The Entebbe Municipality Member of Parliament, who is also a member of the National Unity Platform (NUP), Michael Kakembo, has revealed that his party is funding the ongoing social media parliament exhibition to maligne Mathias Mpuuga.
Mpuuga, who is also NUP’s Deputy President for Buganda region, has been at loggerheads with party president Robert Kyagulanyi over the management of party resources and differences in approaching national issues.
According to Kakembo, who was speaking at a talk show on one of the local TVs on March 13, 2024, the NUP leader decided to take down Mpuuga by launching a mudslinging campaign against him and henceforth sponsoring the Parliamentary Exhibition, which has pinned Mpuuga as corrupt for accepting UGX 500 million as a service award as he concluded his Leader of Opposition (LOP) tenure.
Kakembo added that Mpuuga and other leaders have been under witch hunt in NUP for refusing to conduct themselves like hooligans and holding themselves to higher standards, unlike the ghetto boys from Kamyokya, who feel like they own the party. “It’s been a crime to speak good English in NUP. They have been castigating Mpuuga for such,” Kakembo wondered.
Kakembo also doubted the authenticity of the information shared on social media, noting that some people are being paid to share wrong information and blackmail certain politicians. “You need to get information from parliament, not on social media. You can’t get information from the Kakwenzas, who don’t even stay here. Some are paid to blackmail parliament,” he said.
On the same show, Dan Kimosho, the MP for Kazo County, confirmed that indeed, individuals have been paid UGX 40 million to attack Mpuuga, and others like the speaker Anita Among, have been attacked as collateral.
He argued that the demonization seen about Mpuuga doesn’t make the NUP an anticorruption crusader, adding that it’s the responsibility of the party to protect the integrity of its members since they will always fault and you can’t chase them all.
The ongoing attack on MPuuga proceeding under the parliament exhibition has deepened the rift in the NUP, with analysts predicting a permanent fracture and the potential downfall of Uganda’s leading opposition political party.
