The Kimaanya Kabonera County Member of Parliament (MP), who is also a member of the National Unity Platform (NUP), Dr. Abed Bwanika, has castigated his party for witch-hunting Mathias Mpuuga on moral grounds, yet the party’s foreign associates are from the LGBTQ community.
Bwanika, who was speaking on a political talk show on a local TV station, reiterated his disappointment with his party over how they handled the issue of Mpuuga, whom they publicly accused of being corrupt for receiving a service award of UGX 500 million, as he concluded his Leader of Opposition (LOP) reign in parliament.
Bwanika wondered why Mpuuga is being tormented on allegedly moral grounds, as highlighted by party president Robert Kyagulanyi, yet NUP’s foreign associates are homosexuals whom the godly Ugandans consider immoral. He alleged that Mpuuga’s support for the anti-homosexuality bill is one of the reasons that has brought him trouble in NUP since the party president condones homosexuality.
He further rebuked his party president for sidelining the party structures in handling party issues and instead working with his family members and the ‘firebase crew’ to determine the fate of the NUP. “I didn’t agree and don’t agree with the way the Mpuuga issue was handled. As a party, we have organs; you can’t just call a few people, and the next day you are in the news,” Bwanika said, adding that when they were once called to meet members of the NUP executive council, he saw Nubian Lee, Eddy Mutwe, and Mikie Wine.
Bwanika, who shares the same sentiments as other members who joined the NUP under the DP bloc, argued that the top leadership of the NUP should allow them to reform the party since they contributed to its establishment. “The way I see NUP now, it is an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) case; there are serious issues in NUP, and some of us can’t sit around and begin to pamper something that is not moving right,” he said.
Even though Kyagulanyi claims to have fallen out with the embattled Mpuuga over alleged misuse of office and engagement in corruption by the latter while he was the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, DP bloc members claim he is intimidated by MPuuga, whose traits portray him as a more worthy leader than Kyagulanyi.
This has left the party in shambles as the warring factions tear themselves apart to the point of no return.
