A section of opposition parties, including the Democratic Party (DP) and Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), have accused the Leader of Opposition (LOP), Joel Ssenyonyi, of working in isolation and failing to unite the opposition.
Kiirya Ismail, the DP party spokesperson, on Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024, while addressing a press conference at their offices, accused Ssenyonyi of the current divide and misunderstandings in the opposition. He attributed the current state to Ssenyonyi’s poor methods of leadership.
“DP is concerned about how Ssenyonyi is working without engaging other opposition parties,” Kiirya said.
Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the spokeswoman of the FDC Katonga faction, blamed Ssenyonyi for not consolidating members of the opposition into one strong group with the same voice. He claimed LOP has caused more rift among the opposition, including his own NUP party.
“We are all aware of the rifts in NUP that emerged after Ssenyonyi was made Leader of Opposition; as Ssenyonyi thinks he is too bright to work with other opposition MPs, not knowing that some of us have been in that position, and the trick is working with all opposition party members whether you believe in their ideology or not,” Nganda said.
Recently, many opposition MPs defied Ssenyonyi’s request to boycott the first regional parliamentary sitting in Gulu, where even many of his own NUP party attended even after Ssenyonyi had cautioned them not to be part of the engagements.
The defiance from both within his party and also from other opposition party members shows how Ssenyonyi is losing grip as leader of the opposition, and some opposition members feel that maybe the proposal to have the leader of the opposition be voted by all opposition members of parliament would offer solutions to a current divided opposition group.