FDC just previously lost Vice Chairperson for Buganda Joyce Ssebugwawo to the NRM after her appointment as State Minister for ICT.
This follows fault lines that developed from the elections of the Speaker of Parliament where Nganda was shunned by the opposition even after they had promised to back him but instead voted for NRMs Rebecca Kadaga who lost the race.
Presient Yoweri Museveni had during the 2021 general elections promised to obliterate the opposition in Uganda and with the current state of affairs and position on the ground, it’s clear that he is on his way to achieving his objective.
All this beggars question on the contribution and capabilities of Robert Kyagulanyi as the de facto leader of the opposition in Uganda and to the struggle to have an effective challenge to the NRM government. He has been quiet on all these developments and seems to have no plan to reinvigorate the robustness of the opposition in Uganda’s politics. Bobi Wine only recently flew out of the country to the USA to have discussions on LGBT and Gay rights in Uganda.
